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Judgment 28 May 2026; appeal pending at 10 November 2026
The state the banked files left, and the two steps since: The Controversies and Today accounts both closed the tapes case at June 2026: Judge Jamie C. Woods's order of 28 May 2026 in the St. Joseph Superior Court (cause 71D06-1209-MI-000159) held the recordings unlawful under both the Indiana and federal wiretap acts, ordered them destroyed, barred any use of or reference to them, and stayed the destruction while any appeal pends — the order's own fifth decree preserves the tapes until appeals are exhausted. The council met in executive session on 3 June 2026 with the appeal question open. Two documented steps have since been taken. On 24 June 2026, at-large council member Oliver Davis announced that the council would appeal, and the Tribune reported on 26 June 2026 that the council had filed its notice of appeal to stop the destruction. On 16 October 2026, ABC 57 reported that the council is appealing the May ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court, extending the case — the station's headline states the destination in those words, and this record prints the report as the station made it. The litigation's cost to the city's taxpayers stands past $3 million, as the Controversies section documents.
The docket state, named: Beyond those two steps, the published record reached carries no appellate case number for the 2026 appeal, no briefing schedule, and no appellate ruling; the Indiana appellate courts' published decisions through 10 November 2026 contain no disposition of it. The appeal therefore prints as pending and undecided, its last verified states the filed notice of June 2026 and the October report of its destination, and the destruction remains stayed while it pends. The settling source for the next state is the appellate docket itself — the clerk of the Indiana appellate courts' record for the council's appeal from cause 71D06-1209-MI-000159 — which the update cycle should pull directly rather than wait for the press to carry it.
Sources:
- St. Joseph Superior Court — Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, Order and Judgment, 28 May 2026, cause 71D06-1209-MI-000159 (the destruction order; the stay pending appeal as its fifth decree).
- South Bend Tribune, 26 June 2026 — the council's notice of appeal filed; Davis's announcement of 24 June 2026.
- ABC 57 South Bend, 16 October 2026 — the council appealing the May 2026 ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court (reported via Spot On Indiana's publication of the station's story).
- The City Controversies section of this history — the case whole, 2011–2026, and its cost past $3 million.