Make wishtv.com your home page

Indiana Supreme Court rules in stage collapse tragedy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the Mid-America Sound company involved with the stage collapse could not shift legal responsibility to taxpayers.

Mid-America Sound was responsible for constructing and supplying the stage rigging that collapsed on Aug. 13, 2011 during a concert at the State Fairgrounds.

Seven people died and many more were injured as a result of the collapse.

As for Attorney General Greg Zoeller, he is glad the litigation is over.

“The litigation surrounding the State Fair stage collapse has been the most difficult and painful of all cases during my two terms as Attorney General. While it is the obligation of the Attorney General to defend state clients, it does not diminish the knowledge of the pain and suffering of all those who were killed and injured that tragic day in 2011,” Zoeller said.

Zoeller believes the Supreme Court did the right thing.

“My office put the victims first by fully paying out the State’s maximum $5 million in liability in 2011 and then secured another $6 million in supplemental relief for victims from the Legislature in 2012. Our position was Indiana cannot indemnify a private party, nor was there any agreement here to do so.  We were opposed to the contractor’s assertion that it could shift its legal responsibility for the State Fair tragedy onto the taxpayers, and we respect the conclusion of the Indiana Supreme Court that has resolved this legal question with finality,” Zoeller said.

According to the release, the case decided Thursday whether or not Indiana tax dollars would be used to pay any settlements and judgments that Mid-America incurred or might incur from the stage collapse tragedy.

The Supreme Court’s opinion found that the State Fair Commission could not indemnify Mid-America.

“The terms of Mid-America’s invoices to the Commission did not clearly and unequivocally provide for retroactive application, and as a matter of law, we will not infer such an onerous provision from the parties’ course of dealing. We therefore affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the Commission,” the Indiana Supreme Court opinion said in its conclusion.