INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a judge's decision to dismiss misconduct charges against the state's former top utility regulator.
Tuesday's decision means former Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission chairman David Lott Hardy is immune to criminal prosecution. The court says state ethics law in effect at the time Hardy was indicted required criminal behavior and didn't apply to administrative misconduct.
Hardy was indicted by a Marion County grand jury in 2011 on charges of official misconduct related to development of a Duke Energy gasification plant. A Marion County judge threw out those charges, saying Hardy couldn't be charged because of changes the Legislature made in 2012.
The attorney general's office appealed.
But the Court of Appeals agrees with the judge.
The attorney general's office says it's reviewing the opinion.
