A Vanderburgh County business dispute has drawn statewide legal attention after an appellate brief alleged that a trial court judge cited a nonexistent Indiana case in his ruling, raising questions about judicial drafting practices and whether artificial intelligence or some other error may have played a role.
The case, Johnson v. Pugh, stems from a partnership dispute between John S. Johnson and Mark Pugh over several divisions of Alpha Organics, Inc., an Evansville-based lawn care and pest control company. After a five-day bench trial, Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge Ryan Hatfield ruled against Johnson on all counts in an order issued in late 2025. Johnson appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals in November 2025.
In their appellate brief filed March 6, 2026, Johnson’s attorneys at Jackson Kelly PLLC alleged that Hatfield’s order cited Bryant v. Walters, 409 N.E.2d 119 (Ind. Ct. App. 1980) — a case they contend does not exist in Indiana case law. The citation was used to support a legal conclusion concerning joint ventures and partnership formation…