INDIANAPOLIS (WTWO/WAWV) — A bribery case against a former Vigo County School Corporation superintendent is moving forward following a decision Friday by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Three counts of bribery were filed against Daniel Tanoos in Marion County last year alleging he improperly awarded school contracts to ESG, a guaranteed energy savings contractor, in exchange for benefits and perks.
ESG is headquartered in Newburgh and has an office in Indianapolis.
Tanoos’ lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case, and when that was denied, the proceedings moved to appeals court.
A judgement was handed down Friday in favor of the state:
The State asserts, and we agree, that ‘Tanoos’s arguments are not about legal deficiencies in the information,’ but rather ‘amount to an assertion that he will be able to convince a jury that the alleged bribes were actually innocent acts of Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 19A-CR-1086 | December 6, 2019 Page 23 of 23 business development and there was no quid pro quo for these gifts.’ Appellee’s Brief at 12. As stated, a motion to dismiss an information is not a proper vehicle for raising questions of fact to be decided at trial or facts constituting a defense.
