November 02, 2008 08:23 pm
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ANDERSON — Area attorneys at law are mourning the loss of one of their own today, while keeping his injured wife in their prayers as she lies in the critical care unit after Saturday’s motorcycle accident.
Anderson lawyer Robert Cowles, 53, died around 4:30 a.m. Sunday from injuries suffered during a motorcycle accident in Lapel.
His wife, Sally Cowles, was riding the motorcycle with him and remained in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. As of 8 p.m. Sunday, a hospital representative said she was in stable condition after undergoing surgery.
The accident occurred at 6:01 p.m. Saturday, according to Madison County Sheriff Ron Richardson. Richardson said the Cowleses were headed south on Indiana 13 near Exit 14 at Interstate 69 when the vehicle in front of them turned right onto the interstate.
An oncoming 2005 Chevy Equinox driven by Angela Acker of Pendleton was turning left onto the same ramp and did not see the 1979 Harley-Davidson approaching. “As she was coming north, her plans were to make a left turn onto the interstate. She observed the oncoming vehicle but she did not see the motorcycle behind that vehicle.”
Richardson said Acker’s vehicle crossed the center line into the path of the Cowleses when the collision occurred.
According to Richardson, Robert Cowles was conscious at the scene of the accident when emergency personnel arrived and was even able to tell hospital officials his name after being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis by helicopter. Sally Cowles was unconscious at the scene of the accident and remained in critical condition until going into surgery Sunday afternoon. After the surgery, her condition improved but she remained in the intensive care unit.
Marion County Deputy Coroner William Arnold ruled that Cowles’ cause of death was blunt force trauma and loss of blood.
Paul Baylor, a fellow lawyer in Anderson, remembered Cowles on Sunday as one of the most well-liked attorneys in Anderson. “Even though he was probably one of the most respected lawyers in town and he had worked with people on both sides of the political fence, he had a way of relating to people of all walks of life.”
“He was really a man of the people,” Baylor said.
Baylor met Cowles in 2001 and recently signed the attorney’s petition to join the Fellowship 681 F&AM in Anderson.
“It leaves a big hole there because he was someone who a lot of people trusted and treated as a confidant. Now that he’s gone, it really leaves a void,” Baylor said.
Rodney Cummings, former Madison County prosecutor and now a candidate for Superior Court judge, was injured in a vehicle accident about 90 minutes after Cowles’ accident Saturday.
Cummings, who suffered four broken ribs, a severe head injury and a punctured lung from an accident at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, said from his hospital bed Sunday that he and Cowles had been close friends for over 50 years.
The two first met in kindergarten and practically lived at one another’s homes as children, he said.
“Bob and I grew up in kind of a tough neighborhood where lawyers usually don’t come from.. Our parents weren’t the country club people. He managed with a lot of hard work to get himself through college and law school and so did I,” Cummings said.
Cowles later worked for eight years as Cummings’ deputy prosecutor in the Anderson City Court before entering private practice.
Baylor said Cowles had become one of the most sought-after criminal defense attorneys in the area.
Cowles’ listing in an Anderson phone book lists drunk driving, drug charges, theft, identity fraud and battery as his law specialties.
Cummings said Cowles did more than criminal defense law. “He had a personal injury practice that he was very proud of.”
Cowles’ ad also lists that he specialized in auto and motorcycle accidents and wrongful death suits.
Cummings said Cowles had a long, proud history in Anderson. “He was a drum major in the Anderson High School band in 1973 and the organizer for our class reunions. He was still always very proud of that selection and having that honor.”
Though Cowles left Anderson in the late 1970s to pursue his education in law, he returned in 1994 and moved into the home he grew up in, Cummings said.
Due to his recent marriage, these last six months for Cowles, Cummings said, were happy ones. “I would say that he was a good friend and a good guy, and I think probably what’s as tragic as anything is his most recent marriage. It’s probably been the happiest time of his life. I don’t think he’d ever been happier in his life.”
Though he is recovering from injuries from his own accident, Cummings is planning to be out of the hospital in time for his friend’s funeral. “I will definitely be there but I’ve not heard about any of the arrangements, but I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
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