INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's lieutenant governor assumedthe duties of acting governor as Gov. Frank O'Bannon lay incritical condition Tuesday following a stroke.
Doctors on Tuesday said that O'Bannon, 73, had evidence ofbrain damage and that it was too soon to say whether he wouldrecover. They said he would probably remain in an induced coma forseveral days.
State lawmakers on Tuesday held off invoking a processspelled out in the state constitution for formally transferringauthority to Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan.
Kernan said he believed he could conduct the state's businesswithout a formal transfer, but Republican Sen. President Pro TemRobert Garton said he and Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauercould initiate the process, perhaps as early as Wednesday.
They would need to send a petition to the Indiana SupremeCourt for its approval.
The legislative leaders have asked for a written statementoutlining O'Bannon's condition from his attending physician. Theysaid they also want the O'Bannon family's approval beforeproceeding.
O'Bannon, a Democrat in his second term, was found in hispajamas, unconscious and near death, on the floor of his Chicagohotel room Monday morning. He had suffered a type of stroke thatinvolves bleeding in the brain.
In Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital spokeswoman KellySullivan said doctors saw evidence of brain damage, but the extentof it was not yet clear. The effects of such damage could rangefrom slurred speech to paralysis.
O'Bannon is expected to remain under sedation for at leastseveral days. Patients with such injuries are often placed indrug-induced comas to help relieve the pressure on the brain andallow it to rest and heal.
Kernan became acting governor under a provision in the stateconstitution that allows him to temporarily carry on businesswithout a formal transfer of power.
''I think all of us are in state of disbelief that this couldhappen to someone who is so vital, who has so much energy,'' Kernansaid. ''But at the same time, we've got to realize, in his absence,it is our responsibility -- and it is exactly what he would tell us-- that we need to step up.''
The acting governor met with Tim Joyce, the governor's chiefof staff, who said they had discussed how to carry on the office'sday-to-day duties -- everything from reviewing agency vacancies toissuing proclamations.
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