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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer in six of 32 cases reviewed in the week ending Dec. 14, according to the transfer disposition list posted Monday on the court website.
Among the cases the court will hear is Mary Elizabeth Santelli, as Administrator of the Estate of James F. Santelli v. Abu M. Rahmatullah, individually, and d/b/a Super 8 Motel, 49S04-1212-CT-667. The case dates to a 2005 murder of a hotel guest by a former employee who gained entry to the guest’s room with a keycard he retained after he left employment.
The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded to the Marion Superior Court an award in excess of $2 million to the estate for a new trial. Questions arising on the appeal, in which both the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana and the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association filed amicus briefs, include whether the state’s Comparative Fault Act abrogates the common law very duty doctrine and whether a jury should have been allowed to allocate fault to the victim.
Also on the transfer docket was Cory Heinzman v. State of Indiana, 29S02-1212-CR-678, in which justices remanded for re-entry of a sentence for Cory Heinzman, a former child protective services caseworker in Hamilton County convicted of multiple charges of official misconduct and sex offenses against minors.
Also granted transfer were:
- State of Indiana v. Russell Oney, 49S05-1212-CR-668
- Jamar Washington v. State of Indiana, 49S02-1212-CR-669
- Andrew Humphreys v. State of Indiana, 79S04-1212-CR-670
- Hassan Alsheik v. Alice Guerrero, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of I.A., Deceased, 45S04-1212-CT-675, one of four opinions issued Dec. 12 regarding prejudgment interest.
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