Justices take case alleging Wabash hazing

The Indiana Supreme Court will determine whether a college and a fraternity are liable for injuries a student received as a result of a prank, and whether the incident rises to hazing.

Justices on Monday agreed to hear Brian Yost v. Wabash College, Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Inc., Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity – Indiana Gamma Chapter at Wabash College, and Nathan Cravens, 54A01-1201-CT-31, which divided a Court of Appeals panel. The majority found that a “showering” episode in which four fraternity brothers forcibly carried Yost to the shower and ran water on him was not hazing. Judge Nancy Vaidik dissented.

Yost said he was placed in a chokehold, lost consciousness and was injured during the showering, and he eventually withdrew from college.

Justices on Monday also granted transfer in four other cases. They are:

• Phillip T. Billingsley v. State of Indiana, 02A05-1204-CR-216, in which a man convicted of Class D felony possession of marijuana appeals had his motion to suppress evidence denied.
• American Cold Storage, et al. v. The City of Boonville, 87A01-1112-PL-610, in which a divided appeals court reversed a trial court decision upholding an annexation by the city, holding that the trial court erred by counting separate state-owned parcels of a highway for purposes of remonstrance.
• Patrick Austin v. State of Indiana, 20A03-1112-CR-588, in which the Court of Appeals rejected Patrick Austin’s bid to overturn two Class A felony possession of cocaine convictions because he was denied a speedy trial and because a tendered jury instruction was rejected.
•  In the Matter of the Adoption of Minor Children: C.B.M. and C.R.M.: C.A.B. v. J.D.M. and K.L.M., 37A03-1204-AD-149, in which an appellate panel reversed a trial court and ruled that a birth mother was denied due process when her children were adopted while an appeal of her termination of parental rights was pending.

Justices declined to grant transfer in 20 cases. Transfers for the week ending March 8 may be viewed here.