Opinions March 24, 2022

The following Indiana Supreme Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Wednesday:
Andrew Conley v. State of Indiana
21S-PC-256
Post-conviction. Affirms the denial of Andrew Conley’s petition for post-conviction relief. Finds Conley did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel at his sentencing for conviction of murder. Also finds Conley has not met his burden to show that his counsel’s performance fell objectively below the prevailing professional norms or that he was prejudiced by any of counsel’s alleged errors. Chief Justice Loretta Rush concurs in result without separate opinion.

Thursday opinions
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Quantae A. Johnson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
21A-CR-441
Criminal. Affirms the denial of Quantae Johnson’s motion to modify his sentence after his community corrections placement and probation were revoked. Finds the Hamilton Superior Court did not abuse its discretion.

Charles Johnson v. Washington Police Department, Collin R. Cornelius, Sgt. Derrick R. Devine, Detective Sgt. Brandon M. Garland, Case A. Cummings, Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Hinderliter, Sheriff’s Deputy Steven M. Heshelman, Daviess County Prosecutor (mem. dec.)
21A-CT-1090
Civil tort. Affirms the dismissal of Charles Johnson’s civil suit against the law enforcement agencies, law enforcement employers and prosecutor involved in a dismissed case charging him with two felonies and two misdemeanors. Finds the Daviess Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion by granting Johnson a 30-day extension, rather than a 60-day extension, to respond to the Washington Police Department’s motion to dismiss. Also finds the trial court did not err in granting the motion to dismiss Johnson’s claims. Finally, finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion in not granting Johnson leave to amend his complaint.

Dustin Lee Walker v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
21A-CR-1651
Criminal. Affirms in part the calculation of Dustin Walker’s credit time at the time of his original sentencing and after the Vermillion Circuit Court revoked his probation and ordered him to serve his previously suspended sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction. Finds the trial court did not err in its allocation of pretrial credit but failed to give Walker credit for time he spent incarcerated while awaiting his probation hearing. Reverses and remands with instructions for the trial court to determine how much time Walker was incarcerated during the revocation of probation proceedings and to award him the appropriate amount of credit time.

In re the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: R.M., A.R., and C.R. (Minor Children) and Ad.R. (Mother), AD.R. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
21A-JT-1947
Juvenile termination of parental rights. Affirms the termination of mother Ad.R.’s parental rights to her three children. Finds the evidence supports the Madison Circuit Court’s conclusions that there is a reasonable probability that the conditions resulting in the children’s removal will not be remedied, and that termination is in the children’s best interests.

Ashlee Pollard v. Michael Pollard (mem. dec.)
21A-DR-2039
Domestic relations. Affirms the denial of wife Ashlee Pollard’s motion for a change of venue in a dissolution proceeding. Finds the Morgan Superior Court did not abuse its discretion.

M.H. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
21A-JV-2122
Juvenile. Affirms M.H.’s adjudication as a delinquent child for committing acts that would be intimidation as a Level 5 felony, battery as a Level 5 felony and carrying a handgun without a license when committed as an adult. Finds that any error in the admission of testimony was harmless.

In re the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship: K.S. (Minor Child), and C.S. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
21A-JT-2190
Juvenile termination of parental rights. Affirms the termination of mother C.S.’s parental rights to her son, K.S. Finds sufficient evidence supports the juvenile court’s termination order.

Kevin Martin v. Frank Vanihel, et al. (mem. dec.)
21A-CT-2210
Civil tort. Affirms the dismissal of Kevin Martin’s complaint. Finds Martin has waived appellate review of the dismissal because his violations of the Rules of Appellate Procedure are so flagrant and numerous that the Court of Appeals cannot discern the issues he presents on appeal.

In the Matter of S.R.L., Child in Need of Services; N.M. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
21A-JC-2419
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the adjudication of mother N.M.’s minor child S.R.L. as a child in need of services. Finds the Clark Circuit Court did not violate N.M.’s due process rights when it adjudicated S.R.L. as a CHINS. Also finds the CHINS determination is not clearly erroneous.