Opinions March 25, 2024

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion published after IL’s deadline Friday:
Bulk Transport Corp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund and its Trustees
23-1563 & 23-1917
Civil. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. Judge Philip P. Simon. Affirms the district court’s decision on attorney fees. Reverses the district court’s decision on its merits. Remands with instructions to order the Pension Fund to repay the withdrawal liability it collected from Bulk Transport. Finds Bulk Transport’s arguments are correct.

Kelly J. Chavez v. Martin J. O’Malley
23-1196
Civil. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division. Judge William C. Lee. Affirms the district court’s judgment. Finds Sarah Holmes’s vocational expert testimony provided substantial evidence for the administrative law judge’s finding that Kelly Chavez could perform jobs that existed in significant numbers in the economy. Also finds ALJ’s decision aligns with the court’s precedent, and the ALJ appropriately addressed Chavez’s objections.

Monday opinions

Indiana Court of Appeals
David C. Wanke Sr. v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-2423
Criminal. Reverses David C. Wanke Sr.’s convictions for Level 1 felony child molesting and his adjudication as a habitual offender. Finds the Knox Superior Court’s admission of N.W.’s out-of-court statements to Nurse Courtney Benson to be erroneous. Also finds the trial court erred when it permitted Benson to testify to N.W.’s statements and that retrial is not prohibited. Remands for further proceedings.

Jack Wayne Ferman v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1916
Criminal. Affirms the Fayette Circuit Court’s denial of Jack Ferman’s motion for discharge. Finds because the state still had a week to bring Ferman to trial when he moved for discharge, the trial court properly denied his motion for discharge.

P.D. v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (mem. dec.)
23A-EX-2464
Administrative. Affirms the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s decision affirming the administrative law judge’s dismissal of P.D.’s appeal of the denial of her request for waiver of unemployment insurance benefit overpayment. Finds P.D. has waived appellate review.

Aneta K. Mucha and Krzysztof Rzadkosz v. NextGear Capital Inc. (mem. dec.)
23A-CC-2142
Civil collection. Affirms the Hamilton Superior Court’s judgment. Finds the defendants’ arguments meritless.

Chirico Media LLC v. Indiana Department of Transportation (mem. dec.)
23A-PL-2179
Civil plenary. Dismisses the appeal. Finds it could not grant Chirico Media LLC effective relief even if it were to agree with its argument about the original designation of the byway.

Darius K. Thomas v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-1260
Criminal. Affirms Darius K. Thomas’s conviction for murder and a firearm enhancement. Finds the Elkhart Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to instruct the jury on reckless homicide.

Royce Tillman v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-2621
Criminal. Affirms the revocation of Royce Tillman’s probation. Finds the Howard Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion in revoking Tillman’s probation.

Elrice Lynn Williams v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-681
Criminal. Affirms Elrice Lynn Williams convictions for murder, three counts of Level 3 felony armed robbery, Level 4 felony attempted burglary and Level 4 felony burglary. Finds Williams convictions do not violate Indiana’s prohibition against double jeopardy. Also finds the Lake Superior Court did not abuse its discretion in admitting into evidence testimony of Williams’s gang affiliation after Williams made an issue of it in his cross-examination of the witness.

Shawn Lee Herring v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-695
Criminal. Affirms Shawn Lee Herring’s 100-year sentence for five counts of child molesting and one count of sexual misconduct with a minor. Finds Herring has waived his evidentiary argument and that his sentence is not inappropriate.

In the Matter of I.B. (Minor Child), Child in Need of Services and R.B. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
23A-JC-2314
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the Jackson Superior Court’s order adjudicating I.B. as a child in need of services. Finds sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s determination that I.B was not receiving needed care and treatment that were unlikely to be provided without the coercive intervention of the court.

In the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: K.B., Ka.M., O.T. (Minor Children) and K.M. (Mother) and P.B. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services and Kids’ Voice of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-JT-1726
Juvenile termination of parental rights. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s termination of K.M.’s parental rights over the three children and the termination of P.B.’s parental rights over K.B. and Ka.M. Finds Department of Child Services presented sufficient evidence to support the termination of P.B.’s parental rights over K.B. and Ka.M. and that he has not shown DCS violated his right to due process. Also finds termination of K.M.’s parental rights was in the children’s best interest.

In the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: A.B., Am.B. and M.B. (Minor Children) and L.B. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
23A-JT-2293
Juvenile termination of parental rights. Affirms the termination of L.B.’s parental rights to his three minor children. Finds L.B. failed to demonstrate that any discrepancy between the Madison Circuit Court’s oral and written termination orders require remand or that the trial court’s order is clearly erroneous.

Jennifer McLaughlin v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Company (mem. dec.)
23A-EX-2967
Administrative. Affirms the decision of the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Finds Jennifer McLaughlin had received notice of the hearing and was not denied a reasonable opportunity to participate in the hearing.