Opinions May 5, 2017

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday:
United States of America v. Charles Petrunak
16-3631
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge William T. Lawrence.
Criminal. Affirms Charles Petrunak’s convictions of three counts of making and subscribing false and fraudulent IRS forms and his sentence to 24 months’ imprisonment. Finds the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain evidence and did not err in calculating Petrunak’s sentence.

Friday’s opinions
Indiana Supreme Court
Trondo L. Humphrey v. State of Indiana
48S02-1609-PC-480
Post-conviction. Reverses denial of petition for post-conviction relief. Finds Trondo Humphrey has shown the evidence leads unerringly and unmistakably to a conclusion opposite that reached by the post-conviction court. Remands for a new trial. Justices Mark Massa and Geoffrey Slaughter concur with separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Melvin Wolf v. State of Indiana
10A01-1607-CR-1560
Criminal. Affirms Melvin Wolf’s conviction of Class A misdemeanor battery. Finds the state presented sufficient evidence to negate Wolf’s claim of self-defense and the incredible dubiosity rule was inapplicable to Kevin Blue’s testimony.

Jecori M. Jeffries v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
79A02-1612-CR-2792
Criminal. Affirms Jecori Jeffries’ sentence to five years, with one year on community corrections and one year suspended to probation, for his conviction of Level 5 felony carrying a handgun while having a prior felony conviction. Finds Jeffries’ sentence is not inappropriate.

Menard, Inc. v. Reba Lane (mem. dec.)
45A03-1606-CT-1283
Civil tort. Grants rehearing to revise the language used to describe the standard of review in the original Indiana Court of Appeals opinion. Affirms the original result in all other respects.

Victor M. Rivera v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
02A04-1611-CR-2625
Criminal. Affirms Victor M. Rivera’s conviction of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent and sentence to 2 ½ years. Finds the evidence is sufficient to support Rivera’s conviction, the Allen Superior Court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing River, and he failed to carry his burden to show that his sentence is inappropriate.

Buddy J. Livesay v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
85A02-1610-CR-2462
Criminal. Affirms Buddy J. Livesay’s convictions of one count of Level 5 felony criminal confinement and one count of Level 6 felony domestic battery. Finds the Wabash Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the state to present the testimony of a rebuttal witness who was not included on the witness list before trial or by denying Livesay’s motion for mistrial.

American Heritage Banco, Inc. v. John Pichon, Jr. (mem. dec.)
17A05-1606-PL-1306
Civil plenary. Affirms the negative judgment against American Heritage Banco after the DeKalb Superior Court concluded the bank was not entitled to judgment against John Pichon Jr. for an alleged amount due on a $650,000 promissory note. The findings support the trial court’s conclusion that AHB did not meet its burden of establishing any balance due on the note.

Bryant L. White v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
53A01-1701-CR-186
Criminal. Affirms the denial of Bryant White’s motion for the return of cash seized from him for past-due child support in a criminal case. Finds the criminal case was not the proper case in which to challenge the Income Withholding Orders and that by the time White sought return of his property, it was no longer in the possession of the Bloomington Police Department.

Merisha A. Bradtmueller v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
02A03-1609-CR-2234
Criminal. Affirms the Allen Superior Court’s order that Merisha A. Bradtmueller serve eight years of her suspended sentence, plus two years suspended, following the revocation of her probation. Finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion.

In the Matter of: M.J., Minor Child, and K.M., Mother v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
65A01-1612-JC-2786
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the Posey Circuit Court’s order determining that M.J. is a child in need of services. Finds the judgment reached by the trial court was not clearly erroneous.

In the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of D.S. (Minor Child): A.S. (Father) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
45A03-1611-JT-2573
Juvenile termination of parental rights. Affirms the termination of A.S.’s relationship with his child, D.S. Finds there is sufficient evidence to support the termination.