Opinions Aug. 31, 2022

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline on Tuesday.
Julie Greenbank v. Great American Assurance Company
21-2622
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Evansville Division. Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Affirms the Southern District Court of Indiana did not err in granting summary judgment to Great American Assurance Company against claims brought by horse owner Julie Greenbank. Finds the district court correctly dismissed Greenbank’s claims that Great American unreasonably refused to euthanize her injured race horse and unlawfully maintaining control over the horse. Finds Greenbank failed to show that Great American breached the insurance policy, that it acted in bad faith in performing a medical procedure on the horse, and that its continued care of the horse constituted tortious conversion, among other things.

Wednesday opinions
Indiana Supreme Court
Joshua Payne-Elliott v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Inc.
22S-CP-302
Civil Plenary. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s dismissal of Joshua Payne-Elliott’s lawsuit under Indiana Trial Rule 12(B)(6). Finds the church-autonomy which prohibits state interference into matters of internal church governance applies in this case. Modifies the trial court’s ruling to reflect he dismissal is without prejudice.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Xavier R. Garcia v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-691
Criminal. Affirms the denial of Xavier Garcia’s motion to withdraw guilty plea. Finds Garcia waived his challenge to the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea because he failed to provide a transcript of his guilty plea hearing for review.  Concludes the Adams Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion.

Jane Doe v. Indiana Department of Insurance and the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund
22A-CT-84
Civil tort. Affirms summary judgment for the Indiana Department of Insurance and the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund over Jane Doe, who was sexually assaulted by a nurse at Indiana University Ball Memorial Hospital. Finds the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act doesn’t apply to Doe’s claims for damages based on sexual assault.

Anthony E. Custer v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
21A-CR-2860
Criminal. Affirms Anthony Custer’s conviction of Level 1 felony attempted murder. Finds sufficient evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could have found Custer guilty of attempted murder. Finds the Whitley Circuit Court entered judgment of convictions of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder and the merger did not vacate either of those judgments. Remands to the trial court to vacate the Level 2 felony conspiracy to commit murder conviction.

Axel Domingo Diego v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
22A-CR-331
Criminal. Affirms Axel Domingo Diego’s convictions of Class A felony child molesting and Class C felony child molesting. Finds Domingo Diego is renewing a challenge already addressed by the Supreme Court on interlocutory appeal, and no new facts materially affect the question at issue. Applies the law-of-the-case doctrine and declines to revisit the issue.

Douglas Morris v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
21-PC-680
Post-conviction. Finds that although Douglas Morris’ appeal was untimely, his right to appeal can and should be revived because he didn’t receive an update on the status of his petition until two months after it was entered. In considering the merits of his appeal, the COA found the post-conviction court did not err in determining Morris’ trial counsel was not ineffective. Concludes Morris’ argument that the post-conviction court was biased is waived.

Marcus Z. Barber v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
22A-CR-258
Criminal. Reverses the Vanderburgh Circuit Court’s denial of Marcus Z. Barber’s motion to suppress evidence. Finds the state presented no evidence that the impoundment of Barber’s vehicle complied with an established police departmental routine or regulation. Concludes the inventory search of Barber’s vehicle after it was impounded violated his Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Remands with instructions to grant Barber’s motion.

Gabriel Cornelius West. Jr. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
21A-CR-2594
Criminal. Affirms Gabriel C. West Jr.’s convictions for murder and Level 2 robbery resulting in serious bodily injury. Finds the evidence of probative value was presented from which a reasonable jury could find West guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 2 felony.

Arthur Small and Executives, LLC v. Benjamin Osborne (mem dec.)
21A-PL-2568
Civil plenary. Affirms in part, reverses in part, remands. Finds Arthur Small materially misrepresented his interest in a real estate transaction with Benjamin Osborne. Find the trial court didn’t err when it found Small’s alleged misrepresentation was the proximate cause of the damage claimed by Osborne. Finds the evidence does not establish a nexus between the fraud and the loaned funds. As such, finds the trial court erred in imposing a constructive trust against Executives LLC.