Opinions June 12, 2020

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday
USA v. Terrance Brasher
18-1997
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, New Albany Division. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
Criminal. Affirms Terrance Brasher’s sentence of life in prison for conviction of engaging in a conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Finds no merit to any of Brasher’s arguments against his conviction and sentence, including that there was a fatal variance between the conspiracy as charged and the proof at trial, among others.

Friday’s opinions
Indiana Supreme Court
Bayer Corporation, et al. v. Rene Leach, et al.
20S-CT-354
Civil tort. Grants transfer and remands to the Indiana Court of Appeals claims brought by 36 women who filed a product liability suit against Bayer Corporation, alleging multiple claims related to the Essure birth-control device that Bayer manufactured. Finds that the COA should have addressed the merits of all the women’s claims and not just one.

Indiana Court of Appeals
In Re: The Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of J.T. (Minor Child); M.P. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
19A-JT-2457
Juvenile termination. Affirms the termination of M.P.’s parent-child relationship with her son, J.T. Finds sufficient evidence to support the Lake Superior Court’s decision to terminate the parent-child relationship.

Corey R. Rhoton v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-2851
Criminal. Affirms in part, reverses in part Corey Rhoton’s convictions of 10 counts of child molesting.  Finds the Clinton Circuit Court acted within its discretion when it denied Rhoton’s motion for severance. However, the state failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that Rhoton committed Level 1 felony child molesting as charged in Counts 5 and 6. Reverses his Level 1 felony child molesting convictions, and remands the case to the trial court to vacate its entry of judgment on Counts 5 and 6 and resentence Rhoton accordingly.

William Harvey Ellis, Sr. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-2349
Criminal. Dismisses William Ellis Sr.’s appeal of the Allen Superior Court’s order denying his motion to suspend the remaining portion of his 60-year murder sentence. Finds Ellis has failed to timely file his notice of appeal and that there is no extraordinary compelling reasons to restore his forfeited right to the appeal.

Daniel E. Grider v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-2662
Criminal. Affirms Daniel Grider’s two-year sentence for conviction of Level 6 felony invasion of privacy. Finds the evidence identifying Grider’s voice was sufficient to support his conviction and his sentence was not inappropriate.

Dominique Laray Davis v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-1182
Criminal. Affirms Dominique Davis’ conviction of Class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license. Finds the state presented sufficient evidence in Marion Superior Court to support Davis’ conviction. However, finds the trial court abused its discretion by ordering Davis to pay the public defender fee without first making a finding regarding ability to pay. Reverses the trial court’s imposition of the public defender fee. Remands for a determination of Davis’ ability to pay.

Gerardo Avila-Arroyo v. Tania Torres (mem. dec.)
19A-DR-2723
Domestic relations. Affirms in part, reverses in part the Hendricks Superior Court’s dissolution decree, custody order and property settlement for Tania Torres against Gerardo Avila-Arroyo based on the information submitted by Tania. Finds Avila-Arroyo has not shown that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for relief from judgment. However, finds the trial court erred in calculating child support. Reverses the trial court’s child support order and remands for recalculation based on the parties’ respective weekly incomes.

Tilibua Elizabeth Springs v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-2955
Criminal. Affirms Tilibua Springs’ 90-day sentence in community corrections for conviction in Tippecanoe Superior Court of Class A misdemeanor false informing. The panel was not persuaded of fundamental error regarding the location of a service dog during the trial or the lack of a specific jury instruction regarding the dog. Finds sufficient evidence supports the conviction.

In the Matter of K.J. (Child in Need of Services): C.J. (Father) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
19A-JC-2760
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the adjudication of C.J.’s child, K.J., to be a child in need of services. Finds the adjudication was not clearly erroneous based on sufficient evidence that child was seriously endangered by parents’ actions at the time of removal, child’s need for safety was unmet, and parents were unlikely to be able to meet child’s need for safety without intervention of the Madison Circuit Court.

Breelyn Finegan v. Benjamin Finegan (mem. dec.)
19A-DR-2619
Domestic relations. Affirms that the Hamilton Circuit Court did not clearly err in modifying legal custody of Breelyn and Benjamin Finegan’s child, K.F. Finds that the trial court applied the proper legal standard in determining legal custody of the parties’ children and did not abuse its discretion in modifying legal custody.

Tameika A. Boyd v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
20A-CR-53
Criminal. Affirms Tameika Boyd’s conviction of Level 5 felony battery. Finds Boyd has not shown that the Allen Superior Court misapplied the law to the evidence and that sufficient evidence supports Boyd’s conviction.

J.C. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-JV-2636
Juvenile. Affirms the St. Joseph Probate Court’s modified disposition orders awarding wardship of juvenile J.C. to the Indiana Department of Correction with placement at a juvenile facility. Finds the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion by modifying the disposition orders.