Articles

7th Circuit: No evidence officer was victim of racial discrimination

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on a St. Joseph County Police sergeant’s lawsuit claiming discrimination because he is African-American. The judges held the man was unable to prove discrimination after he was passed over for promotions or began working in the department’s property room.

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Justices decline to make bright-line rule on admission of coverage limits

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the admission of a couple’s uninsured motorist policy limits at a trial in which the couple sued its insurer to recover under that provision. But in doing so, the justices declined requests by the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association and the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana to adopt a bright-line rule on the admission of coverage limits.

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Judicial candidate serving as juror was not fundamental error

A man convicted of child molesting argued that an attorney and judicial candidate should not have been allowed to serve as a juror on his trial. But he failed to object to her placement on the jury at the time of the trial, and the Indiana Court of Appeals rejected his claim of fundamental error.

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COA orders foreclosed Golden Corral to be in sheriff’s sale

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the holding of a Lake County court that allowed the mortgage holder of a restaurant in Merrillville to immediately take possession of the parcel of land. Under Indiana law, the parcel should go into a sheriff’s sale, the majority held.

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COA upholds termination of mother’s parental rights

The Indiana Court of Appeals found no abuse of discretion by a trial court when it denied a mother’s request to continue her termination of parental rights hearing for several months, when she expected to be released from incarceration. The mother was unable to prove that she would definitely be out of jail at that time.

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Court erred in concluding vested title severed by tax sales

The Indiana Court of Appeals ordered judgment entered in favor of two families on their claim for adverse possession over a disputed tract of land in Pulaski County. The judges found the trial court erred when it found two tax sales involving the disputed property divested the adverse holders of their title to the real property.

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Panel splits over interpretation of corrupt business influence statute

The majority on a Court of Appeals panel tossed out a man’s corrupt business influence conviction after finding his criminal activity did not pose a threat of future criminal conduct. But the dissenting judge noted the majority was inserting a new element into the Indiana statute that does not exist.

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Tax Court orders more proceedings on sale of racetrack and card club

The Indiana Department of State Revenue scored a partial victory in Tax Court on Wednesday when the court granted the agency’s motion for summary judgment regarding whether I.C. 6-3-2-2.2 applied in its taxing of a portion of the gain generated by a Las Vegas-based corporation’s sale of a horse racetrack and card club to an out-of-state company. But there are issues of genuine material fact as to whether the department correctly classified Pinnacle Entertainment’s gain as business income.

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Inconsistency by trial court leads to partial reversal

Because a trial court hearing a child support matter at first declined to impute the income of the stepfather to the child’s mother, but later treated their income as the same when it came to the cost of her child’s health insurance, the Indiana Court of Appeals partially reversed a Hamilton Superior Court’s 2014 ruling.

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Justices: Adoption agency didn’t breach duty to couple

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled 4-1 in favor of an adoption agency that it did not have any duties with respect to the putative father registry in excess of statutory requirements. A couple who adopted a baby through the agency – only later to have her removed from their care after the biological father contested the adoption – sued the agency alleging negligence.

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