Marion County property assessment reductions upheld
The Indiana Tax Court affirmed the decision by the Indiana Board of Tax Review to reduce the total assessed value of six parcels in an Indianapolis shopping center by several million dollars.
Court opinions
Articles
Court ordered to reconsider expungement petition
An illegible handwritten note next to a docket entry in a 1976 conviction is not enough to support the trial court’s decision to deny a man’s expungement petition because he had not paid $37 in court costs. The Indiana Court of Appeals ordered the trial court to reconsider the man’s petition.
Sentence upheld, but restitution order needs a second look
The man ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to his ex-wife following misdemeanor convictions of invasion of privacy and criminal mischief will get a new hearing on the matter after the Court of Appeals sent the case back to the trial court.
Estate loses on appeal but will get refund
The Indiana Tax Court reversed a probate court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of an estate on a claim seeking a refund of nearly $645,000 paid in inheritance tax, but the judge did find the estate is entitled to approximately $58,000 as a refund.
COA: Case belongs in Tax Court
A company owner seeking relief from a tax judgment should not have filed in county court, but with the Indiana Tax Court, the Court of Appeals concluded Wednesday. It ordered the case dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
Absent agreement, man can’t be ordered to pay restitution if not convicted
A man who pleaded guilty to one count of theft for stealing grain, but admitted to stealing from the victim on other occasions, had his restitution amount reduced from nearly $150,000 to just around $28,000.
COA divided over denial of deposition request
The Indiana Court of Appeals was split in a decision Wednesday regarding whether a man on trial for a drug charge should have been allowed to depose two witnesses prior to trial. The judges didn’t agree as to which caselaw is controlling in the matter.
Court: Man participated in meth manufacturing
A man’s conviction in Whitley County for dealing in methamphetamine by manufacturing was upheld by the Court of Appeals Wednesday. There is evidence that the man knowingly or intentionally aided an acquaintance in making methamphetamine in the home the defendant shared with his girlfriend.
COA splits over terminating parental rights to twins
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the decision to terminate the parental rights of a mother to her twin daughters based on insufficient evidence, although one judge believed the termination should have been upheld. The court unanimously affirmed the decision to end her parental rights to her son.
Court: Policy required notice to title insurance company
A Greensburg couple who received two legal notices that their home was going into a tax sale never notified their title insurance company about the issue, which doomed their lawsuit. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment in favor of the title insurer.
Federal judge awards ex-jail inmate $225K in chokehold suit
A federal judge has awarded $225,000 to a former western Indiana jail inmate who alleged a jail officer put him in a chokehold and threw him to the ground.
Life without parole affirmed by Indiana Supreme Court
A Pike County man whose own expert witness raised doubts about his character failed to convince the Indiana Supreme Court he should at least be given the possibility of parole.
Supreme Court affirms death sentence for Floyd County man
Finding the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion during the selection of jurors for the murder trial of William Clyde Gibson II, the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed his death penalty sentence.
Post-judgment petitions for attorney fees permissible, COA rules
Even after a trial court has entered a judgment and the case is settled, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled parties can still make a new filing for attorney fees.
Judges split 3 ways on motorist’s ambiguous response to DUI test
An apparently intoxicated motorist’s ambiguous reply to an officer’s request to perform a chemical test has resulted in a new, strict standard affirmed by only one of three judges who heard the driver’s appeal.
Plaintiff loses appeal over judgment on student loan
The successor interest in a student loan after its originator filed bankruptcy is entitled to judgment in its favor to collect a delinquent student loan, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Juror’s Facebook link to victim’s family no cause for rape mistrial
A trial court properly denied a convicted rapist’s bid for a mistrial because a juror failed to disclose she was a Facebook friend with a relative of the victim, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Dissenting judge: Majority ‘needlessly prolongs’ divorce case
A divorce case remanded to the trial court for proceedings needlessly prolonged the litigation, a dissenting Court of Appeals judge wrote Tuesday.
Roommate’s liability in early exit from lease rightly decided
A woman who appealed a small claims court order against her former live-in boyfriend failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that he owed her more money for moving out before their apartment lease was up.
Man loses appeal over predator designation
A trial court properly denied a man’s motion for a declaratory judgment seeking to overturn a Department of Correction designation that he is a sexually violent predator and offender against children.