Court opinions

Indiana Court of Appeals
Mahari Mrach Oukbu and Nitsihiti Abraham v. Amazon, et. al.
24A-CT-254
Civil tort. Reverses the Hamilton Superior Court’s granting of judgment for Amazon and its conclusion that Amazon did not owe Mahari Oukbu a duty under Indiana law.  Finds Oukbu’s complaint was sufficient to demonstrate that Amazon owed a duty of reasonable care to Oukbu, and that Amazon’s actions—or inactions—created a condition that made passage unsafe on the abutting public road. Also finds that the trial court erred in granting Amazon’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Judge Paul Mathias concurs with a separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Nathaniel Jordan v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1780
Criminal. Affirms Nathaniel Jordan’s convictions in Delaware Circuit Court of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death, Level 5 felony battery, and three counts of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent and his 41-year prison sentence. Finds that any prosecutorial misconduct in closing arguments did not rise to fundamental error. Also finds Jordan has failed to show that his 41-year sentence, which is five years above the advisory level for his collective crimes, is an outlier.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Jeremy R. Basso v. State of Indiana
24A-CR-500
Criminal. Reverses the Shelby Superior Court’s court denial of Indiana State Trooper Jeremy Basso’s motion to dismiss charges of perjury and official misconduct. Finds that the trial court abused its discretion by denying the motion to dismiss. Also finds that the facts of this case do not constitute perjury, and therefore the facts necessarily do not constitute official misconduct.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Kelly L. Gillespie v. State of Indiana
23A-PC-2494
Post conviction relief. Reverses the Orange Circuit Court’s denial of Kelly Gillespie’s petition for post conviction relief after he was convicted of Level 4 felony possession of methamphetamine, Level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, and Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Finds Gillespie’s counsel’s errors are sufficient to undermine the appellate court’s confidence in the verdict rendered in this case.  Also finds Gillespie has shown the evidence leads unerringly and unmistakably to a conclusion opposite that reached by the post conviction court. Remands the case for a new trial.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Brian A. Batta v. Christina S. Batta
24A-DR-192
Domestic relations. Reverses the Tippecanoe Superior Court’s order determining the amount of Brian Batta’s child support arrearage. Finds the trial court erred in denying Batta a credit against his existing support arrearage for the lump-sum payments of retroactive Social Security Disability benefits and for all of the periodic SSD benefit payments received to date by his children or by Christina Batta on their behalf. Remands for further proceedings and a new order calculating the father’s current arrearage.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Royce A. Pruitt v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-2404
Criminal. Affirms a Marion Superior Court jury’s finding Royce Pruitt guilty of Level 1 felony child molesting and the trial court’s sentencing him to 25 years of incarceration, with five years suspended and three on sex-offender probation. Finds that that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Pruitt’s non-party request for production and concluding that it did not need to conduct an in-camera review of the Indiana Department of Child Services’ reports.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Gage Peters v. Dennis J. Quakenbush, II, and Christina Reagle
24A-PL-405
Civil plenary. Affirms the Hamilton Superior Court’s judgment in favor of Hamilton County Sheriff Dennis J. Quakenbush, II and the Indiana Department of Correction’s motion to dismiss Gage Peters’ complaint seeking a declaration that, under Indiana law, he is required to register as a sex offender only for a period of 10 years. Finds Florida imposed a lawful lifetime registration requirement, and Peters was subject to it, pursuant to the other-jurisdiction provision, when he moved to Indiana. Also finds that the plain language of the other-jurisdiction provision compels registration for individuals with out-of-state registration obligations regardless of the source of those obligations.  Judge L. Mark Bailey concurs in result with separate opinion. Judge Paul Mathias dissents with separate opinion.

The following opinion was published after IL’s deadline Wednesday:
7^th Circuit Court of Appeals
Rene Galvan, Jr. v. State of Indiana and Joanie Crum, Regional Manager, in her official and individual capacities
22-2462
Civil. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge Sarah Evans Barker. Affirms the district court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the State of Indiana and Joanie Crum against claims alleged by Rene Galvan, Jr. that he was terminated from employment based on his race and sex and was retaliated against based on his complaints of discrimination. Finds the record reveals complaints regarding Galvan’s job performance by third parties who interacted with him, and he has not argued that those complainants themselves possessed any discriminatory motive. Also finds Galvan has failed to identify any other circumstantial evidence in the record that, considered in the totality of the record as a whole, would support an inference of race or sex discrimination.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Brookston Resources, Inc., an Illinois Corporation v. State of Indiana Department of Natural Resources
23A-MI-2971
Miscellaneous. Affirms the Spencer Circuit Court’s denial of Brookston Resources’ petition for judicial review regarding Indiana notices of violation issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources regarding three of Brookston’s oil wells. Finds that the relevant statutes and regulations allow the department to conduct file reviews of the wells at issue every five years, and those file reviews include a consideration of the abandoned wells. Also finds as Brookston never obtained injection authorization regarding its wells, any change in the injection rate as a result of the file review would not amount to a modification of the permit. Finally, finds the department’s determination that the abandoned wells have the potential to cause or contribute to the migration of injection fluids into underground sources of drinking water due to inadequate construction or plugging is supported by substantial evidence.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Michael Steury v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-2380
Criminal. Affirms Michael Steury’s convictions in Allen Superior Court of Level 3 felony rape and Level 6 felony sexual battery. Finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Steury’s second proposed jury instruction because the term “unaware” in the rape statute does not have a technical or legal definition different from its plain and ordinary meaning and the proposed instruction risked confusing the jury. Also finds the trial court also did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Steury’s third proposed instruction because the content of that instruction was covered by the other instructions given by the trial court and the instruction conflated the elements of Count II and Count III. Finally, finds the state presented sufficient evidence to sustain Steury’s convictions.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Maurice McGraw, Jr. v. State of Indiana
24A-CR-16
Criminal. Affirms Maurice McGraw’s convictions in Marion Superior Court of Level 5 felony domestic battery causing serious bodily injury and Level 6 felony domestic battery occurring in the presence of a child, and his sentence of six year in prison with three years suspended to probation. Finds McGraw has failed to establish a substantive double-jeopardy violation.  Judge Terry Crone concurs with opinion and Judge Elizabeth Tavitas concurs in part and dissents in part with opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Michael DeGrado, Sr. v. Kari A. DeGrado
24A-DC-187
Domestic relations with children. Affirms the Lake Superior Court’s granting of Michael DeGrado’s petition to modify his child support payments to Kari DeGrado. Finds that the trial court should have permitted Michael DeGrado to present argument and evidence regarding the extracurricular expenses. Reverses the trial court’s judgment to the extent that it refused to consider this issue. Remands with instructions that the trial court consider the issue of the parents’ share of extracurricular expenses. Also finds that the father has failed to establish clear error with regard to the issue of his reimbursed expenses.

Indiana Supreme Court
In the Matter of Robert T. Miller
24S-DI-236
Attorney discipline. Orders Robert Miller to be suspended for 120 days from the practice of law in Indiana, beginning Oct. 11, with automatic reinstatement. Finds Miller, as a staff attorney with the Indiana Department of Child Services, engaged in attorney misconduct by signing family case managers’ names to child in need of services petitions without their knowledge or consent. Also finds Miller’s misconduct had the potential for significant injury due to the fundamental interests at stake in CHINS proceedings. 

Indiana Supreme Court
Cave Quarries, Inc. v. Warex LLC
24S‐CT‐39
Civil tort. Affirms the Orange Circuit Court’s denial of Cave Quarries’ motion for summary judgment. Finds Indiana law has long treated blasting as an abnormally dangerous activity subject to strict liability for damage to neighbors and bystanders. Also finds the court does not extend strict liability for blasting damage to a customer who participated in the blasting by hiring the defendant to conduct the explosion. Remands for the trial court to enter judgment for Warex and against Cave Quarries on count one of Cave Quarries’ complaint for damages alleging a strict liability claim, and to proceed on Cave Quarries’ negligence claim in count two.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Nina Cahill and Kenneth S. Davis v. Charity Davis, Baptist Healthcare System, Inc., and Baptist Health Medical Group, Inc.
23A-PL-1682
Civil plenary. Affirms the Floyd Circuit Court’s grant of summary judgment to Baptist Healthcare Systems and Baptist Health Medical Group, Inc.  Finds Nina Cahill and Kenneth Davis had the burden to demonstrate they could avoid the statute of limitations for a claim sounding in “ordinary negligence,’ failed to cite the tolling statute in the trial court and failed to provide cogent argument regarding why a tolling provision from the Medical Malpractice Act should toll the statute of limitations for a lawsuit that asserts only claims of ordinary negligence. Also finds Baptist made a prima facie showing that it was entitled to summary judgment because the plaintiffs failed to file their ordinary negligence actions against Baptist within the two-year statute of limitations period for negligence actions.

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals
Demona Freeman v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC and Bank of New York Mellon
23-2512
Civil. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. Amended on petition for rehearing. Affirms the district court’s dismissal of Demona Freeman’s Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claims. Finds Freeman failed to state an FCRA claim and lacks standing to bring an FDCPA claim.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Kenneth Ratliff v. State of Indiana
24A-CR-107
Criminal. Affirms Kenneth Ratliff’s affirm Ratliff’s convictions and sentences in Porter Superior Court  for Level 3 felony burglary and Level 3 felony rape, with Ratliff to serve 12 years on his Level 3 felony burglary conviction and 16 years on the Level 3 felony rape conviction, with three of those 16 years suspended to probation and the sentences to be served consecutively.. Reverses his conviction for Class A misdemeanor battery. Remands with instructions for the trial court to vacate that conviction and its sentence.

Indiana Tax Court
John E. Sparre v. St. Joseph County Assessor
23T-TA-18
Tax. Affirms he Indiana Board of Tax Review’s final determination that left unchanged John Sparre’s 2019, 2020, and 2021 property tax assessments and concluded that Sparre’s constitutional claims lacked merit and were unsupported by the evidence. Finds Sparre’s claims that the Indiana board’s procedures violated his rights under the First and Seventh Amendments to the United States Constitution are contrary to law. Also finds Sparre’s equal protection claims that Indiana’s property tax system, both generally and as applied to his property, are unavailing because they were unsupported by substantial and reliable evidence.

Indiana Court of Appeals
V.L. Davis Properties v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, as Indenture Trustee, on Behalf of the holders of the Accredited Mortgage Loan Trust 2004-3 Asset Backed Notes
23A-MF-2224
Mortgage foreclosure. Affirms the Jennings Superior Court’s denial of the motion to correct error that V.L. Davis Properties filed after the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Deutsche Bank National Trust Company and entered a decree of foreclosure related to a property on Blossom Court in North Vernon. Finds the trial court did not have personal jurisdiction over Deutsche Bank because CSL Community Association Inc. did not serve Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, and therefore the foreclosure decree entered in that case did not extinguish the bank’s interest.

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals
Indiana Green Party, et al. v. Diego Morales
23-2756
Civil. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge James Sweeney. Affirms the district court’s granting of summary judgment to the defendant, Indiana’s Secretary of State Diego Morales. Finds that U.S. Supreme Court and 7th Circuit precedent, requiring the signatures of 2 percent of the electorate, was constitutionally permissible and that the June 30 filing deadline for submitting signatures to the counties was also permissible. Also finds states have broad authority to impose reasonable, nondiscriminatory restrictions on access to the ballot. Finally, finds the ballot access restrictions challenged in the case easily pass the scrutiny that the U.S. Supreme Court and the 7^th Circuit have employed in similar cases.