A juvenile’s delinquency adjudication for auto theft has been voided after a split Court of Appeals of Indiana found a trial court failed to ensure the child knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights when he admitted to the offense.
A home construction company that won a $58,500 verdict against a former client is also entitled to prejudgment interest and attorney fees, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has ruled, overturning a trial court’s denial.
The Hoosier attorney who sued to stop the federal student loan forgiveness program received a lesson in litigation from the federal judge presiding over the case: Don’t sue the wrong defendant.
A man who claimed that his home detention sentence was wrongly changed to placement in the Indiana Department of Correction did not sway the Court of Appeals of Indiana to rule in his favor.
A split appellate panel has reversed a teen’s delinquency adjudication for auto theft, finding insufficient evidence to support the adjudication.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Ryan L. Fisel v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-1279
Criminal. Affirms the Wells Superior Court’s correction of Ryan Fisel’s sentence from a direct placement on home detention to a commitment in the Department of Correction. Finds Fisel’s original sentence of a direct placement on home detention was not authorized by statute. Also finds the trial court had jurisdiction to correct the error and properly did so.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jalen Bonner v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
22A-CR-1187
Criminal. Affirms Jalen Bonner’s conviction of Level 1 felony attempted murder. Finds the state presented sufficient evidence to sustain Bonner’s conviction of attempted murder.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Lawerance Knighten v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
22A-CR-454
Criminal. Affirms Lawerance Knighten’s conviction of Level 1 felony child molesting. Finds the state did not commit fundamental error by engaging in prosecutorial misconduct during both voir dire and closing argument.
A ditch system dug nearly 100 years ago to drain Beaver Lake, formerly the largest natural lake in Indiana, is at the center of a legal battle between a 4,350-dairy cow CAFO and the neighboring Newton County residents.
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the latest reporting period.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jeremiah Jordyn Smith v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-364
Criminal. Reverses the Tippecanoe Superior Court’s grant of the state’s motion to revoke the pretrial diversion agreement entered into with Jeremiah Jordyn Smith. Finds Smith’s diversion agreement was supported by consideration and the state was bound by its terms. Also finds revoking Smith’s diversion agreement without cause was a breach of the agreement’s terms. Remands with instructions to dismiss the case against Smith with prejudice.
The state must keep its end of the deal in a pretrial diversion agreement entered into by a man facing sex offense-related charges, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has ruled, reversing an order allowing the state to withdraw the agreement.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
People for Community, Inc./PFC, Isaac Fincher v. City of Fort Wayne Neighborhood Code Compliance
22A-MI-447
Miscellaneous. Affirms the dismissal of the complaint filed by Rev. Isaac Fincher in Allen Circuit Court on behalf of People for Community Inc. Finds PFC’s argument fails on the merits because the trial court gave PFC ample opportunities to secure counsel. Concludes the COA cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to give PFC even more time to secure counsel as it gave PFC ample time to do so.
A mother and father whose transgender teen was removed from their home due to allegations of abuse has failed to convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana that their rights as parents were infringed upon when the court intervened.
A former South Bend high school athletic director has failed to convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that he wasn’t hired for a new job because he is white.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a reduction in attorney fees of more than 50% for an Indiana attorney who had been previously admonished by the appellate court for trying to up his compensation.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Travis Gates
21-3314
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Criminal. Affirms Travis Gates’ four-year sentence for his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Finds Gates’ sentence was procedurally sound and substantively reasonable.
A Bargersville man will have another chance to convince a jury he wasn’t trying to kill a police officer when he drunkenly fired a handgun in his apartment complex after the officer arrived on scene.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal seeking to give people born in American Samoa U.S. citizenship.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Z.T. v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (mem. dec.)
22A-EX-1360
Agency action. Affirms the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s dismissal of Z.T.’s appeal of an administrative law judge’s denial of her unemployment claim on the basis that she left employment without good cause in connection with the work. Finds Z.T. filed her appeal with the review board well beyond 15 days following notification of the ALJ’s decision, so the board had no jurisdiction to review that decision and thus properly dismissed Z.T.’s untimely appeal.