In adopting a bright-line rule Tuesday, Indiana Supreme Court justices ruled that a meat plant accused of contributing to a serious crash owed no duty to the motoring public because the tall grass at issue was confined to the plant’s property.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Dustin R. Paul v. State of Indiana
21A-CR-166
Criminal. Affirms and reverses in part the the Howard Superior Court’s calculation and allocation of credit time for Dustin Paul in his three simultaneous causes. Finds the trial court erred with respect to credit time and remands for it to address those issues consistent with the COA’s opinion by focusing on the first sentence in his sequence of consecutive sentences. Otherwise fully affirms Paul’s sentencing orders.
A young man who was shot and seriously injured while working on a southern Indiana farm and then signed a series of releases protecting the defendants from liability in exchange for $5,000 will get a new day in court after the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned a grant of summary judgment.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has partially reversed for a man with three simultaneously pending cases on the calculation of his credit time, finding the trial court prolonged the time until the sentence in his first case could be satisfied.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Anthony Wilburn v. State of Indiana
20A-CR-1709
Criminal. Affirms and reverses in part the denial of Anthony Wilburn’s motion to exclude evidence and his conviction of Level 2 felony burglary. Finds the Huntington Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted a sergeant’s testimony as skilled witness opinion testimony. Also finds sufficient evidence to identify Wilburn as the perpetrator of the robbery. Finally, finds insufficient evidence to sustain Wilburn’s conviction for burglary of a business open to the public during business hours. Remands for the trial court to enter judgment of conviction for Level 3 felony robbery and to resentence Wilburn accordingly.
Evidence was sufficient to identify a Huntington man as the perpetrator of a liquor store robbery, but there wasn’t enough proof to sustain his conviction for breaking and entering in the same crime, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in a Monday reversal.
A former high-ranking election official violated federal law in 2016 when he granted requests by Kansas, Georgia and Alabama to modify the national voter registration form to require documentary proof of citizenship in those states, a federal judge ruled.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Olympic Financial Group, Inc. v. State of Indiana
21A-CR-1017
Criminal. Reverses the Jasper Superior Court’s order granting Indiana’s motion to turn seized money over to the federal government in the amount of $709,880. Finds the state failed to prove that the cash was properly seized pursuant to Indiana Code Chapter 34-24-1 and to show it was entitled to a turnover order under Indiana Code § 35-33-5-5(j). Also finds the trial court erred by granting the motion. Remands with instructions that the state reimburse Olympic Financial Group. Judge Nancy Vaidik concurs in result with separate opinion.
A juvenile court acted within its discretion when it awarded sole custody of a couple’s children to the father after the mother was arrested for multiple alcohol-related incidents and provided questionable living arrangements, the Court of Appeals has ruled.
The state must pay back more than $700,000 to a money services business who had cash seized following a traffic stop, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled, finding “no evidence whatsoever that a crime was committed.”
A trial court didn’t exceed its statutory authority when it sentenced a Howard County woman to more than 20 years for molesting her two young children, according to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed the Biden administration’s selective criteria on who should be deported to remain in effect, rejecting one of Texas’ challenges to the president’s immigration policies.
A collection agency didn’t violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it attempted to collect attorney fees and “fees-on-fees” from an Indianapolis woman who defaulted on a small debt to an Indiana hospital system, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
Indiana courts approach landowner liability cases by taking a broad approach to the type of plaintiff injured and the type of harm suffered. This avoids making landowners act as insurers to their patrons when the acts of third parties are involved. Yet the caselaw has not always been so clear.
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
Post-conviction relief will not be given to a convicted murderer who accused a prosecutor of suborned perjury and his appellate counsel of being ineffective, the Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed.
A trial court erred in awarding judgment to an automotive supplier over a recruiting company in a breach of contract complaint, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Indiana Court of Appeals
I.G. v. State of Indiana
21A-JV-00479
Juvenile. Reverses the Marion Superior Court’s judgment that juvenile I.G. was a delinquent child for committing what would be Class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license if committed by an adult. Finds that the odor of marijuana smelled by a police officer making a traffic stop of the vehicle, by itself, was not enough to establish probable cause to arrest I.G. for possessing marijuana. Finds the search of I.G. was not a valid search incident to arrest and the court erred in admitting the handgun into evidence.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Ryan Gordon Tracy v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
20A-CR-2052
Criminal. Affirms Ryan Tracy’s conviction of three counts of child molesting as a Level 1 felony and one count of child molesting as a Level 4 felony, and his aggregate 40-year sentence. Finds a nurse’s training and education qualified her as an expert with regard to sexual assault examinations, and the Shelby Superior Court didn’t abuse its discretion in allowing her expert testimony. Also finds Tracy’s sentence is not inappropriate.
An injunction against several provisions of Indiana law that tighten access to abortions was stayed Wednesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. A dissenting judge, however, blasted the majority’s position and state laws that “piously purport to protect women’s health” while “chip(ping) away” at longstanding abortion precedent.