Courts

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a defendant’s drug convictions, but found the trial court erred in sentencing him. As a result, the appellate court reduced his sentence by 33 years. In Gary L. Williams Jr. v. State of Indiana, No. 39A04-0708-CR-481, Williams appealed his convictions of and his 73-year sentence for dealing in cocaine, and possession of cocaine and marijuana. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed Williams’ convictions on two counts of dealing in cocaine as Class A felonies, possession of…

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s denial of a biological mother’s motion to set aside an adoption decree because the court lacked personal jurisdiction over her and her due process rights were violated. In In the matter of the adoption of D.C.; H.R. v. R.C., No. 22A01-0709-CV-425, the appellate court ruled the adoptive mother, R.C., did not do everything she could to contact H.R., the biological mother, about R.C.’s petition to adopt D.C. R.C., who married D.C.’s biological father,…

Several Indiana arts and publishing organizations have joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana in a suit challenging the state’s new law that requires sellers of sexually explicit material to register and pay a fee to the state. The ACLU of Indiana, along with the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association, Freedom to Read Association, Big Hat Books, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and other groups, yesterday filed the suit, Big Hat Books, Boxcar Books and Community Center Inc., et al….

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a defendant’s conviction of possession of ammunition by a felon, finding the defendant’s girlfriend had the authority to consent to a search of the apartment by police when the defendant was not present. In United States of America v. Daniel Groves Sr., No. 07-1217, the Circuit Court had to determine whether Daniel Groves’ girlfriend, Shaunta Foster, could allow police to search their apartment without a warrant in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court case,…

Indiana’s “Lease Statute” can’t be used to determine the priority of insurance coverage between a primary insurance policy and true excess policies, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals today in a case of first impression. Old Republic Insurance appealed the trial court’s decision in Old Republic Insurance Co. v. RLI Insurance Co., et al., No. 49A04-0709-CV-523, which determined Old Republic’s policy had higher priority over other excess policies and that the Lease Statute didn’t allow for ranking different types of insurance policies….