Articles

Unruly defendant rightly tossed from court, COA rules

A Montgomery County man thrown out of his own trial for disruptive conduct has failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that he was wrongly denied his right to be present. But the appellate panel did vacate one of the man’s convictions on double jeopardy grounds.

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Indiana Supreme Court blocks disputed Brownsburg annexation

Brownsburg has lost its final bid to annex nearly 4,500 acres of land after fighting residents who objected all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court. Justices ruled the town “did not satisfy its burden of proving it had met the statutory requirements for annexing the disputed territory.” 

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Appeals court trims sentence for Muncie man in bomb case

The Indiana Court of Appeals has overturned one of several convictions and trimmed the sentence for a central Indiana man who tried to kill his former girlfriend with a homemade bomb. The rulings in the case of 40-year-old Lionel Ray Mackey Jr. of Muncie will apparently reduce his prison term from 101 years to 94½ years.

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Res judicata leads to remand of CHINS determination

Saying it was “troubled” by how the Department of Child Services chose to litigate two nearly back-to-back child welfare cases, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a trial court to re-evaluate a 2018 CHINS petition without relying on facts that were available for litigation during a 2017 CHINS proceeding.

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Appeals panel upholds Muncie doctor’s convictions

The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the forgery and prescription-related offenses for a Muncie doctor alleged to have overprescribed pain medication to patients by using his nurse practitioners’ names to sign the orders.

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Judgment for INDOT upheld in fatal crash litigation

Even though the Indiana Department of Transportation declined to install a traffic signal at a Tippecanoe County intersection where a deadly crash later occurred, the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld summary judgment for the department, finding it was immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act.

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CHINS reversal: ‘State may not intrude’ where coercion unnecessary

A father who was ordered removed from the home he shared with his wife and four children despite a clean record and no prior reports of domestic violence won a ruling in his favor Wednesday. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a CHINS finding and concluded, “when coercion is not necessary, the State may not intrude into a family’s life.”

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Car search after meth dealer’s arrest divides COA panel

A suspected Morgan County meth dealer who pulled his truck into his driveway as police were executing a search warrant on his property failed to overturn his conviction on appeal, but a dissenting judge found a police search of his vehicle after he was arrested failed to “honor the distinction between homes and motor vehicles for purposes of search and seizure.”

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Appeals court upholds removal of Gary reserve officer

A Gary reserve officer suspended but later reinstated must now remain off the force after the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed that the Gary Police Department presented evidence of the reserve officer’s “repeated and blatant noncompliance” with orders.

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Gary lawsuit against gun makers may proceed, COA rules

A unanimous appellate panel has revived the city of Gary’s lawsuit against 10 handgun manufacturers, enabling the municipality to survive the Indiana General Assembly’s attempt to derail the legal action by amending the state’s Immunity Statute in 2015.

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