Articles

COA: Trial court lacked jurisdiction to order BMV to act

The Indiana Court of Appeals found in favor of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles Monday after finding that a litigant’s failure to comply with the Administrative Order and Procedures Act left a trial court without jurisdiction to order the BMV to act on the litigant’s petition.

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Justices consider PCR waiver in death penalty case

After a public defender failed to secure a statutorily required signature on Kevin Isom’s petition for post-conviction relief, Isom, a convicted murderer who has been sentenced to death, lost confidence in his legal team. He refused to provide his signature after the error was discovered, vowing not to sign unless he was appointed new counsel.

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Divided COA tosses $2M DUI crash verdict over old convictions

The majority of an Indiana Court of Appeals panel held Thursday that a drunken driver’s decades-old convictions for alcohol-related offenses were irrelevant and prejudicial in a civil suit following a personal-injury crash. A dissenting judge, though, wrote the admissibility of such evidence should go to its weight rather than its age.

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$25M verdict poses tough questions for COA

Hearing arguments about a case that resulted in what may be among the largest awards for loss of consortium, the Indiana Court of Appeals repeatedly questioned what amount of damages is too much and when a jury’s decision should be overturned.

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