Opinions

Court of Appeals of Indiana
J.G. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-JV-113
Juvenile. Affirms and reverses in part J.G.’s adjudication as a delinquent for what would be Level 4 felony child molesting, Level 5 felony criminal confinement and Level 6 felony dissemination of matter harmful to minors if committed by an adult. Finds the admission of hearsay testimony was harmless. Also finds insufficient evidence supports the Marion Superior Court’s true finding on the Level 6 felony. Finally, finds the scrivener’s error should be corrected. Remands with instructions to correct the scrivener’s error.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Spencer Turner v. Mark Sevier
23A-MI-1053
Miscellaneous. Reverses the Henry Circuit Court’s summary disposition of Spencer Turner’s post-conviction relief petition. Finds the post-conviction court erred. Remands for the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the state is able to show good cause for the delay in holding Turner’s revocation hearing, or whether he is entitled to have the alleged parole violations dismissed.

Indiana Supreme Court
Tailar L. Spells v. State of Indiana
23S-CR-232
Criminal. Affirms the retention of Tailar Spells’ cash bail to cover her $100 supplemental public defender fee and $2 jury fee. Vacates the $20 fine and other costs and fees. Finds the statutory agreement under Indiana Code § 35-33-8-3.2(a) permits application of cash bail to the whole of a defendant’s public defender costs. Also finds a court may retain cash bail to pay most other fines, costs and fees only after considering the defendant’s ability to pay. Finally, finds the indigency determination in this case was incomplete. Remands for further proceedings on the fines, costs and fees.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Kenyonn Sincere v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1172
Criminal. Affirms Kenyonn Sincere’s conviction of a Class A misdemeanor for falsely representing himself to be a detective with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. Finds the admission of the challenged evidence was cumulative of other properly admitted evidence and therefore harmless. Also finds the deputy prosecutor did not commit prosecutorial misconduct and that the evidence is sufficient to sustain Sincere’s conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
David Freed v. Elizabeth Freed
23A-DC-129
Domestic relations with children. Affirms the Johnson Circuit Court’s order awarding a pre-embryo to Elizabeth Freed following her divorce from David Freed. Finds the trial court applied the appropriate test and considered the appropriate factors before awarding the pre-embryo to Elizabeth Freed.

Indiana Supreme Court
Edward Zaragoza v. Wexford of Indiana, LLC, et al.
23S-CT-99
Civil tort. Reverses the award of summary judgment to the defendants on Edward Zaragoza’s complaint alleging medical malpractice and deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. Finds genuine issues of material fact remain to be determined.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Imogene Perry v. Anne H. Poindexter, Personal Representative of the Supervised Estate of Richard Abbott, Janice Mandla Mattingly, Michael P. Brown and Phillip Brown
22A-EU-2774
Estate. Reverses the Hamilton Superior Court’s denial of Imogene Perry’s motion for relief from default judgment. Finds the trial court erred when it denied Perry’s motion for relief from judgment because she did not receive notice of the estate’s motion for return of funds and/or the related hearing in a way calculated to provide her a meaningful opportunity to appear and defend herself. Remands to the trial court to hold a hearing on all pending motions in the matter including but not limited to the motion for return of funds and any motions with respect to fees Perry and/or the estate paid to Janice Mandla Mattingly and/or Lauth Investigations International Inc.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
State of Indiana v. Trisha M. Woodworth
22A-CR-2557
Criminal. Reverses the grant of the Lake Superior Court’s own motion to correct error, vacating Trisha Woodworth’s conviction of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death and granting Woodworth a new trial, but also reverses Woodworth’s conviction. Finds the trial court abused its discretion when it granted its own motion to correct error. Also finds there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jose Luis Lopez Interiano v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-1557
Criminal. Affirms Jose Luis Lopez Interiano’s conviction of Class C misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Finds the state presented sufficient evidence of Interiano’s impairment at the time he was operating the vehicle.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
AMW Investments, Inc. et al. v. The Town of Clarksville, et al.
23A-PL-508
Civil plenary. Reverses the order finding AMW Investments Inc. in contempt of an order compelling discovery responses. Finds AMW’s supplemental discovery responses, including objections, were timely submitted. Also finds the Clark Circuit Court erred when it refused to consider the objections contained in AMW’s first supplemental discovery responses. Remands with instructions to consider those objections. Judge Paul Felix concurs in result with separate opinion.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Michael Puchowski v. Tamara Wade (mem. dec.)
23A-EV-321
Evictions. Affirms the denial of recovery for Michael Puchowski for claimed property damages after he was awarded a $1,505 judgment against his former tenant. Finds Puchowski waived his arguments by failing to comply with appellate rules, so he has not shown prima facie error.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In re the Adoption of A.J.T.: F.G. v. D.K. and W.K. (mem. dec.)
23A-AD-1902
Adoption. Affirms the St. Joseph Probate Court’s grant of D.K. and W.K.’s petition to adopt A.J.T. Finds the probate court did not abuse its discretion in dispensing with father F.G.’s consent requirement.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
James Joseph Zentko v. Cassandra Lynn Zentko (mem. dec.)
23A-DR-1455
Domestic relations. Affirms the Clay Superior Court’s order modifying James Zentko’s obligation to pay college expenses for his child, J.D.Z. Finds the trial court did not err when it modified Zentko’s post-secondary educational expenses obligation to cover the child’s enrollment at Illinois Eastern Community Colleges at Olney. Also finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it found the father in contempt and ordered him to pay a portion of mother’s attorney’s fees.

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was published after IL’s deadline Friday:
United States of America v. David Hueston
23-1057
Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division. Chief Judge Holly A. Brady.
Criminal. Affirms the judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in its denial of a motion to suppress evidence. Finds the district court reasonably found the detectives’ testimony was credible and because the good-faith exception applied, it correctly denied David Hueston’s motion to suppress evidence. Also finds Hueston failed to present evidence that the issuing judge was not acting in a neutral and detached way.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Thomas Stone v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-625
Criminal. Affirms Thomas Stone’s convictions of three counts of Level 3 felony rape. Finds that for two of Stone’s rape convictions, as neither is included in the other, they do not constitute violations of double jeopardy principles.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In Re: The Paternity of V.D.; Brittney Kozenko (Mother) v. Isaac Diaz (Father)
23A-JP-688
Juvenile paternity. Affirms the portion of the Carroll Circuit Court’s order denying mother Brittney Kozenko’s request to relocate to Utah with the parties’ child, but reverses the grant of primary physical custody to father Isaac Diaz. Finds sufficient evidence was presented to support the determination that relocation was not in the child’s best interests. Also finds the trial court clearly erred when it awarded primary physical custody to father. Remands with instructions to enter an order that reflects the trial court’s reconsideration and clarification of that issue and includes a determination regarding what physical custody award is in child’s best interests.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jeremy W. Kelly v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1805
Criminal. Affirms Jeremy W. Kelly’s conviction of Level 2 felony voluntary manslaughter. Finds the Jay Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion when it refused to grant an attorney’s motion to withdraw on the morning of the sentencing hearing.

Indiana Supreme Court
Jennifer Pennington and Joshua Pennington v. Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc., d/b/a Beacon Health and Fitness, Spear Corporation, and Panzica Building Corporation
23S-CT-182
Civil tort. Affirms the St. Joseph Superior Court’s summary judgment order for Spear Corporation and Panzica Building Corporation. Reverses summary judgment for Beacon Health and Fitness. Finds Beacon was not entitled to summary judgment on any count, except as to the count regarding the single issue of the level of the water. Also finds some evidence that the risk of harm was foreseeable regarding the injury suffered by Jennifer Pennington, who collided with the corner of a swimming pool wall. Finally, finds the plaintiffs designated no admissible evidence that Spear or Panzica breached their professional duty of care. Remands for trial on all the claims against Beacon.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Emanuel Jamel England v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-1558
Criminal. Affirms the Hamilton Circuit Court’s order for Emanuel England to serve the remaining five years of his previously suspended sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction after he admitted to committing Level 5 felony robbery and consuming marijuana. Finds the trial court did not err by rejecting lesser sanctions or in selecting the most severe sanction for England’s probation violations.

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline on Thursday:
United States of America v. Byron Pierson
21-3248
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Criminal. Affirms Byron Pierson’s conviction of one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Finds the district court did not abuse its discretion in not holding an evidentiary hearing on the proffer letter or in allowing the government to present course-of-investigation evidence.