Opinions

Indiana Court of Appeals
In the Matter of J.M. and K.M., Children in Need of Services, K.R. v. J.M., Sr., and Indiana Department of Child Services, and Kids’ Voice of Indiana
24A-JC-202
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s decision to modify the custody of two of K.R.’s children, J.M. and K.M, in lieu of adjudicating the children as children in need of services. Finds the order modifying custody of the children, rather than adjudicating them as CHINS, was supported by the record and reflects adherence to applicable law. Also finds to the extent the mother argues that modifying child custody deprived her of a meaningful opportunity to engage in services, this argument is better directed toward the Legislature, which has authorized modification in these scenarios.

No opinions today. The courts are closed in observance of Columbus Day.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Vince Caccavale v. Ranger Team Building, LLC
23A-PL-1556
Civil plenary. Reverses the Lake Superior Court’s summary judgment order in favor of Ranger Team Building LLC in its breach of contract complaint against Vince Caccavale. Finds the trial court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of Ranger, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Ranger’s motion for sanctions. Declines to reconsider the appellate court motions panel’s denial of Ranger’s motion to dismiss this appeal. Remands for trial and affirms the trial court’s denial of Ranger’s sanctions motion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of: F.L. v. Community Fairbanks Behavioral Health
24A-MH-2216
Mental health. Affirms F.L.’s involuntary temporary commitment to Community Fairbanks Behavioral Health following a hearing in the Marion Superior Court. Finds Community presented sufficient evidence to show that F.L. is gravely disabled, and the trial court did not err when it ordered F.L.’s temporary commitment under Indiana Code section 12-26-2-5(e)(2).

Indiana Court of Appeals
Jacob Balash and Jonathan Balash v. Steve Mader
24A-SC-792
Small claims. Reverses the Owen Circuit Court’s s judgment entered in favor of contractor Steve Mader in a home improvement case against Jacob and Jonathan Balash. Finds that Mader’s dealings with the Balashes were governed by the Home Improvement Contracts Act and that the damage award entered for Mader must be set aside.

Indiana Court of Appeals
State of Indiana v. B.H.
24A-JV-1247
Juvenile. Reverses the Cass Circuit Court’s denial of the state’s request for authorization to file a delinquency petition against 18-year-old B.H. based on an act he allegedly committed when he was 17. Finds that an order rejecting a delinquency petition for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction is comparable to the dismissal of an indictment or information and therefore, the state is entitled to appeal the juvenile court’s ruling. Also finds the state did meet the deadlines for seeking an interlocutory appeal and while this is not actually an interlocutory appeal, both the juvenile court and the Court of Appeals treated it as an interlocutory appeal and allowed the state to bring such an appeal.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Frank Grecco III v. State of Indiana
24A-CR-560
Criminal. Reverses the Hendricks Superior Court’s order denying Frank Grecco III’s motion to dismiss two charges of possession of child pornography as level 6 felonies. Finds In light of the precedent from the United States Supreme Court and under these circumstances in which the state conceded before the trial court that the materials Grecco was charged with possessing did not depict actual children, as well as the state’s agreement on appeal that Grecco’s motion to dismiss should have been granted, the appellate court should reverse.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Roger Dewayne Redding v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-3068
Criminal. Affirms Roger Redding’s conviction in Madison Circuit Court for murder. Finds that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in restricting Redding’s right to cross-examine the coroner. Also finds that any error was at most harmless.

Indiana Court of Appeals 

Lindsay E. Willoughby v. State of Indiana 

24A-CR-736

Criminal. Affirms Lindsay E. Willoughby’s convictions for four counts of Level 4 felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and one count of Level 5 felony assisting a criminal and his adjudication as a habitual offender. Finds he is unable to show fundamental error.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Arthur Moore v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-2189
Criminal.  Affirms Arthur Moore’s conviction in Marion Superior Court for Class A misdemeanor unlawful carrying of a handgun. Finds the state has satisfied its burden to show Subsection (b)(6) is consistent with the principles underpinning the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Also finds Moore has not shown Subsection (b)(6) imposes a material burden on his right to bear arms under Indiana’s Constitution. Judge Elizabeth Tavitas concurs with separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
State of Indiana v. TikTok Inc., ByteDance Ltd., ByteDance Inc., and TikTok Pte. Ltd.
23A-PL-3110, 23A-PL-3111
Civil plenary. Affirms the Allen Superior Court’s dismissal of the State of Indiana’s complaints against foreign entities ByteDance, Ltd., ByteDance, Inc., and TikTok Pte., Ltd. for lack of personal jurisdiction. Reverses the trial court’s dismissal of the state’s amended complaint against TikTok Inc. Finds TikTok has purposefully invoked substantial contacts within Indiana, and the controversies at hand are related to those contacts and Indiana’s judiciary has specific personal jurisdiction over TikTok. Also finds TikTok’s business model of exchanging access to its content library for end-user personal data is a “consumer transaction” under Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. Finally, finds both of the state’s amended complaints also state a claim under the DCSA. Remands for further proceedings.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Mahari Mrach Oukbu and Nitsihiti Abraham v. Amazon, et. al.
24A-CT-254
Civil tort. Reverses the Hamilton Superior Court’s granting of judgment for Amazon and its conclusion that Amazon did not owe Mahari Oukbu a duty under Indiana law.  Finds Oukbu’s complaint was sufficient to demonstrate that Amazon owed a duty of reasonable care to Oukbu, and that Amazon’s actions—or inactions—created a condition that made passage unsafe on the abutting public road. Also finds that the trial court erred in granting Amazon’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Judge Paul Mathias concurs with a separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Nathaniel Jordan v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1780
Criminal. Affirms Nathaniel Jordan’s convictions in Delaware Circuit Court of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death, Level 5 felony battery, and three counts of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent and his 41-year prison sentence. Finds that any prosecutorial misconduct in closing arguments did not rise to fundamental error. Also finds Jordan has failed to show that his 41-year sentence, which is five years above the advisory level for his collective crimes, is an outlier.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Jeremy R. Basso v. State of Indiana
24A-CR-500
Criminal. Reverses the Shelby Superior Court’s court denial of Indiana State Trooper Jeremy Basso’s motion to dismiss charges of perjury and official misconduct. Finds that the trial court abused its discretion by denying the motion to dismiss. Also finds that the facts of this case do not constitute perjury, and therefore the facts necessarily do not constitute official misconduct.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Kelly L. Gillespie v. State of Indiana
23A-PC-2494
Post conviction relief. Reverses the Orange Circuit Court’s denial of Kelly Gillespie’s petition for post conviction relief after he was convicted of Level 4 felony possession of methamphetamine, Level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, and Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Finds Gillespie’s counsel’s errors are sufficient to undermine the appellate court’s confidence in the verdict rendered in this case.  Also finds Gillespie has shown the evidence leads unerringly and unmistakably to a conclusion opposite that reached by the post conviction court. Remands the case for a new trial.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Brian A. Batta v. Christina S. Batta
24A-DR-192
Domestic relations. Reverses the Tippecanoe Superior Court’s order determining the amount of Brian Batta’s child support arrearage. Finds the trial court erred in denying Batta a credit against his existing support arrearage for the lump-sum payments of retroactive Social Security Disability benefits and for all of the periodic SSD benefit payments received to date by his children or by Christina Batta on their behalf. Remands for further proceedings and a new order calculating the father’s current arrearage.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Royce A. Pruitt v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-2404
Criminal. Affirms a Marion Superior Court jury’s finding Royce Pruitt guilty of Level 1 felony child molesting and the trial court’s sentencing him to 25 years of incarceration, with five years suspended and three on sex-offender probation. Finds that that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Pruitt’s non-party request for production and concluding that it did not need to conduct an in-camera review of the Indiana Department of Child Services’ reports.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Gage Peters v. Dennis J. Quakenbush, II, and Christina Reagle
24A-PL-405
Civil plenary. Affirms the Hamilton Superior Court’s judgment in favor of Hamilton County Sheriff Dennis J. Quakenbush, II and the Indiana Department of Correction’s motion to dismiss Gage Peters’ complaint seeking a declaration that, under Indiana law, he is required to register as a sex offender only for a period of 10 years. Finds Florida imposed a lawful lifetime registration requirement, and Peters was subject to it, pursuant to the other-jurisdiction provision, when he moved to Indiana. Also finds that the plain language of the other-jurisdiction provision compels registration for individuals with out-of-state registration obligations regardless of the source of those obligations.  Judge L. Mark Bailey concurs in result with separate opinion. Judge Paul Mathias dissents with separate opinion.

The following opinion was published after IL’s deadline Wednesday:
7^th Circuit Court of Appeals
Rene Galvan, Jr. v. State of Indiana and Joanie Crum, Regional Manager, in her official and individual capacities
22-2462
Civil. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge Sarah Evans Barker. Affirms the district court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the State of Indiana and Joanie Crum against claims alleged by Rene Galvan, Jr. that he was terminated from employment based on his race and sex and was retaliated against based on his complaints of discrimination. Finds the record reveals complaints regarding Galvan’s job performance by third parties who interacted with him, and he has not argued that those complainants themselves possessed any discriminatory motive. Also finds Galvan has failed to identify any other circumstantial evidence in the record that, considered in the totality of the record as a whole, would support an inference of race or sex discrimination.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Brookston Resources, Inc., an Illinois Corporation v. State of Indiana Department of Natural Resources
23A-MI-2971
Miscellaneous. Affirms the Spencer Circuit Court’s denial of Brookston Resources’ petition for judicial review regarding Indiana notices of violation issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources regarding three of Brookston’s oil wells. Finds that the relevant statutes and regulations allow the department to conduct file reviews of the wells at issue every five years, and those file reviews include a consideration of the abandoned wells. Also finds as Brookston never obtained injection authorization regarding its wells, any change in the injection rate as a result of the file review would not amount to a modification of the permit. Finally, finds the department’s determination that the abandoned wells have the potential to cause or contribute to the migration of injection fluids into underground sources of drinking water due to inadequate construction or plugging is supported by substantial evidence.