Opinions

Court of Appeals of Indiana
John C. Miller v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-1055
Criminal. Affirms John C. Miller’s convictions of Level 4 felony possession of methamphetamine and Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. Finds Whitley Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted evidence recovered during a pat-down search of Miller. Finds the pat-down search was supported by reasonable suspicion and thus did not violate Miller’s Fourth Amendment rights.

Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company v. HomeWorks Management Corporation; HomeWorks Funding Group II LLC; HomeWorks Construction Inc.; HomeWorks Holdings LLC; HomeWorks Realty LLC; HomeWorks Management and Remodeling LLC; HomeWorks Investments, Inc.; Selena Wiley; Joevonne Hiles, Sr.; Child Doe A; Child Doe B; Jeff Muzik; Ken Mensik; Joe Colvin, Jodi Pearce; Becky Medich; Mitchell Hooton; and Ron McCall
22A-PL-1232
Civil plenary. Reverses the entry of summary judgment in favor of HomeWorks Management Corporation and HomeWorks Funding Group II LLC and the denial of Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company’s motion to summary judgment. Finds the St. Joseph Circuit Court erred.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Tariq Fuad Hamdi v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-1324
Criminal. Affirms Tariq Fuad Hamdi’s conviction of Level 5 felony dealing in hash oil weighing at least 300 grams. Finds the evidence sufficient.

Indiana Supreme Court
In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of B.N. v. Health and Hospital Corporation d/b/a Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center
22S-MH-408
Mental health. Grants transfer and affirms the order of regular commitment of B.N. after the Marion Superior Court conducted a remote hearing. Finds the trial court abused its discretion by failing to provide particularized and specific factual support to conduct B.N.’s commit hearing remotely over her timely objection, but the error was harmless.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jennifer R. Teising v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-548
Criminal. Reverses Jennifer R. Teising’s convictions of 21 counts of Level 6 felony theft. Finds the state failed to present sufficient evidence that Teising intended to abandon her Wabash Township domicile and establish a new residence elsewhere and that she, in fact, established said new residence. Also finds the Tippecanoe Superior Court erred in finding Teising guilty.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Kevin D. Albertson and Pamela L. Albertson v. Richard Cadwell and Lisa Cadwell
22A-PL-782
Civil plenary. Affirms partial summary judgment awarded to Richard and Lisa Cadwell on Kevin and Pamela Alberton’s complaint for declaratory judgment seeking an easement of necessity on the Cadwells’ real property. Finds that because the parties agreed at the time of the conveyance of the new parcel that the Albertsons would not have an easement across the Cadwell property, the Albertsons’ claim to such an easement now fails as a matter of law. Also finds the Hendricks Circuit Corut did not err when it entered partial summary judgment for the Cadwells on the Albertsons’ alleged easement of necessity.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Avis Deforest White v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-978
Criminal. Reverses the denial of Avis Deforest White’s motion to suppress evidence stemming from a traffic stop. Finds the Indiana General Assembly has not made “inactive” registration an infraction, so the traffic stop was not justified by reasonable suspicion and was therefore impermissible. Judge Margret Robb dissents with separate opinion. 

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Robert Lawson v. State of Indiana
22A-CR-448
Criminal. Affirms officer Robert Lawson’s conviction of official misconduct. Finds that Marion Superior Court did not abuse its discretion by denying Lawson’s motions for judgment on the evidence. Also finds the state presented sufficient evidence to sustain Lawson’s convictions. Finally, finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to give Lawson’s proposed jury instructions.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In the Matter of: K.G., T.L.J.
22A-MI-502
Miscellaneous. Affirms in part the Orange Circuit Court’s denial of mother T.L.J.’s request to change the gender marker on her transgender daughter K.D.G.’s birth certificate. Finds Indiana Code § 16-37-2-10 doesn’t provide the court with the authority to grant the requested relief. Also finds the trial court’s lack of findings means the Court of Appeals cannot ascertain why the court found that T.L.J. failed to meet her burden of proving that the requested change was in K.D.G.’s best interests. Remands to the trial court with instructions to make additional factual findings explaining its decision, focusing specifically on I.C. 317-17-2-8 

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Joseph Ray Varney v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
22A-CR-1186
Criminal. Affirms Joseph Ray Varney’s sentence of 15 years, with nine years executed and six years suspended to probation, for Level 3 felony dealing in methamphetamine and admitting to being a habitual offender. Finds the Clark Circuit Court acted within its discretion in sentencing Varney, and his sentence is not inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and his character.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Courtney Elizabeth Crabtree v. State of Indiana
21A-CR-2752
Criminal. Affirms the denial of Courtney Elizabeth Crabtree’s motion to suppress evidence found in her hotel room after a dog sniff. Finds the reasoning in Hoop v. State does not extend to these circumstances, so reasonable suspicion is not required here. Also finds that under the comprehensive three-factor balancing test in Litchfield v. State, the dog sniff was reasonable. Finally, finds that while the other evidence used to procure the search warrant was illegally obtained, the dog sniff and other evidence provided sufficient legally obtained information to support the issuance of a search warrant. Judge Elizabeth Tavitas concurs in result with separate opinion.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In Re the 2020 Madison County Tax Sale; James A. Crowe and Phyllis Lynn Crowe v. Savvy IN, LLC
22A-TP-1113
Petition for tax deed. Reverses the denial of Dr. James A. Crowe and Phyllis Lynne Crowe’s motion for relief from judgment following the Madison Circuit Court’s order to issue tax deeds. Finds the Crowes presented testimony that they did not receive notice regarding their right to redeem the property in question following the 2020 tax sale or Savvy IN, LLC’s request for tax deeds, and that their signatures did not appear on the certified mail receipts. Remands to provide the Crowes with 30 days to redeem the parcels.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In the Matter of Ar.B., At.B., and As.B., Minor Children Alleged to be Children in Need of Services; K.S. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services
22A-JC-672
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the adjudication of mother K.S.’s children, Ar.S., At.S. and As.S., as children in need of services. Finds the evidence is sufficient to support the CHINS finding. Also finds K.S. waived her challenge to the timeliness of the dispositional hearing.