Opinions

Indiana Court of Appeals
Jessica M. Skeens v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-02475
Criminal. Affirms Jessica Skeens’ 41-year sentence for conviction of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death, three counts of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent, and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession. Finds, among other things, no abuse of discretion in the Delaware Superior Court’s instruction to the jury on causation. Finds Skeens’ sentence is not inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and her character.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Delaware County Regional Wastewater District v. Muncie Sanitary District, et al.
19A-EX-2964
Agency. Affirms the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s approval of a Muncie city ordinance giving the Muncie Sanitary District an exclusive license to provide sewer service to customers in unincorporated areas within four miles of the city’s municipal corporate boundaries. Finds that under Indiana Code § 8-1.5-6, the IURC had the jurisdiction and authority to approve the ordinance, so its order was not contrary to law.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Centennial Park, LLC v. Highland Park Estates, LLC
20A-PL-467
Civil plenary. Affirms the Monroe Circuit Court’s denial of Centennial Park LLC’s motion for relief from the trial court’s injunction preventing Centennial from using an easement over a lot it purchased in the Highland Park subdivision for a construction and access road. Finds the vacation of a nuisance covenant did not change circumstances such that it would be inequitable to enforce the injunction prospectively. Also finds that because the record supports a conclusion that the access road would be a nuisance with or without the covenant, Centennial Park has failed to establish that the trial court abused its discretion in denying its motion for relief from judgment.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Santos Cortez, et al. v. Indiana University Health, Inc., et al.
19A-CT-02540
Civil tort. Affirms dismissal of a lawsuit in Marion Superior Court alleging IU Health employees falsified Santos Cortez’s medical records in a medical malpractice complaint that was settled. Holds that claims regarding the alleged alteration of Cortez’s medical records fall within the scope of the Medical Malpractice Act and therefore should have been first submitted to a medical review panel.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Nicholas David McHenry v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-02460
Criminal. Affirms Nicholas McHenry’s aggregate 24-year sentence for his convictions of two counts of Level 4 felony child molesting. Declines the state’s request to dismiss McHenry’s appeal because his plea agreement allowed him to appeal his sentence following an open plea, and the plea agreement left sentencing entirely to the trial court’s discretion. Finds that McHenry’s sentence is not inappropriate given the nature of his offense and his character, particularly in light of McHenry’s continuing acts of criminal sexual behavior.

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinions were posted after IL deadline on Wednesday:
Leif Hinterberger, et al. v. City of Indianapolis
19-3365
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Affirms the rejection of Leif Hinterberger’s statement of facts for violation the district court’s rulings governing summary judgment practice, and the entry of summary judgment against Hinterberger. Finds the district court did not abuse its discretion in striking Hinterberger’s statement because it did not comply with Local Rule 56-1, nor did it err in entering summary judgment against him on each of his claims.

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline on Tuesday.
USA v. Nehemiah Felders
19-2867
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division. Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr.
Criminal. Affirms, per curiam, a jury’s conviction of Nehemiah Felders for unlawful possession of a firearm and his 96-month sentence. Finds the record is silent about what was on the card a police officer read to Felders, of which the officer asserted was Felder’s Miranda warnings. Finds that on a silent record Felders cannot show that any error occurred — not when the warnings were read, not in the district court.

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinions were posted after IL deadline on Monday:
Raymond Marling v. Richard Brown
19-3077
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division. Judge James R. Sweeney II.
Civil. Reverses the Southern District Court’s grant of habeas corpus relief to Raymond Marling, and its conclusion that the state court’s finding against him had been rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. Finds the officer who opened and inventoried the contents of a box found in Marling’s vehicle acted within the scope of discretion granted by General Order 49. Also finds that Marling’s counsel did not violate the Sixth Amendment.

The following 7^th Circuit Court opinions were posted after IL Deadline Friday and Sunday:
Earlene Branch Peterson v. William P. Barr
20-2252
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division. Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Civil. Vacates the preliminary injunction issued by the Southern District Court halting the federal execution of Daniel Lee. Finds the plaintiffs’ APA claim lacks any arguable legal basis and is therefore frivolous. Also finds section 16-90-502(e)(1) of the Arkansas Code is irrelevant to the case at hand and that the district court judge was wrong to insert it into the case.

The following Indiana Supreme Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday:
Tammi Clark, as personal representative of the Estate of Kandace Pyles, deceased v. Samer Mattar, M.D.
20S-CT-109
Civil tort. Affirms the Indiana Court of Appeals’ reversal and remand for a new trial for Tammi Clark against Dr. Samer Matter. Finds that an unwilling juror should have been struck for cause in Marion Superior Court and that there was prejudice because Clark was forced to exhaust her last peremptory challenge and accept an objectionable juror. Justice Mark Massa concurs in part, dissents in part. Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissents.

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Wednesday:
C.Y. Wholesale, Inc., et al. v. Eric Holcomb, et al.
19-3034
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Vacates the injunction prohibiting the state of Indiana from enforcing its criminal prohibition on the manufacture, delivery or possession of smokable hemp under Indiana Code § 35-48-3-10.1. Finds the district court’s injunction swept too broadly. Remands for proceedings.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Xavier Wesley Day v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-2997
Criminal. Affirms Xavier Day’s 40-year sentence for conviction of Level 1 felony murder. Finds the St. Joseph Superior Court did not commit fundamental error in instructing the jury.

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals
Monwell Douglas v. Faith Reeves
18‐2588
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division.
Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Civil. Affirms the Indiana Southern District Court’s grant of summary judgment to Faith Reeves against Monwell Douglas, an Indiana prisoner who claimed Reeves retaliated against him for activity protected by the First Amendment. Finds no reasonable jury could conclude that Reeves inflicted deprivations on Douglas likely to deter a person of ordinary firmness from engaging in First Amendment activity.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Robert Shorter v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-2904
Criminal. Affirms Robert Shorter’s convictions for Level 2 felony dealing in methamphetamine, Level 3 felony dealing in a narcotic drug, Level 3 felony conspiracy to commit dealing in a narcotic drug and Level 3 felony aiding, inducing or causing dealing in methamphetamine. Finds that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions. Also finds no error in the admission of evidence that would violate the Fourth Amendment or Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. Judge Rudolph Pyle dissents with separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Thomas R. Ysursa and Becker, Hoerner, Thompson & Ysursa, P.C. v. Frontier Professional Baseball, Inc.
20A-CT-49
Civil tort. Affirms the Marion Superior Commercial Court’s denial of the Ysursa parties’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit asserting legal malpractice over its involvement in litigation stemming from a failed bid to locate a Frontier Professional Baseball League team in Kokomo. Finds the commercial court did not err in finding there were sufficient minimum contacts between Ysursa and Indiana to establish personal jurisdiction, and the ruling was not unreasonable.

Indiana Supreme Court
Marcus Lee McCain v. State of Indiana
20S-CR-281
Criminal. Affirms Marcus Lee McCain’s 45-year sentence for his conviction of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of Marcel Harris. Finds the Lake Superior Court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the sentence. Also finds that under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), the sentence is not inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and McCain’s character.

Indiana Supreme Court
State of Indiana v. Wesley Ryder
20S-CR-435
Criminal. Reverses an order of the Marion Superior Court suppressing evidence of a blood draw from an off-duty police trainee who was charged with multiple offenses including operating while intoxicated following a wrong-way crash on Interstate 465 in Indianapolis. Finds that the judge who authorized the warrant for the blood draw certified probable cause contemporaneously and in writing, and that even if she had not, the warrant was still valid under Indiana’s substantial compliance filing doctrine. Remands for proceedings. Justice Slaughter concurs in part without separate opinion.

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday.
Carmine Greene v. Westfield Insurance Company
19-2260
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division. Judge Philip P. Simon.
Civil. Affirms summary judgment for Westfield Insurance in a lawsuit brought by Carmine Greene and neighbors of the VIM Recycling property in Elkhart, seeking an order that Westfield pay a $50.56 million environmental pollution damages judgment entered against VIM. Finds that summary judgment for Westfield was proper because two coverage exceptions in the insurance policy apply.

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL daily deadline Wednesday.
David L. Day, Jr. v. United States of America
18-2398
Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt
Criminal. Vacates the denial of David Day’s pro se motion for relief from his 92-month sentence under 28 U.S.C § 2255. Rules the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana erred by denying the motion without an evidentiary hearing to hear Day’s arguments that his private attorneys were constitutionally ineffective for advising him to reject a favorable plea offer. Notes that to have his motion granted, Day will have to show a “reasonable probability” that he would have received a sentence lower than 92 months. Remands for an evidentiary hearing.

The following Indiana Supreme Court decision was posted after IL deadline Tuesday.
Brian E. Hardin v. State of Indiana
20S-CR-418
Criminal. Affirms in a 3-2 decision Brian Hardin’s conviction and 22-year aggregate sentence for conviction of possession and dealing methamphetamine and the denial of his motion to suppress evidence found in a search of his truck. The majority — justices Christopher Goff, Mark Massa and Geoffrey Slaughter — find the search was not unreasonable under Litchfield v. State, 824 N.E.2d 356, 361 (Ind. 2005). Justice Steven David and Chief Justice Loretta Rush dissent and would grant the motion to suppress and remand for a new trial in Morgan Circuit Court. Slaughter in a separate concurrence questions the test developed under Litchfield.