Indiana Court of Appeals
Jennifer L Hall v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-203
Criminal. Reverses Jennifer Hall’s conviction of Level 4 felony aiding, inducing, or causing dealing in a narcotic drug. Finds insufficient evidence to support her conviction pursuant to Indiana Code § 35-48-4-1(c)(2). Remands with instructions to vacate Hall’s Level 4 felony conviction enter a judgment of conviction for Level 5 felony dealing and resentence her accordingly.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Joseph Hipps and Eugene Protz v. Biglari Holdings, Inc., Sardar Biglari, Philip L. Cooley, Ruth J. Person, Kenneth R. Cooper, James P. Mastrian, BH Merger Company, and NBHSA, Inc.
19A-CT-101
Civil tort. Affirms the Hamilton Superior Court’s grant of a motion to dismiss filed by Biglari Holdings, BH Merger Company, NBHSA Inc., Sardar Biglari and other members of the Biglari Holdings board of directors against. Finds the Hamilton Superior Court properly dismissed the shareholders’ complaint.
Indiana Supreme Court
Heraeus Medical, LLC, et al. v. Zimmer, Inc., et al.
19S-PL-471
Civil plenary. Vacates Section 1(e) of the Kosciusko Superior Court’s preliminary injunction order enjoining Robert Kolbe from recruiting Zimmer Inc. employees, as prohibited by a nonsolicitation covenant in Kolbe’s noncompetition agreement with Zimmer. Finds the Kolbe agreement’s unenforceable covenant not to solicit Zimmer employees cannot be reformed and that parties to noncompetition agreements cannot use a reformation clause to contract around Indiana’s blue pencil doctrine. Remands.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Drendall Law Office, P.C. v. Lucy Mundia
19A-PL-582
Civil plenary. Reverses the St. Joseph Circuit Court’s denial of Drendall Law Office’s motion for judgment on the evidence in a legal malpractice case against it brought by Lucy Mundia. Finds the jury’s verdict in Mundia’s favor was clearly erroneous because she did not present substantial evidence supporting the proximate cause element of her claim for legal malpractice. Also finds the trial court abused its discretion in its denial. Remands for the trial court to vacate the jury verdict and enter judgement for Drendall.
The following 7th Circuit Court opinion was posted after IL deadline on Tuesday.
Linda Waldon v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
19-1529
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge James R. Sweeney, II.
Civil. Affirms the grant of summary judgment to Walmart Stores on Linda Waldon’s negligence claims. Also affirms with order to show cause within 14 days of the date of the decision as to why Waldons’ counsel, James E. Ayers, should not be sanctioned under Rule 46 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure for intentionally altering previously submitted photographs and misrepresenting the record to the court. The 7th Circuit will consider after Ayers’ response whether to send a copy of its opinion to the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.
Indiana Tax Court
Southlake Indiana LLC v. Lake County Assessor
18T-TA-16
Tax. Reverses the Indiana Board of Tax Review’s final determination that valued Southlake Indiana LLC’s real property for each of the 2007 through 2014 tax years. Finds the board’s reliance on Lake County appraiser Mark Kenney’s market rent estimates is contrary to law, and its repudiation of Southlake appraiser Sara Coers’ percentage-of-gross-sales analysis is unsupported by substantial and reliable evidence. Remands to the board with instructions to assign the subject property a market value-in-use under the income approach that calculates the property’s net operating income each year at issue by replacing Kenney’s market rents with the market rents derived by Coers through her reconciliation of her market extraction and gross-percentage-of-sales estimations, and that applies Coers’ capitalization rates for 2010-2012 but Kenney’s capitalization rates for 2007-2009 and 2013-2014.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Dexter Fisher
18-2765
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Criminal. Affirms Dexter Fisher’s convictions for brandishing a firearm, the forfeiture of his firearm and his 57-year sentence. Finds no reasonable juror could have failed to find a sufficient nexus between the pistol and Fisher’s conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon, so the district court’s failure to inquire whether he would like to waive his right to a jury trial on the issue of forfeiture did not affect his substantial rights. Also finds Fisher did not object to a supervised release condition prohibiting him from purchasing, possessing, distributing, administering or using psychoactive substances, but his written and oral sentences impose terms of supervised release inconsistently, on different counts. Finally, finds Fisher’s convictions of brandishing a firearm qualify as crimes of violence. Remands with specific instructions for the district court to enter a corrected judgment that mirrors the oral sentence regarding the counts to which a term of supervised release attaches.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
USA v. Adrian Grisanti
19-1576, 18-2993
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, New Albany Division. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
Criminal. Affirms Adrian Grisanti’s 10-year sentence for conviction of child-pornography offenses, as well as the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. Finds Grisanti’s reasons for reconsidering Kienast are not persuasive. Also, his sentence was not unreasonable, and the district court did not make any procedural error.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Brandon Lawrence Johnson v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-00334
Criminal. Affirms the denial of Brandon Johnson’s petition to file a belated notice of appeal of his 12-year sentence for conviction of Level 4 felony possession of methamphetamine. Finds that even if the Orange Circuit Court should have granted his motion to take judicial notice, any resulting error was harmless. Also finds Johnson waived his right to appeal and that the trial court properly denied his petition.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Jarvis Peele v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-01160
Criminal. Reverses Jarvis Peele’s convictions of Level 6 felony possession of methamphetamine and two counts of Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement. Finds the Clark Circuit Court erred when it granted the state’s Criminal Rule 4(D) motion to continue Peele’s trial outside the timeframe required by his speedy-trial request. Finds Peele was entitled to discharge of the charges against him.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Termination: J W v. Indiana Department of Child Services
19A-JT-01298
Juvenile termination. Affirms the involuntary termination of J.W.’s parental rights to his daughter, G.F. Finds sufficient evidence to support the termination, concluding there was a reasonable probability that the continuation of the parent-child relationship would pose a threat to the well-being of G.F.
Indiana Court of Appeals
D.P. v. State of Indiana
19A-JV-690
Juvenile. Affirms the denial of D.P.’s motion to dismiss a delinquency petition filed against him when he was 23 for an act he committed at 16. Finds the Putnam Circuit Court had jurisdiction to determine whether D.P. should be waived to adult criminal court.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Brigid Ford v. Marion County Sheriff’s Office
18-3217
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge William T. Lawrence.
Civil. Affirms the Southern District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office against Brigid Ford’s discriminatory employment practice claims. Finds the district court properly granted partial summary judgment as to some of Ford’s claims and exercised its discretion fairly to manage the trial on the remaining claims.
Indiana Court of Appeals
SGS North America Inc. v. Christine Mullholand, As Stockholder Representative of Cybermetrix, Inc., et al.
19A-PL-01283
Civil plenary. Affirms the Marion Superior Commercial Court’s order confirming a $3,107,200 award plus interest to Christine Mullholand against SGS North America, Inc, which purchased her company Cybermetrix, Inc. Finds the designated auditor’s determination of the parties’ earnout dispute constitutes a binding arbitration award. Finds the trial court did not err in granting Mullholand’s application for confirmation of arbitration award and in denying SGS’s motion to dismiss her application for the same reasons.
Indiana Tax Court
Crown Property Group, LLC v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, and Adam J. Krupp
18T-TA-27
Tax. Grants Crown Property Group’s motion for summary judgement and denied the Indiana Department of State Revenue’s motion for summary judgment. Finds Crown is entitled to a refund of its filing fee plus $1,811.30, the entire amount levied by the department’s collection agent that comprises the withholding tax, the collection fee and the bank fee.
Indiana Supreme Court
In the Matter of the Honorable Andrew Adams; In the Matter of the Honorable Bradley B. Jacobs; In the Matter of the Honorable Sabrina R. Bell
19S-JD-386, 19S-JD-566, 19S-JD-567
Judicial discipline. Suspends Clark Circuit 1 Judge Andrew Adams, who is already under an interim suspension, for 60 days without pay, effective immediately, to be reinstated at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 13, 2020. Suspends Clark Circuit 2 Judge Bradley Jacobs and Crawford Circuit Judge Sabrina Bell for 30 days without pay, effective 12:01 a.m. Nov. 22, to be reinstated at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 23. Finds the respondents, who were involved in a violent confrontation in Indianapolis on May 1 in which Adams and Jacobs were shot, violated Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct Rules 1.2 and 3.1(c). Also finds Adams violated Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 1.1.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Villas at Winding Ridge v. State Farm Fire and Casualty
19-1731
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
Civil. Affirms the Indiana Southern District Court’s grant of summary judgment to State Farm Fire and Casualty against Villas at Winding Ridge. Finds the insurance policy is unambiguous and enforceable. Also finds no evidence that State Farm breached the policy or acted in bad faith when resolving the claim.
The following Indiana Tax Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday.
McClain Museum, Inc. v. Madison County Assessor
18T-TA-1
Tax. Affirms the Indiana Board of Tax Review’s final determination that the Anderson McClain Museum’s property did not qualify for an educational purposes exemption, and reverses the board’s determination that the museum’s property did not qualify for a charitable purposes exemption. Finds the museum has made no showing that it conducts educational services, training or coursework related to military history, or that the state’s burden to provide military history education is relieved or would be increased if it were not for the museum. Also finds the museum’s ownership, occupation and use of its property convey a gift for the benefit of the general public that is charitable in nature. Finally, finds evidence contained in the administrative record supports the Tax Court’s finding that the museum’s property is eligible for a 75% exemption. Remands to the Indiana board to ensure the Madison County Assessor complies with the Tax Court’s instructions.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Toby Lewis Webster v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-683
Criminal. Affirms Toby Webster’s conviction of Level 3 felony armed robbery. Finds sufficient evidence to support Webster’s armed robbery conviction because the victim testified Webster used a knife to stab him and then stole his van. Finds the Marion Superior Court improperly merged the battery with a deadly weapon count and the armed robbery count in violation of Indiana’s prohibition against double jeopardy. Reverses Webster’s conviction of Level 5 felony battery by means of a deadly weapon. Remands for the trial court to vacate the improperly merged battery conviction.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Benjamin S. Smith v. Franklin Township Community School Corporation
19A-CT-1244
Civil tort. Reverses the Marion Superior Court’s denial of Benjamin Smith’s motion to reinstate his negligence complaint against the Franklin Township Community School Corporation. Finds the Claims Against Public Schools Act does not apply to Smith’s claim against the school. Remands with instructions to reinstate Smith’s tort claim.