Opinions

7^th 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.

7^th 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.

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
Johnathan Olson and Austin J. Mahoney v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-773
Criminal. Affirms the Vigo Superior Court’s denial of Johnathan Olson and Austin Mahoney’s motion to dismiss the Level 2 felony robbery charges against them. Finds the trial court did not err when it denied Olson’s and Mahoney’s motions to dismiss the robbery charges. Also finds the state is not barred from prosecuting them for robbery.

Indiana Court of Appeals
In the Matter of the Guardianship of: Irma Elisabeth Avila Luis, Ramiro Velasquez Avila
19A-GU-1276
Guardianship. Reverses a Jackson Circuit Court’s order which failed to make findings as to whether reunification between Irma Elisabeth Avila Luis and her parents is viable and refused to make findings regarding whether it is in Luis’ best interests to remain in the United States. Finds it is not in the best interest for Luis to return to Guatemala. Orders the trial court to include the Indiana Court of Appeals’ findings, verbatim, and to enter the order within one business day of the certification of the appeal.

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Wednesday:
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. v. Kristina Box, et al.
17-2428
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Denies the defendants-appellants’ petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc. Judges Joel Flaum, Michael Kanne, Amy Coney Barrett, Michael Brennan and Michael Scudder vote to grant the petition for rehearing en banc. Judges Ilana Rovner and David Hamilton vote to deny panel rehearing, while Judge Kanne voted to grant panel rehearing. Judge Frank Easterbrook concurs with separate opinion, joined by Judge Diane Sykes. Judge Kanne dissents with separate opinion, joined by judges Flaum, Barrett, Brennan and Scudder.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Kathy Salyer v. Washington Regular Baptist Church Cemetery, and Kristy Sams
19A-PL-243
Civil plenary. Affirms the Ripley Circuit Court’s order awarding Kathy Salyer an open gravesite at the Washington Regular Baptist Church Cemetery after the cemetery resold the gravesite she had purchased and another individual was buried there. Finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion in fashioning a remedy that required the cemetery to “correct” its mistake by giving Salyer an open, adjacent burial site free of charge. Judge James Kirsch dissents with separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Natoami Riley, et al. v. St. Mary’s Medical Center of Evansville, Inc.
19A-CT-844
Civil tort. Reverses the Vanderburgh Circuit Court’s grant of summary judgment to St. Mary’s Medical Center of Evansville Inc. on a medical malpractice claim brought by Natoami and Frank Riley. Finds a radiologic technician who wrote an affidavit on behalf of the Rileys is qualified to render an expert opinion on proximate causation, and that a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding that issue. Remands for further proceedings.

Indiana Supreme Court
State of Indiana v. Tyson Timbs
27S04-1702-MI-70
Miscellaneous. Vacates and remands for the Grant Superior Court to determine, based on the Indiana Supreme Court’s framework, whether Tyson Timbs has cleared the hurdle of establishing gross disproportionality in the civil forfeiture of his Land Rover. Finds a use-based in rem fine is excessive if (1) the property was not an instrumentality of the underlying crimes, or (2) the property was an instrumentality, but the harshness of the punishment would be grossly disproportional to the gravity of the underlying offenses and the owner’s culpability for the property’s misuse. Also finds that Timbs’ Land Rover was an instrumentality of the underlying offense of drug dealing. Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissents with separate opinion.

The following 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals opinions were posted after IL deadline Thursday:
John W. Kimbrough v. Ron Neal
18-3145, -3153
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge William T. Lawrence.
Civil. Reverses the grant of John Kimbrough’s petition for writ of habeas corpus after he was denied post-conviction relief in state court on his 80-year sentence for child molesting. Finds a federal court considering a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) cannot disagree with a state court’s resolution of a state law issue.