Opinions

Indiana Court of Appeals

Sharis Haas v. Gordon Haas (mem. dec.)
49A05-1706-CT-1260
Civil tort. Affirms the Marion Circuit Court’s order setting aside a default judgment against Gordon Haas. Finds the trial court erred when it entered default judgment, so the court did not abuse its discretion when it set aside the default judgment.

Indiana Court of Appeals
In re Unsupervised Estate of Cary A. Owsley, Logan A. Owsley v. Mark E. Gorbett, et al.
49A02-1701-EU-207
Estate, unsupervised. Affirms the dismissal of Logan A. Owsley’s verified petition to open estate and the denial of his motion to correct error. Finds the Marion Superior Court did not err in concluding a claim being pursued in federal court was not an asset or property of the estate of Cary Owsley and, accordingly, in dismissing the matter.

Indiana Court of Appeals

Allan Highwood v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
49A02-1705-CR-1083
Criminal. Affirms Allan Highwood’s conviction for battery by means of a deadly weapon as a Level 5 felony. Finds evidence of probative value was presented from which the trial court as the trier of fact could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Highwood committed the offense of battery by means of a deadly weapon.

Indiana Court of Appeals

Marvin Podemski v. Praxair, Inc. and Antibus Scales & Systems, Inc.
71A03-1608-CT-1927
Civil tort. Affirms the entry of summary judgment in favor of Praxair, Inc. and Antibus Scales & Systems, Inc. and the denial of Marvin Podemski’s motion to correct error. Finds the conditions presented by an air hose and the illumination of the area around the hose was known and obvious. Also finds Praxair and Antibus should not have expected that Podemski would not discover or fail to protect himself against the condition presented by the configuration of the air hose.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Kenny Purvis v. State of Indiana
09A02-1702-CR-454
Criminal. Affirms Kenny Purvis’ convictions for Level 6 felony theft, Level 6 felony conspiracy to commit theft and Level 5 felony corrupt business influence. Finds the evidence is sufficient to support Purvis’ convictions. Also finds Purvis’ sentence to an aggregate term of 12 years’ imprisonment is not inappropriate.

Indiana Court of Appeals
George A. Buskirk v. Maureen Buskirk
06A01-1610-DR-2296
Domestic relation. Reverses the Boone Circuit Court’s order finding a postnuptial agreement unenforceable and ordering that George A. Buskirk pay Maureen Buskirk maintenance and her attorney fees. Finds the agreement was entered into as a reconciliation agreement, was made with valid consideration, set forth the parties’ intent to waive any rights to property of the other and is enforceable.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Glenn Dillard v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
49A05-1706-CR-1189
Criminal. Affirms trial court’s conviction of Class A misdemeanor dealing in paraphernalia, finding that the evidence is sufficient.

7th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Elmer F. Wiman
16-3929
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Evansville Division. Judge Larry J. McKinney.
Criminal. Affirms Elmer Wiman’s convictions of robbing a credit union, carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and possessing a firearm as a felon. Finds any error in the district court’s failure to swear the venire to answer questions truthfully prior to the start of voir dire is harmless.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Charles A. Edmonson v. State of Indiana
84A01-1609-PC-2150
Post conviction. Affirms the post-conviction court’s denial of Charles Edmonson’s petition for post-conviction relief because Indiana law did not require him to be advised of all possible collateral consequences of his guilty plea for that plea to have been entered voluntarily.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Guardianship: Ray Lamey M.D., et al. v. Ziemer, Stayman, Weitzel & Shoulders, LLP, et al.
26A01-1703-GU-588
Guardianship. Affirms the trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law granting the payment of attorney fees to ZSWS and Kolb, incurred during their representation of the protected person.

Indiana Court of Appeals
In the Adoption of L.B. (Minor Child) M.B. (Father) v. N.W. (Stepfather) (mem. dec.)
82A01-1706-AD-1274
Adoption. Affirms the Vanderburgh Superior Court’s grant of an adoption petition, holding that father M.B.’s consent to the adoption of L.B. by N.W. was unnecessary.

Indiana Supreme Court
In the Matter of: Robert Neary
46S00-1512-DI-705
Disciplinary. Suspends Robert Neary for at least four years without automatic reinstatement. Finds Neary, a former LaPorte County deputy prosecutor, committed attorney misconduct by eavesdropping on confidential attorney-client communications, among other things.

The following Indiana Supreme Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday.

Suzanne E. Esserman v. Indiana Department of Environmental Management
49S02-1704-PL-189
Civil plenary. Affirms dismissal of Suzanne E. Esserman's suit seeking damages under Indiana’s False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act against the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which fired her after she said she inquired about questionable state expenses. Majority holds Indiana has not abrogated common-law sovereign immunity for non-tort claims premised on the violation of a statute. Justice Steven David dissents, writing the plain language of "employer" covered by the act includes the state.

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Wednesday:
United States of America v. Wanda Shorter
16-2053
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division. Judge Jon E. DeGuilio
Criminal. Affirms Wanda Shorter’s convictions of health care fraud and three counts of misusing a means of identification. Finds the district court did not err in the admission of evidence. Also finds Shorter did not prove the indictments for the identity charges were duplicitous. Finally, finds the evidence was sufficient to convict Shorter.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Raymond Brown, on behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Situated v. Bucher and Christian Consulting, Inc., d/b/a BCforward
49A04-1611-PL-2564
Civil plenary. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s order granting partial summary judgment on the pleadings filed by Bucher and Christian Counseling, Inc., d/b/a BCforward on Raymond Brown’s claims under the wage payment statute. Finds the trial court did not err as a matter of law when it found Brown was not entitled to seek damages for salary-based wages or commission-based payments under the wage payment statute.

The following Indiana Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Friday:
Indiana Department of Workforce Development v. Kristofer Hugunin
64A05-1703-CC-583
Civil collection. Reverses the denial of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s motion for summary judgment in its action against Kristopher Hugunin. Finds the department is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Remands with instructions for the Porter Superior Court to grant the summary judgment motion.

The following Indiana Tax Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Friday:
American United Life Insurance Company v. Indiana Department of State Revenue
49T10-1610-TA-53
Tax. Affirms American United Life Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment and denies the Indiana Department of State Revenue’s cross-motion for summary judgment on AUL’s claim for a refund. Denies the department’s motion to designate the affidavit of Ray Langenberg. Finds the motion to designate was not timely filed. Also finds Indiana Code section 6-2.5-3-5 does not exclude local-level taxes. Finally, finds AUL paid a use tax to a state other than Indiana when it paid the Texas comptroller.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Tony Petrovski v. Robert Neiswinger
45A03-1706-CT-1412
Civil tort. Reverses the Lake Circuit Court dismissal of Tony Petrovski’s complaint after a car crash for failure to prosecute. Finds that under the unique facts of the case, including attorney Samuel G. Vazanellis’ “complete abdication of his duties,” dismissal was not warranted. Remands.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Maimouna Coulibaly v. Eric Stevance
49A02-1702-DR-235
Domestic relation. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s finding that it lacked jurisdiction to modify a child custody order issued in Mali in favor of Eric Stevance and against Maimouna Coulibaly. Finds Mali’s child custody laws do not violate fundamental human rights under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, so Indiana courts do not have jurisdiction to strike down the Malian custody order.