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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in several cases early next month, including one involving a woman injured in a house explosion and another centered on two men seeking a new trial for their involvement in a drive-by shooting.
That starts with the court hearing arguments for two cases on Thursday.
At 9 a.m., the court will consider John Merchant v. Katz Sapper & Miller LLP, 25A-PL-01713. After selling his shares of the company iCube LLC to its two other owners, Merchant discovered the other owners lent money from iCube to another company without reimbursement. Merchant sued the co-owners and iCube’s accounting firm, but the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a motion to dismiss the case.
Merchant now appeals the case to the Indiana Supreme Court.
At 10 a.m., the court will hear arguments in Reginald D. Akins, Jr. v. State of Indiana, 24A-CR-02140. In two separate proceedings, Akins was convicted on drug possession charges and for being a habitual offender. The latter conviction was handed down after Akins’ former defense attorney, who’s now a deputy prosecutor, identified Akins as a former client who had previously been convicted of a felony. Akins was sentenced to 27 years, which the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed.
Akins appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court, arguing that the state of Indiana committed prosecutorial misconduct by using its own prosecutor to identify him and his past convictions during a habitual offender proceeding.
On Oct. 6, the high court will travel to Brown County to hear arguments in Carla Miller v. Indiana Gas Company, Inc., 26S-CT-190. Appellant Carla Miller states that she did not smell gas in or around her neighbors’ house prior to a 2019 explosion that injured her. Miller sued Indiana Gas Company, Inc. for negligence, questioning whether the company properly odorized the gas that caused the explosion. The Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s granting of Indiana Gas’s motion for summary judgment, stating that Miller failed to prove the gas wasn’t properly odorized.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted Miller’s petition to transfer and now has jurisdiction over the case.
On Oct. 8, the court will hear arguments in Lee Guzman, et al. v. State of Indiana, 25A-PC-00552. In 2005, appellants Lee Guzman and David Owens were convicted of murder for the 2005 drive-by shooting of Ronald Cannon. Guzman and Owens sought post-conviction relief, arguing they needed a new trial due to ineffective assistance of trial counsel, Brady violations and new evidence in the case. A Marion County court denied the petition, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that denial.
Guzman and Owens are now asking the court to accept jurisdiction over their case.
Oral arguments can be viewed online.
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