Jan. 30, 2026

Indiana Court of Appeals
Lloyd N. Jelks v. State of Indiana
No. 25A-CR-1971

Criminal. Appeal from the Marion Superior Court, Judge Amy M. Jones. Affirms Jelks’s conviction for refusal to provide identification information, a Class C misdemeanor. Holds the evidence was sufficient to prove Jelks knowingly or intentionally refused to identify himself to a law enforcement officer who had stopped him for an infraction, as required by Indiana Code § 34-28-5-3.5. Concludes the evidence showed Officer Reneski lawfully stopped Jelks for operating a vehicle with a fictitious license plate, repeatedly requested Jelks’s identification, and explained the consequences of refusal, yet Jelks persisted in refusing to provide his name, date of birth, address, or state identification despite possessing a valid Indiana identification card in his wallet. Further holds Jelks’s asserted belief that he was exercising constitutional rights was irrelevant to whether he knowingly or intentionally refused to identify himself under the statute. Accordingly, affirms the judgment and suspended sentence. Appellant’s attorneys: Talisha R. Griffin; Timothy J. Burns. Appellee’s attorneys: Office of the Indiana Attorney General.

Indiana Court of Appeals
K.A. v. Z.G.
No. 25A-PO-1849

Civil. Appeal from the Fountain Circuit Court, Senior Judge Peggy Lohorn. Affirms in part, reverses in part, and remands the trial court’s protective order requiring K.A. to remove the entire Facebook page “Covington IN State Cop Watch.” Holds that comments on the page reporting or criticizing Trooper Z.G.’s on-duty conduct as a law enforcement officer constitute protected speech under the First Amendment. Further holds that threatening statements—both K.A.’s posts concerning Trooper Z.G.’s off-duty whereabouts and third-party comments advocating or suggesting violence—constitute unprotected “true threats” and may be prohibited. Concludes that the blanket order requiring removal of the entire Facebook page impermissibly restricts protected speech and operates as an unconstitutional prior restraint to the extent it bars non-threatening speech about a public official. Remands with instructions to modify the protective order to prohibit only true threats and unprotected speech. Appellant’s attorneys: ACLU of Indiana. Appellee: No appellee’s brief filed.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Tyrone Stokes v. State of Indiana
No. 25A-CR-1740

Criminal. Appeal from the St. Joseph Superior Court, Magistrate Matthew Raper. Reverses and remands. Reverses Stokes’s conviction for operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent, or ACE, of at least 0.15 grams per 100 milliliters of blood. Holds the State presented insufficient evidence to prove Stokes’s ACE at the time he operated the vehicle because the State failed to establish when the accident occurred and therefore could not invoke the rebuttable presumption under Indiana Code § 9-30-6-15(b) that relates a chemical test result back to the time of operation. Further holds that, without the statutory presumption and without expert evidence of retrograde extrapolation, the blood test result alone was insufficient to prove the ACE element beyond a reasonable doubt. Remands with instructions for the trial court to determine whether to enter a conviction on one of the remaining charged offenses—operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor, or operating while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor—because sufficient evidence supports those offenses based on the circumstances of the crash and the officer’s observations. Appellant’s attorney: Geoffrey L. Blazi, Blazi Law Office. Appellee’s attorneys: Office of the Indiana Attorney General.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Steve Wilcox and Melissa Wilcox v. Matthew A. Gingrich and Grateful Home Exteriors, LLC
No. 25A-PL-1157

Civil. Appeal from the Morgan Superior Court, Judge Sara Dungan. Affirms the trial court’s judgment entered on a jury verdict. Holds the Wilcoxes waived all appellate issues due to substantial noncompliance with Indiana Appellate Rule 46, including pervasive reliance on fabricated legal authorities, mischaracterization of existing cases, and failure to properly compile a Table of Authorities. Concludes these deficiencies significantly impeded appellate review and prevented consideration of the merits of the Wilcoxes’ challenges to jury instructions, verdicts on fraud and Indiana Home Improvement Contracts Act claims, damages calculations, cumulative error, and attorney’s fees. Affirms the jury’s verdict awarding the Wilcoxes $67,825.44 on their breach of contract claim against Grateful Home Exteriors, LLC, and verdicts in favor of the defendants on the Wilcoxes’ HICA and fraud claims. Declines to impose sanctions but cautions that future filings containing fabricated or unverified citations may result in sanctions. Appellants: Steve Wilcox and Melissa Wilcox, pro se. Appellees’ attorneys: None listed.

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