Indiana Court Decisions: Jan. 25-Feb. 7, 2024
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
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Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
A convicted murderer sentenced as a teen to more than 200 years will have his sentence reduced to 135 years, although one Court of Appeals of Indiana judge would uphold the 220-year term.
A grandmother who filed her grandparent visitation petition before her grandchild was adopted had standing to bring the action under the state’s Grandparent Visitation Act, the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed Tuesday.
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Desmond Banks v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-896
Criminal. Affirms and reverses in part Desmond Banks’ convictions in a quadruple murder and his de facto life sentence. Finds the Marion Superior Court properly denied Banks’ motion for mistrial based on Critical Emergency Response Team members approaching and standing behind him as jurors filed out of the courtroom. Also finds three of the four robbery convictions should be vacated due to insufficient evidence. Finally, finds Desmond’s convictions for the murder and Level 2 felony robbery of Marcel Wills constitute double jeopardy, and his 220-year sentence is inappropriate. Reduces his sentence to 135 years. Remands with instructions for the trial court to enter conviction for Level 5 felony robbery. Judge Cale Bradford concurs in part and dissents in part with separate opinion.
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush will keynote this year’s Women’s History Month celebration hosted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the Indianapolis Bar Association.
The state’s Dram Shop Act modified, but did not eliminate, common law liability for entities that serve alcohol, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Former President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to extend the delay in his election interference trial, saying he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The Senate early Tuesday passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and amid growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the first bill to hit his desk in the 2024 legislative session: one further eroding wetlands protections by redefining certain, protected wetlands to a less regulated class.
House Bill 1264 has won praise from some who say it would improve election security. But it’s also rankled voting rights advocates — who fear it could disenfranchise some eligible voters — and deadlocked the bipartisan state clerks association.
Whether U.S. Senate hopeful John Rust can appear on Indiana’s primary ballot is now up to the state’s supreme court justices.
When a man’s efforts to defraud a friend out of $310,000 were detected should take priority in his sentencing for wire fraud, regardless of the fact that he paid her back before any criminal proceedings took place, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed.
Summary judgment briefing has been partially stayed in an electoral redistricting lawsuit that alleges Anderson’s city council districts violate constitutional and statutory rights.
A trial court correctly awarded a Delaware County man 62% of a marital estate in a divorce case, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled Monday in affirming the court’s determination to divide the estate in the husband’s favor.
Monday opinions
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Lela Jo Boucher v. Dennis J. Doyle
23A-DN-1534
Domestic relations without children. Affirms the Delaware Circuit Court’s order dividing the marital estate in favor of Dennis Doyle. Finds Lela Jo Boucher failed to demonstrate that the trial court’s deviation from the presumptive equal split of the marital estate was clearly erroneous.
The parents of a Johnson County juvenile accused of child molestation owed a duty to the “foreseeable victim of a foreseeable harm” that was allegedly molested in the case, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled in reversing a trial court’s grant of summary judgment on a negligent parental supervision claim.
There’s uncertainty whether President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will participate in debates this year ahead of the November presidential election.
A proposed Indiana House bill looks to continue expanding the nursing workforce by addressing foreign-educated nursing licensure requirements and on-the-ground training.
Former President Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline for asking the Supreme Court to extend the delay in his trial on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Dozens of candidates for Indiana’s top elected offices will hit Hoosier primary ballots this spring — including a whopping eight gubernatorial hopefuls, more than 150 state-level job-seekers and more than five-dozen congressional contenders.