Taking the oath
The admission ceremony for new Indiana lawyers weaves together feelings of joy and responsibility.

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The admission ceremony for new Indiana lawyers weaves together feelings of joy and responsibility.
Bill Bock worked for more than 2 years to uncover evidence against Lance Armstrong.
The Indiana State Bar Association and the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program focus on wellness in a new workplace survival guide.
In response to the low numbers, the Indiana Bar Foundation is launching a legal assistance website to help low-income Hoosiers.
The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles agreed Monday to halt enforcement of the “Previously Uninsured Motorist Registry” and reinstate the driver’s licenses of thousands of Hoosiers.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals posted no Indiana opinions by IL deadline. Indiana Supreme Court and Tax Court posted no opinions by IL deadline.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Steven E. Miles, a/k/a Robert Dutcher v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1204-PC-310
Post conviction. Affirms denial of petition for post-conviction relief.
Patrick Fluker v. State of Indiana (NFP)
02A03-1203-CR-137
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class A felony murder enhanced due to use of a firearm and Class D felony receiving stolen property.
Maurice Higgins v. State of Indiana (NFP)
02A03-1204-CR-189
Criminal. Reverses revocation of probation and remands to the trial court ordering Higgins immediate release from Department of Correction. The appeals court ruled that that the trial court abused its discretion in revoking Higgins’ probation on the basis of an arrest for which a jury found him not guilty.
Term. of the Parent-Child Rel. of: R.P., Minor Child, B.H., Mother v. Indiana Dept. of Child Services, and Child Advocates, Inc. (NFP)
49A02-1202-JT-84
Juvenile. Affirms termination of parental rights.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Steven E. Miles, a/k/a Robert Dutcher v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1204-PC-310
Post conviction. Affirms denial of petition for post-conviction relief.
Indiana justices will review a case involving a search deemed illegal and a subsequent conviction for resisting law enforcement that was reversed by the Court of Appeals.
The centralized hotline system is among the topics to be discussed when the Department of Child Services Interim Study Committee meets Nov. 8.
Senior Judge Thomas K. Milligan will serve as Tippecanoe Superior 3 judge pro tem after Loretta Rush moves from that court to take her seat on the Indiana Supreme Court Nov. 7.
A federal jury verdict last week awarded 12 Oregon soldiers $85 million for illnesses linked to a military contractor that knowingly exposed them to toxic chromium dust in Iraq. The result could have implications for 60 similarly situated Indiana National Guard members who are awaiting their day in court.
Stories above detail for-publication opinions issued Nov. 2 by Indiana appellate courts. Not-for-publication opinions issued by IL deadline are listed below.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Curtis M. Howard v. State of Indiana (NFP)
79A02-1205-CR-410
Criminal. Affirms revocation of community corrections.
Dennis Leer v. State of Indiana (NFP)
20A04-1204-PC-185
Criminal. Reverses and remands denial of a petition for post-conviction relief, ordering the trial court to correct his sentence to reflect that the sentence for murder is to be served concurrently with an earlier sentence for attempted murder.
In Re The Visitation of M.J. and J.J.: C.M. v. J.J. and I.J. (NFP)
71A03-1205-JM-220
Domestic relation. Affirms granting of visitation with her two minor children, M.J. and J.J., to the children’s paternal grandparents, Jo.J. and I.J.
Kirk Lynch v. State of Indiana (NFP)
40A05-1201-CR-26
Criminal. Affirms in a split decision a conviction for Class A felony attempted child molesting, and vacating the conviction for Class C felony child solicitation, and revises Lynch’s sentence from 40 years with five suspended to probation to 25 years imprisonment with five years suspended to probation. The majority determined the child solicitation count constituted double jeopardy. Judge Terry Crone agreed, but said Lynch’s 40-year sentence was not inappropriate based on the nature of his offense and Lynch’s character.
Indiana Tax Court
Carolyn Gibson v. Indiana Dept. of State Revenue (NFP)
49T10-1204-TA-20
Affirms denial of refund claim.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Joshua A. Bostic v. State of Indiana
12A02-1202-CR-154
Criminal. Affirms convictions of Cass C felony attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness; Class D felony arson; Class A misdemeanor criminal mischief; and Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief, holding that Bostic waived his right to appeal under Criminal Rule 4(C) by failing to object to trial delays before the trial court. The court also found he likewise waived his right to appeal the process for appointing a special judge. Remands to the trial court to correct the sentencing order, abstract of judgment, and chronological case summary to reflect that Bostic’s 12-year habitual offender enhancement is an enhancement to his sentence for felony criminal recklessness, and not a separate conviction.
A man convicted of multiple felonies lost his appeal when the court determined he had not objected to matters raised in the appeal during his jury trial or sentencing.
Indianapolis Tea Party Corp. has produced a radio advertisement critical of Justice Steven David ahead of his retention vote on Tuesday.
The way Marion Superior judges are elected is unconstitutional, a suit filed Thursday by Common Cause and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana alleges.
The following not-for-publication opinions were posted by IL deadline. For-publication decisions are detailed in the opinions stories above.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Joshua Shipley v. State of Indiana (NFP)
07A05-1204-CR-225
Criminal. Affirms sentence for Class B felony criminal confinement with a deadly weapon.
Jeffrey S. Heironimus v. State of Indiana (NFP)
82A01-1204-CR-152
Criminal. Affirms admission of evidence of witness identifications made after a warrantless entry into an accomplice’s residence.
Angela R. Elliott v. State of Indiana (NFP)
13A04-1201-CR-11
Criminal. Affirms convictions of Class A felony dealing in methamphetamine, Class D felony maintaining a common nuisance, and Class A misdemeanors possession of paraphernalia and resisting law enforcement.
Brian S. Fleming v. State of Indiana (NFP)
82A05-1202-CR-100
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class D felony intimidation.
Stephen L. Reed v. State of Indiana (NFP)
02A03-1205-CR-216
Criminal. Affirms sentence for Class C felony corrupt business influence.
Bryan Jann v. Review Board of the Indiana Dept. of Workforce Development and C&B Custom Modular, Inc. (NFP)
93A02-1112-EX-1185
Agency appeal. Affirms decision by review board that Jann, by failing to appear, had presented no evidence to support claim for unemployment benefits.
Darrius Woods v. State of Indiana (NFP)
20A03-1202-CR-90
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class A felony dealing in cocaine.
Kenneth Hawkins v. Debra Hawkins (NFP)
49A02-1203-DR-206
Domestic relation. Affirms distribution of assets and declines to award Debra Hawkins attorney fees.
David J. Bogolia and Nikki Schafer v. John Danielson, M.D. (NFP)
64A04-1201-CC-42
Civil collection. Affirms denial of Bogolia’s and Schafer’s motion for partial summary judgment and their motion to strike Dr. Danielson’s response to that motion.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Leslie Bridges v. Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLC, Veolia Water North America Operating Service, LLC, and The City of Indianapolis, Dept. of Waterworks
49A02-1112-CC-1097
Civil collection. Affirms trial court dismissal of Bridges’ class action filed after her water was turned off for nonpayment, finding Bridges failed to exhaust the administrative remedies available at the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission. She had to seek those remedies before seeking judicial relief. Concludes that I.C. 8-1-2-68 through -70 grant the IURC exclusive jurisdiction over Bridges’ claim regardless of whether it is treated as a challenge to and request for reimbursement of the reconnect fee or as a challenge to the allegedly improper act of terminating her residential water service in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the tariff.
Indiana’s newest justice Loretta Rush will have a private swearing in ceremony Nov. 7. Her public ceremony will be held Dec. 28. Rush is just the second woman to serve on the state Supreme Court.
Three Indiana justices have decided that a Boone County attorney should be suspended for at least three years because his repeated misconduct has “injured his clients” and “tarnished the reputation of the legal profession.”