An Indiana lawmaker is once again proposing a bill that would prohibit attorneys from indemnifying themselves against legal malpractice actions after a similar measure failed to pass last year’s General Assembly.
Increased public access to court records will begin August 1, the Indiana Supreme Court said in an order Friday, after hearing recommendations from an advisory task force on remote access to and privacy of electronic court records.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has signed onto another multi-state Supreme Court amicus brief, this one challenging a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that allowed a retaliatory arrest lawsuit to proceed against Alaska police officers despite probable cause supporting the arrest.
A new poll of Indiana State Bar Association members strongly supports keeping two state appellate judges on the bench, but Hoosiers will have the final say on their retention this November.
The nation’s highest court will hear an Indiana civil forfeiture case next month that could determine whether the Eighth Amendment’s protections against excessive fines can be applied on the state level.
Read Indiana appellate decisions from the most recent reporting period.
Several Kosciusko County mobile home parks lost their appeal of an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission decision that impacted their sewer billing. The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed the IURC’s entry of summary judgment for a regional sewer district and dismissal of the parks’ appeal in Northcrest R.V. Park, et al. v. Lakeland Regional Sewer District, and Indiana Regional Sewer District Association, 18A-EX-1243.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Shannon McHenry v. Nancy Berryhill
18-1691
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Magistrate Judge Matthew P. Brookman.
Civil. Vacates an administrative law judge’s dismissal of Shannon McHenry’s application for disability insurance benefits, finding the ALJ failed to acquire a medical expert to review a consequential MRI report. Remands for proceedings.
In the past year, attorney Alex Beeman has received some 36 calls from individuals impacted by revenge porn. That adds up to at least three requests per month asking how they can navigate a potentially life-altering situation.
A suspended Fort Wayne attorney will serve six months in jail and has been ordered to pay nearly $240,000 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to embezzlement and tax fraud charges stemming from personal and client bankruptcy proceedings.
A Fort Wayne attorney currently serving a six-month embezzlement sentence in federal prison has been suspended from the practice of law in Indiana effective immediately following his felony convictions. The Indiana Supreme Court issued an order of interim suspension against Randall B. Stiles, who was sentenced in March to six months behind bars for two counts of felony bankruptcy fraud and one count of misdemeanor failure to file a tax return.
The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications has filed a motion to suspend Clark Circuit Judge Andrew Adams with pay following his Friday indictment on charges related to a downtown Indianapolis shooting he was involved in earlier this year. The commission filed a Notice of Criminal Charges and Request for Suspension seeking Adams’ suspension immediately upon learning of the felony indictment.
Convictions have been upheld for a man who was driving while suspended after an appellate panel rejected his argument that evidence of his suspension was obtained during an unconstitutional extension of a traffic stop.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a man’s denied petition for relief from what he alleged as conspiracy to wrongfully convict and confine him, among other things, after finding a post-conviction court erred in the procedure it used to dispose of his petition.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Christopher Regan and Northwest Indiana Creative Investors Association, Inc. v. City of Hammond, Indiana
18-3051
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. Judge James T. Moody.
Civil. Affirms the entry of summary judgment against Christopher Regan and Northwest Indiana Creative Investors Association Inc. Finds the city of Hammond’s licensing ordinance does not discriminate based on the domicile of a homeowner in name or effect and has the support of a rational basis, so it poses no problem under the dormant commerce clause.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Tuesday.
USA v. Curtis L. Johnson
18-2350
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. District Judge Michael J. Reagan.
Criminal. Dismisses Curtis Johnson’s appeal of his 21-month sentence for conviction of wire fraud and upholds the appeal waiver in his guilty plea agreement. Finds no fundamental error and that Johnson’s circumstances do not present a due process exception to the rule that most written appeal waivers are effective. Concludes Johnson does not fall outside of the limits to an appeal waiver.
A mother who made threatening social media posts toward a police officer after her son’s death has lost an appeal of her harassment conviction. The Indiana Court of Appeals divided on the sufficiency of evidence supporting her conviction, while a dissenting judge also declared the state’s harassment law “unconstitutionally overbroad and facially invalid because it is susceptible of prohibiting protected expression.”
A divided Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed that the inclusion of an overbid in a tax-sale purchased home’s redemption amount was misleading, but the majority still ultimately offered a second chance for a proper notice to be sent.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Pinch-N-Post, LLC v. Verna L. McIntosh
19A-TP-00239
Tax deed. Affirms in part Verna McIntosh’s assertion that a notice sent by Pinch-N-Post, LLC that included the redemption amount for property she owned would have led a reasonable person to conclude that the total redemption amount was far greater than it actually was. However, finds the St. Joseph Circuit Court should have ordered a new redemption period and reverses and remands with instructions to order a new 120-day redemption period, with notice under Indiana Code section 6-1.1-25-4.5 to be given not later than 90 days after the order. Judge Elizabeth Tavitas concurs in part and dissents in part with a separate opinion, and would void the tax sale.
An auto financing company took a hit after the Indiana Court of Appeals reinstated a car dealer’s breach of contract and defamation complaints in a dispute over vehicles purchased at auction.