7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Thomas Dennis Jr. v. Niagara Credit Solutions, Inc., et al.
19-1654
Appeal from the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, New Albany Division. Judge Richard L. Young.
Civil. Affirms judgment on the pleadings in favor of Niagara Credit Solutions defendants on Thomas Dennis Jr.’s complaint alleging violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Finds the claims raised by Dennis meritless.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has vacated an order establishing paternity for man after genetic testing revealed he was not the biological father of a child he and the child’s mother claimed was his. Paternity was instead ordered for the child’s revealed biological father.
A divided Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of a sex offender’s motion to dismiss a charge brought against him for driving without registering his vehicle, despite a dissenting judge’s argument that the statute he was charged under was too vague.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Antonio Buford v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-956
Criminal. Vacates the Marion Superior Court’s contempt finding against Antonio Buford on double jeopardy concerns but affirms his 2 ½ – year sentence in community corrections for his conviction of domestic battery. Finds no abuse of the trial court’s discretion in its sentencing of Buford.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Jonathan Stanley Belcher v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-00830
Criminal. Affirms Jonathan Belcher’s guilty but mentally ill convictions for two counts of Level 3 felony aggravated battery and one count each of Class B misdemeanor battery and Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, the finding that he is a habitual offender, and his aggregate 53-year-and-180-day sentence. Finds sufficient evidence that Belcher appreciated the wrongfulness of his actions. Also finds no abuse of discretion at sentencing. Finally, finds the sentence is not inappropriate given the nature of his offenses and his character.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Scott Shields v. Town of Perrysville
19A-MI-00979
Miscellaneous. Affirms the Vermillion Circuit Court’s judgment in favor of the Town of Perrysville on its quiet title action against Scott Shields. Finds the trial court did not clearly err in rejecting Shield’s claim of abandonment. Declines to reweigh evidence and reassess witness credibility regarding an expert survey.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Daniel Tanoos v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-1086
Criminal. Affirms the denial of former Vigo County School Corporation Superintendent Daniel Tanoos’ motion to dismiss charges of one count of Class C felony bribery and two counts of Level 5 felony bribery. Finds the Marion Superior Court did not abuse its discretion when it did not dismiss his charges.
Indiana Tax Court
Southlake Indiana LLC v. Lake County Assessor
18T-TA-16
Tax. Reverses the Indiana Board of Tax Review’s final determination that valued Southlake Indiana LLC’s real property for each of the 2007 through 2014 tax years. Finds the board’s reliance on Lake County appraiser Mark Kenney’s market rent estimates is contrary to law, and its repudiation of Southlake appraiser Sara Coers’ percentage-of-gross-sales analysis is unsupported by substantial and reliable evidence. Remands to the board with instructions to assign the subject property a market value-in-use under the income approach that calculates the property’s net operating income each year at issue by replacing Kenney’s market rents with the market rents derived by Coers through her reconciliation of her market extraction and gross-percentage-of-sales estimations, and that applies Coers’ capitalization rates for 2010-2012 but Kenney’s capitalization rates for 2007-2009 and 2013-2014.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Dexter Fisher
18-2765
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Criminal. Affirms Dexter Fisher’s convictions for brandishing a firearm, the forfeiture of his firearm and his 57-year sentence. Finds no reasonable juror could have failed to find a sufficient nexus between the pistol and Fisher’s conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon, so the district court’s failure to inquire whether he would like to waive his right to a jury trial on the issue of forfeiture did not affect his substantial rights. Also finds Fisher did not object to a supervised release condition prohibiting him from purchasing, possessing, distributing, administering or using psychoactive substances, but his written and oral sentences impose terms of supervised release inconsistently, on different counts. Finally, finds Fisher’s convictions of brandishing a firearm qualify as crimes of violence. Remands with specific instructions for the district court to enter a corrected judgment that mirrors the oral sentence regarding the counts to which a term of supervised release attaches.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Jarvis Peele v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-01160
Criminal. Reverses Jarvis Peele’s convictions of Level 6 felony possession of methamphetamine and two counts of Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement. Finds the Clark Circuit Court erred when it granted the state’s Criminal Rule 4(D) motion to continue Peele’s trial outside the timeframe required by his speedy-trial request. Finds Peele was entitled to discharge of the charges against him.
A Clark County man has again had his drug-related convictions vacated after the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded he was entitled to have them discharged when his request for a speedy trial was not met.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Termination: J W v. Indiana Department of Child Services
19A-JT-01298
Juvenile termination. Affirms the involuntary termination of J.W.’s parental rights to his daughter, G.F. Finds sufficient evidence to support the termination, concluding there was a reasonable probability that the continuation of the parent-child relationship would pose a threat to the well-being of G.F.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Brigid Ford v. Marion County Sheriff’s Office
18-3217
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge William T. Lawrence.
Civil. Affirms the Southern District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office against Brigid Ford’s discriminatory employment practice claims. Finds the district court properly granted partial summary judgment as to some of Ford’s claims and exercised its discretion fairly to manage the trial on the remaining claims.
Indiana Tax Court
Crown Property Group, LLC v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, and Adam J. Krupp
18T-TA-27
Tax. Grants Crown Property Group’s motion for summary judgement and denied the Indiana Department of State Revenue’s motion for summary judgment. Finds Crown is entitled to a refund of its filing fee plus $1,811.30, the entire amount levied by the department’s collection agent that comprises the withholding tax, the collection fee and the bank fee.
Indiana Supreme Court
In the Matter of the Honorable Andrew Adams; In the Matter of the Honorable Bradley B. Jacobs; In the Matter of the Honorable Sabrina R. Bell
19S-JD-386, 19S-JD-566, 19S-JD-567
Judicial discipline. Suspends Clark Circuit 1 Judge Andrew Adams, who is already under an interim suspension, for 60 days without pay, effective immediately, to be reinstated at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 13, 2020. Suspends Clark Circuit 2 Judge Bradley Jacobs and Crawford Circuit Judge Sabrina Bell for 30 days without pay, effective 12:01 a.m. Nov. 22, to be reinstated at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 23. Finds the respondents, who were involved in a violent confrontation in Indianapolis on May 1 in which Adams and Jacobs were shot, violated Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct Rules 1.2 and 3.1(c). Also finds Adams violated Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 1.1.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed in part a judgment issued to a former medical device company employee, granting him an additional award for unpaid wages and remanding for the calculation of additional attorney fees it concluded he is entitled to.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Benjamin S. Smith v. Franklin Township Community School Corporation
19A-CT-1244
Civil tort. Reverses the Marion Superior Court’s denial of Benjamin Smith’s motion to reinstate his negligence complaint against the Franklin Township Community School Corporation. Finds the Claims Against Public Schools Act does not apply to Smith’s claim against the school. Remands with instructions to reinstate Smith’s tort claim.
Indiana Court of Appeals
State of Indiana v. Frederick Obryan McFarland
18A-CR-2408
Criminal. Affirms the Vanderburgh Superior Court’s denial of the state’s motion to amend the habitual offender charging information against Frederick McFarland filed three calendar days before his trial on multiple charges related to a fatal car crash allegedly cause after McFarland fled an attempted traffic stop. Finds no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s ruling.
Indiana Supreme Court
Rodney W. Falls v. State of Indiana
19S-CR-557
Criminal. Grants transfer to reaffirm that a charge of stalking may be supported by conduct that is continuous in nature, even if it is a single episode. Finds that Rodney Falls’ conduct of following a college student by vehicle for more than two hours met the statutory definition of “continuing” harassment, thereby supporting his conviction in Kosciusko Superior Court of Level 6 felony stalking. Affirms the Indiana Court of Appeals’ opinion in all other respects.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected multiple arguments regarding its prior decision involving the LaPorte County auditor’s failure to check records that would have revealed the address of a Michigan City property owner whose land was sold without notice for back taxes.