Indiana Court Decisions – May 5-18, 2022
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
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Gunman kills 18 children, 3 adults in Texas grade school
An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 18 children as he went from classroom to classroom, officials said, in the latest gruesome moment for a country scarred by a string of massacres. The assailant was killed by law enforcement.
ACLU files lawsuit over trans sports ban minutes after lawmakers override veto
Minutes after the Indiana Republican supermajority Legislature overrode Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of the bill restricting transgender girls from participating in girls’ youth sports, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging HEA 1041.
Despite guilty plea in criminal case, COA allows defendant’s civil case against treatment providers to continue
A man with serious mental health issues who killed his grandfather soon after receiving mental health treatment has secured a reversal from the Court of Appeals of Indiana, which concluded his treatment providers were wrongly granted summary judgment on his medical malpractice claim.
Laws criminalizing HIV to be reviewed by legislative interim study committee
Heeding a call from a bipartisan group of legislators, Indiana will undertake a review of its criminal code for laws concerning HIV, with the focus on modernizing state statutes and helping to end the HIV epidemic.
7th Circuit affirms dismissal of habeas petition, but overturns 2 cases on jurisdiction
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a parolee’s habeas petition for failure to exhaust state remedies, but not for lack of jurisdiction. In reaching its decision, the appellate court overturned two precedents described as causing “mischief.”
Ice Miller loses 8 attorneys, staff members to East Coast firm’s new office
More than a dozen employees—including eight attorneys—have left law firm Ice Miller to start a Midwest office for Newark, New Jersey-based law firm McCarter & English in Carmel, the East Coast firm announced Monday.
COA: Statement of dead man properly admitted as evidence
A northern Indiana man’s constitutional rights weren’t violated when a trial court admitted a statement from a dead witness into evidence, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has ruled.
2 ‘secret children’ of ex-Indy fertility doctor sue Netflix for allegedly revealing their identities without permission
Two Marion County women who discovered they were among the nearly 100 “secret children” of a former Indiana fertility doctor that inspired the popular Netflix documentary “Our Father” are suing the film’s producers, claiming their identities were revealed without their consent.
Indiana pastor admits ‘adultery’; woman says she was a teen
A church pastor told his Indiana congregation that he had committed “adultery” about 20 years ago, a disclosure that was followed moments later by a woman who stepped forward and said she was victimized by him when she was 16 years old.
SCOTUS rules against inmates in right-to-counsel case
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled along ideological lines Monday against two Arizona death row inmates who had argued that their lawyers did a poor job representing them in state court. The ruling will make it harder for certain inmates sentenced to death or long terms in prison who believe their lawyers failed them to bring challenges on those grounds.
If Roe falls, some fear repercussions for reproductive care
If the Supreme Court follows through on overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion likely will be banned or greatly restricted in about half the U.S. states. But experts and advocates fear repercussions could reach even further, affecting care for women who miscarry, couples seeking fertility treatments and access to some forms of contraception.
Search for Supreme Court leaker falls to former Army colonel
When Gail Curley began her job as Marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court less than a year ago, she would have expected to work mostly behind the scenes: overseeing the court’s police force and the operations of the marble-columned building where the justices work.
Longtime Indianapolis real estate lawyer dies
Thomas Michael Quinn, a real estate attorney credited with shaping commercial development in Indianapolis, died May 14. He was 85.
Former chairman of Pike Lumber, Huntington attorney dies
Huntington attorney Joseph Northrop, former chairman of Pike Lumber Co., Inc., has died.
Trial Rule 60(B) does not sway COA to overturn default judgment
A certified public accountant who abruptly booted a tenant from his property then failed to appear at the subsequent court proceedings discovered the limits of trying to get relief under Indiana Trial Rule 60(B) when the Court of Appeals of Indiana found the CPA miscalculated his ability to get a do-over.
COA partially rules for town in property, ITCA dispute
An Indiana town will receive partial judgment from the Court of Appeals of Indiana on fraud and constructive fraud claims brought against it by a property owner who claimed the town backed out on its promise to purchase land.
COA rules COVID dangers allowed for continuance in criminal trial
The Court of Appeals of Indiana found the Fulton Superior Court’s failure to hold a timely jury trial after the defendant filed a motion for a speedy trial was not grounds to overturn the conviction because the COVID-19 pandemic created an emergency that allowed for the delay.
COA reverses for farm in neighbors’ shared drainage line dispute
The Court of Appeals of Indiana has reversed in a dispute between neighbors over the use of a drainage line in Montgomery County, finding the farmland owner’s suit wasn’t subject to a six-year statute of limitations.
Ginni Thomas’ emails deepen her involvement in 2020 election
Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a conservative political activist, urged Republican lawmakers in Arizona after the 2020 presidential election to choose their own slate of electors, arguing that results giving Joe Biden a victory in the state were marred by fraud.