The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected appeals from a Floyd County man sentenced to death after he was convicted of two counts of murder for killing two women eight years ago and later confessing to a 2003 slaying.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Tuesday.
Common Cause Indiana et al. v. Connie Lawson et al.
20-2911
Appeal from the United States District Court fort the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Reverses an injunction enjoining enforcement of Indiana law requiring the absentee ballots be received by election officials by noon on Election Day for those votes to be counted. Grants the state’s motion for a stay of the injunction, finding that “(a)s long as it is possible to vote in person, the rules for absentee ballots are constitutionally valid if they are supported by a rational basis and do not discriminate based on a forbidden characteristic such as race or sex.”
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration can end census field operations early, in a blow to efforts to make sure minorities and hard-to-enumerate communities are properly counted in the crucial once-a-decade tally.
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Clay Kelley v. Kristy Kelley, Deceased, b/n/f Kenneth Todd Scales
20A-MI-679
Miscellaneous. Dismisses Clay Kelly’s appeal of the Warrick Superior Court’s denial of his motions to quash a nonparty subpoena, for contempt and for sanctions, finding Clay was neither a named party nor an intervenor in the trial court and therefore lacked standing to bring the appeal. Denies on cross-appeal Kristy Kelley b/n/f Todd Scales’ request for appellate attorney fees.
Democrats and their allies said Tuesday they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether absentee ballots in battleground Wisconsin that are received up to six days after the election can be counted — a move being fought by Republicans who have opposed other attempts across the country to expand voting.
Indiana trial courts are not bound by a two-year term for protective orders found in state law, but they also may not establish a policy setting a standard term for protective orders that substitutes for a different term of duration.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Tuesday dismissed an appeal from a man whose ex-wife’s body was found in a southern Indiana lake six years ago. The man sought to quash a subpoena for his cellphone records sought by the woman’s father, who previously fought local law enforcement to win access to investigatory records pertaining to his daughter’s death.
Indiana Court of Appeals
James L. Dodson, Jr. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
20A-CR-89
Criminal. Affirms James L. Dodson Jr.’s conviction and aggregate sentence of more than 87 years for his conviction in Allen Superior Court of murder and criminal recklessness and an enhancement for using a firearm in the crime. Finds his sentence was not inappropriate and Dodson waived arguments or requested the court to impermissibly reweigh the evidence.
A man a trial court found to be the “worst of the worst” killers for gunning down a Fort Wayne barber outside his shop was properly convicted and sentenced to more than 87 years in prison, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has given parties just days to file briefs in an expedited appeal over a state law requiring election officials to receive absentee ballots by noon on Election Day. The court’s fast track positions it to rule on the matter just weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election, while it issued a sharply divided opinion Thursday upholding a somewhat similar law in a Wisconsin case.
The Supreme Court might prefer to avoid politics, but politics has a way of finding the court.
Indiana Supreme Court
Steven Glover, As Personal Representative of the Estate of Shelina M. Glover v. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company
20S-CT-23
Civil tort. Vacates the Marion Superior court’s judgment and remands with instructions to grant the estate of Shelina Glover Robinson’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Holds that Shelina was an “insured person” under the policy and qualified as a “resident relative” because she lived with her parents, and her parents did not need to notify Allstate of her status because she was not an “operator” living within their household. Also finds that the policy’s anti-stacking provision does not limit an insured’s ability to recover under multiple UIM policies and that the policy’s offset provision reduces only the payments made on behalf of those persons directly liable for the injury.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinions were posted after IL deadline Tuesday:
Indiana Vote by Mail, Inc. v. Paul Okeson
20-2605
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Judge James P. Hanlon.
Civil Plenary. Affirms the district court’s order denying an injunction against an Indiana election law, which would permit “no-excuse” absentee voting in the Nov. 3 general election. Finds Indiana’s absentee voting limitation do not violate the Equal Protection Clause or the 26th Amendment. Senior Judge Kenneth Ripple concurs.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has vacated a Tipton County man’s pointing a firearm and criminal recklessness convictions, finding them to be included offenses of his separate convictions for attempted murder.
A Delaware County mother could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday that a trial court erred in terminating her parental rights to her minor child with special needs. The appellate court found the termination was in the child’s best interest.
President Donald Trump’s accountant must turn over his tax records to a New York state prosecutor, an appeals court ruled Wednesday in a decision that likely sets up a second trip to the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue.
The following 7th Circuit opinion was posted after IL deadline Monday:
Lorraine Beeler v. Andrew M. Saul
19-2099
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern Division of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Affirms the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana upholding the application of the windfall elimination provision by the Social Security Administration to Lorraine Beeler and the court’s grant of summary judgment to the agency. Finds the agency correctly ruled that plaintiffs’ Canadian employment was noncovered under the Social Security Act, and thus the provision applied to reduce their Social Security benefits. Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve dissents with opinion.
The following Indiana Supreme Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Friday.
Dawn Riddle and Matthew Riddle v. Dennis Cress, Haley Wilkerson, and Helen Cress
20S-PL-573
Civil plenary. Grants transfer and affirms the trial court’s decision to set aside the default judgment for Dennis and Helen Cress and the Cresses’ granddaughter, Haley Wilkerson. Finds that “the trial court’s assessments of the parties’ credibility and demeanor are the type of fact-sensitive judgments that may not be second-guessed under the deferential standard of appellate review and, here, are sufficient to establish at least ‘slight evidence’ of excusable neglect.” Remands to Johnson Superior Court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissents, believing transfer should be denied.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has remanded an adoptive mother’s granted petition to adopt her wife’s three children, finding that the trial court failed to make any findings that would support dispensing with their father’s consent.