The Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of sexual battery after finding a trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of the man’s decade-old false informing conviction.
An appeals court on Friday affirmed a judgment for the Indiana Department of Revenue in a class-action lawsuit that sought to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in state motor carrier fees trucking companies paid online.
A man who beat his pregnant girlfriend and urged her to change her story and not testify against him did not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals to reverse his sentence and convictions.
A man convicted of resisting law enforcement after refusing to remove his hands from his pockets did not persuade the Indiana Court of Appeals that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction.
Indiana Court of Appeals
City of Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals v. UJ-Eighty Corporation
19A-PL-00457
Civil plenary. Majority affirms the Monroe Circuit Court’s grant of UJ-Eighty Corp.’s petition seeking judicial review of the Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals’ decision that affirmed the issuance of two notices of violation against UJ-Eighty. Finds the City of Bloomington improperly delegated authority to Indiana University in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Affirms that the ordinance unconstitutionally violates due process. Judge L. Mark Bailey dissents with opinion.
A convicted rapist has failed to overturn his convictions of sexual assault against his ex-girlfriend, with the Indiana Court of Appeals rejecting his challenges to the trial court’s evidentiary and procedural rulings.
A homeschooled teen who threatened to shoot students at northern Indiana high school did not convince an Indiana Court of Appeals panel that there wasn’t enough evidence to support his delinquency adjudication.
A split appellate court has affirmed for a southern Indiana property owner in a dispute over a former Indiana University fraternity house after the university decided to no longer recognize the fraternity. In doing so, the panel struck down a local Bloomington ordinance that deferred to IU in regulating fraternities and sororities.
The Indiana Supreme Court has declined to take up the case of a man sentenced to 100 years in prison for molesting 20 children while working at a YMCA and at an elementary school.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Raymond E. Cook, III v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-1594
Criminal. Affirms Raymond Cook III’s aggregate seven-year sentence for conviction in Ripley Circuit Court of Level 5 felony dealing in methamphetamine and Level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance. Finds the sentence is not inappropriate in light of the nature of the offenses and his character.
A former Knox County chief deputy prosecutor has been suspended from the practice of law for abusing his prosecutorial authority as part of a retaliation campaign against a detective who discovered his sexual relationship with a criminal defendant. The elected Knox County prosecutor also faces a related disciplinary case, according to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Termination: J H, et al. v. Child Advocates Inc, et al.
19A-JT-01549
Juvenile termination. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s termination of J.H. and W.D.’s parental rights to their minor child, C.D. Finds the trial court did not clearly err in determining that there was sufficient evidence to support the termination of parental rights. Finds their right to consent to C.D.’s adoption was rightly terminated.
A mother and father whose parental rights were terminated did not persuade the Indiana Court of Appeals to reverse the termination because they were deprived of the right to determine their child’s adoptive placement.
A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to put in place a policy connecting the use of public benefits including Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers with whether immigrants could become permanent residents.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Stephen W. Peele v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-1775
Criminal. Reverses the dismissal of Stephen Peele’s petition for removal from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry. Finds the Marion Superior Court erred in dismissing Peele’s petition, finding Peele properly brought his petition for removal within a criminal cause in a qualifying court. Remands with instructions to the trial court to consider the merits of Peele’s petition.
A man’s petition to remove his name from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry was reinstated Friday when an appellate panel concluded that the trial court that dismissed the petition had jurisdiction to consider it.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinions were posted after IL deadline Wednesday:
United States of America v. Jose Trinidad Garcia, Jr., and Alfonso Pineda-Hernandez, also known as Flaco
18-1890, 18-2261
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson
Criminal. Reverses the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence for Jose Garcia after he pleaded guilty to a drug-dealing conspiracy count, finding the predicate Indiana offense used to enhance his sentence does not qualify as a federal drug offense. Remands for resentencing. Affirms the 25-year sentence imposed on Alfonso Pineda-Hernandez after he was found guilty on two trafficking charges, finding no error in his sentencing or conviction.
A trial court erred in terminating a mother’s parental rights to her two minor children, finding the potential of the children’s reunification with their father and their continuing bond with their mom made the termination of their relationship with their mother not in their best interests.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed a 12-year-old boy’s delinquency adjudication for what would be Level 4 felony child molestation, finding he lacked maturity to knowingly and voluntarily waive his rights and that evidence of a police interrogation should not have been admitted.
One of two men convicted as conspirators in an Indiana meth ring will be resentenced as a result of his appeal while the other man convicted in the scheme will serve his full 25-year sentence, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held Wednesday.