Court opinions

Indiana Supreme Court
Tailar L. Spells v. State of Indiana
23S-CR-232
Criminal. Affirms the retention of Tailar Spells’ cash bail to cover her $100 supplemental public defender fee and $2 jury fee. Vacates the $20 fine and other costs and fees. Finds the statutory agreement under Indiana Code § 35-33-8-3.2(a) permits application of cash bail to the whole of a defendant’s public defender costs. Also finds a court may retain cash bail to pay most other fines, costs and fees only after considering the defendant’s ability to pay. Finally, finds the indigency determination in this case was incomplete. Remands for further proceedings on the fines, costs and fees.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Kenyonn Sincere v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1172
Criminal. Affirms Kenyonn Sincere’s conviction of a Class A misdemeanor for falsely representing himself to be a detective with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. Finds the admission of the challenged evidence was cumulative of other properly admitted evidence and therefore harmless. Also finds the deputy prosecutor did not commit prosecutorial misconduct and that the evidence is sufficient to sustain Sincere’s conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
David Freed v. Elizabeth Freed
23A-DC-129
Domestic relations with children. Affirms the Johnson Circuit Court’s order awarding a pre-embryo to Elizabeth Freed following her divorce from David Freed. Finds the trial court applied the appropriate test and considered the appropriate factors before awarding the pre-embryo to Elizabeth Freed.

Indiana Supreme Court
Edward Zaragoza v. Wexford of Indiana, LLC, et al.
23S-CT-99
Civil tort. Reverses the award of summary judgment to the defendants on Edward Zaragoza’s complaint alleging medical malpractice and deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. Finds genuine issues of material fact remain to be determined.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Imogene Perry v. Anne H. Poindexter, Personal Representative of the Supervised Estate of Richard Abbott, Janice Mandla Mattingly, Michael P. Brown and Phillip Brown
22A-EU-2774
Estate. Reverses the Hamilton Superior Court’s denial of Imogene Perry’s motion for relief from default judgment. Finds the trial court erred when it denied Perry’s motion for relief from judgment because she did not receive notice of the estate’s motion for return of funds and/or the related hearing in a way calculated to provide her a meaningful opportunity to appear and defend herself. Remands to the trial court to hold a hearing on all pending motions in the matter including but not limited to the motion for return of funds and any motions with respect to fees Perry and/or the estate paid to Janice Mandla Mattingly and/or Lauth Investigations International Inc.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
State of Indiana v. Trisha M. Woodworth
22A-CR-2557
Criminal. Reverses the grant of the Lake Superior Court’s own motion to correct error, vacating Trisha Woodworth’s conviction of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death and granting Woodworth a new trial, but also reverses Woodworth’s conviction. Finds the trial court abused its discretion when it granted its own motion to correct error. Also finds there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jose Luis Lopez Interiano v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-1557
Criminal. Affirms Jose Luis Lopez Interiano’s conviction of Class C misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Finds the state presented sufficient evidence of Interiano’s impairment at the time he was operating the vehicle.