Indiana Court Decisions — Aug. 29-Sept. 12, 2018
Read Indiana appellate decisions from the most recent reporting period.
Court opinions
Articles
Florida move allows Hoosier to escape Wisconsin judgment
A former Hoosier who moved to Florida will get to keep his money after the Indiana Court of Appeals found an order from a Wisconsin state court was void because the Badger State judicial system did not have personal jurisdiction.
COA: State has no burden to prove sanity
A man who unsuccessfully pursued an insanity defense failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that the state had the burden of proving he was sane beyond a reasonable doubt in his attempted murder case.
7th Circuit reinstates Renssalaer workers’ “popcorn lung” claim
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a claim filed by nearly 30 workers who argue a microwave popcorn plant failed to warn them of exposure during the manufacturing process to a butter flavor ingredient that has been linked to a disease known as “popcorn lung.”
COA: South Bend med-mal appeal lacks issues of fact
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a grant of summary judgment to a South Bend hospital after it upheld that res ipsa loquitur did not apply to facts in a hip-replacement related negligence claim.
Ineffective counsel arguments in OWI appeal lack cogent reasoning
A man’s arguments on appeal from his drunken-driving conviction that he had ineffective assistance of counsel were rejected in substance and form by the Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday.
Lack of evidence fails man’s drug, credit time appeal
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s sentence was not inappropriate in light of his character and found the trial court didn’t err in calculating his credit time. The panel found the man failed to provide compelling evidence for both arguments.
COA slams courts, DCS for violating parents’ due process
The Indiana Court of Appeals reiterated harsh words at the Department of Child Services and Indiana trial courts after reversing another case involving a failure to afford due process protections to families in termination of parental rights cases.
FedEx drivers get tentative $13.3M ERISA settlement
A proposed workplace-benefits settlement of more than $13.3 million for Federal Express drivers who were wrongly classified as contractors rather than employees has been approved by an Indiana federal judge overseeing a nationwide docket of employment suits against the delivery service.
Reversal: Special PCR judge had authority to modify sentence
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a post-conviction court’s ruling after it found a special judge erred when he granted his own motion to correct error based on his belief he did not have the authority to accept an agreement between the defendant and the state.
COA reverses murderer’s post-conviction relief
Post-conviction relief was revoked from a man convicted of murder and sentenced to 141 years in prison after the Indiana Court of Appeals found res judicata barred him from making a claim for relief.
Convicted drug dealer loses 7th Circuit appeal
A Marion County man convicted of six drug, firearm and money laundering charges has lost his appeal before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which found no constitutional violation in the length of the traffic stop that led to his arrest.
7th: No evidence supports race discrimination claim by IU professor
Lack of evidence doomed a black professor's argument that he was denied tenure at Indiana University because of his race, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found Tuesday.
COA rejects father’s child support challenge
A Marion County father has lost his appeal of a trial court’s child support order, failing to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that he should have been credited for make-up parenting time he was exercising after his ex-wife began prohibiting him from seeing their child.
Indiana Court Decisions — Aug. 16-28, 2018
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the last reporting period.
Private plaintiff taking public access case to SCOTUS?
After a years-long fight, the Indiana Supreme Court in February issued a ruling that affirmed what’s come naturally to generations of Hoosiers: Indiana’s beach on Lake Michigan belongs to the public.
But parties who sued to privatize the beach, whose names are the only plaintiffs listed on filings to the U.S. Supreme Court, don’t own the property. They haven’t for years.
Injunction upheld in auto assembly parts supply dispute
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a decision denying the dissolution of a preliminary injunction involving two manufacturing companies, finding that if dissvoled, one company would be at risk of suffering irreparable harm.
COA reverses CHINS adjudications
Two Marion County children will no longer be considered children in need of services after the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed their CHINS adjudication, finding insufficient evidence to support the finding that their North Carolina-based father could not care for them.
7th Circuit reverses employment claim jurisdiction dismissal
After a woman failed to receive a report as to why her job offer was rescinded, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s dismissal of her adverse-action claim for lack of jurisdiction.
Ex-prosecutor who withheld recanted testimony suspended
The Indiana Supreme Court suspended a former Porter County deputy prosecutor from the practice of law for 18 months for withholding from the defense evidence that an alleged victim said he had been coached to lie and had recanted allegations of child molestation.