Supreme Court upholds man’s death sentence
The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed a man’s death sentence Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to brutally murdering a woman.
Court opinions
Articles
Justices affirm domestic violence determination
The Indiana Supreme Court sided with the trial court and overturned a Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday, finding a man’s domestic violence determination did not violate his Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury, and the evidence was sufficient to affirm his conviction.
7th Circuit: 4th, 6th Amendment rights not violated in gun case
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said a firearm discovered by police was not the product of an illegal seizure and affirmed the denial of a man’s motion to suppress it. The court also held the statement he gave to police did not violate his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Supreme Court: City’s no-smoking ordinance does not violate state constitution
The Indiana Supreme Court upheld the city of Indianapolis’ no-smoking ordinance in a ruling Monday, saying it does not violate the Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article I, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution.
COA: Commissions do not qualify as wages under Wage Payment Statute
The Indiana Court of Appeals found commissions paid to a woman who was working as a salesperson at a furniture store did not qualify as wages, and therefore granted summary judgment to the store. The woman claimed her commission payments were not paid within the 10-day limit required under the Indiana Wage Payment Statute.
COA: Statute of limitations prevents business partner’s lawsuit
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment for a man who left one business partnership and started another and was later sued, ruling the statute of limitations on the disgruntled partner’s lawsuit had expired on both of his claims.
COA: Agreed judgment not appealable
The Indiana Court of Appeals said an agreed judgment is not appealable and reversed a Marion Superior Court decision that ruled in favor of a woman who prolonged judgment in the court so she wouldn’t have to pay $850 in medical bills and fees.
7th Circuit: No discrimination in firing
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a woman did not suffer discrimination and the company did not retaliate against her for filing a workers’ compensation claim after she was fired for extending her medical leave.
COA: Man can keep $25,000 deposit
A man can keep the $25,000 deposit paid to him after a real estate sale did not through, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. The contract the parties entered into was enforceable and did not specify financing as part of the sale.
COA: Woman’s motion in divorce case can stand
The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled a woman seek to modify a divorce agreement after she found her husband hid more than $1 million in undisclosed assets five years later.
Man can sue prison for failure to protect him
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a prisoner can seek remedies against prison staff who did not protect him from other inmates who were throwing feces at him. It found the man had exhausted all of his remedies before filing suit.
7th Circuit: State immune from FLSA suit
The 7th Circuit affirmed that Indiana was immune from a Federal Labor Standards Act lawsuit brought by two Department of Child Services Employees. The court said the state did not give consent for the suit, and thus had 11th Amendment immunity under the U.S. Constitution.
Justices: Man who moved back to Indiana must register as sex offender
A man who moved back to Indiana in 2013 after he was convicted of child molesting in 1989 must still register as a sex offender, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. His registration does not cause an ex post facto violation nor place an additional punishment on him.
Supreme Court: City not immune from injury suit
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled a city did not meet the requirements of the Indiana Tort Claims Act, and as such does not have immunity in a suit filed by a woman who fell in a city street and broke her leg.
Supreme Court affirms second-degree murder charge, life in prison
The Indiana Supreme Court said admission of an autopsy report and testimony by a pathologist who did not complete the report was not a violation of a man’s Sixth Amendment right to cross-examination and thus affirmed the trial court’s conviction of second-degree murder.
COA dismisses improperly filed preliminary injunction motion
The Indiana Court of Appeals dismissed a motion for preliminary injunction against the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit filed by Pain Medicine and Rehabilitation Center and Anthony Alexander after it found PMRC’s motion in the trial court was not procedurally correct.
Court reduces man’s sentence by 3 years
The Indiana Court of Appeals reduced a man’s aggregate sentence by three years after it found he was denied effective assistance of counsel when his counsel did not bring up a statutory limitation issue.
Riding out the storm
The Indiana Supreme Court’s ruling for the state in a nearly six-year-old IBM suit is what the contract drafters “believed all along.”
Man must pay to clean up meth mess, court affirms
The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled a man must pay to clean up the remnants of his meth lab after it found Indiana Code justified the payment and there was a victim to whom restitution should be paid.
COA: Patient not notified doctor was independent contractor
The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled a man was never notified that the doctor treating him was an independent contractor and not an employee and therefore reversed summary judgment to the hospital and remanded the man’s vicarious liability case to the trial court.