Temporary tag in rear window gets conviction tossed
A Hendricks County Sheriff’s deputy’s ignorance of where a temporary license plate can be displayed on a car led the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn a drunken-driving conviction.
Court opinions
Articles
Split COA orders refund of $12K in foreclosure deficiency payments
A Court of Appeals panel wrote Friday that justice demands an attack on an improper 2009 garnishment order and a refund to a couple that paid $50 a week in deficiency payments after losing their home to foreclosure.
Appeals court rules for teachers on pay issues
Jay Classroom Teachers Association prevailed Friday in an appeal contesting terms of a teachers’ contract adopted as the last best offer from Jay School Corporation.
Lack of evidence leads COA to reverse probation violation
A Franklin County man who was ordered to spend five months in the Department of Correction after an alleged probation violation won a reversal of the trial court order Friday for lack of evidence.
Judge calls out DLGF ‘infirmities’ in ruling for township, fire district
Indiana Tax Court Judge Martha Blood Wentworth had a few choice words for the Department of Local Government Finance in finding the state hadn’t answered the key question in a township’s tax appeal.
COA leaves arbitrator’s award in place
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday declined Madison County’s request that it correct or vacate an arbitrator’s award in favor of two county highway department employees. The appeals court concluded the county circumvented the collective bargaining agreement when it discharged the two employees.
Man loses appeal to revoke spousal maintenance
An ex-husband who sought “all-or-nothing” relief when he asked the court to terminate his ex-wife’s incapacity support instead of reducing it after she remarried lost his appeal before the Indiana Supreme Court.
Justices: Jury should hear defense of necessity instruction
The Indiana Supreme Court ordered a new trial for a man convicted of a misdemeanor gun charge after finding he presented sufficient evidence to have the jury instructed on his defense of necessity.
New York conviction doesn’t support Indiana charges
A man’s 2014 conviction of operating a vehicle while impaired in New York cannot serve as the basis to bring enhanced drunken-driving charges against him because the New York statute is not substantially similar to the elements of a crime described in Indiana Code, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Tuesday.
Court: Girl should be with mother, not great aunt
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the award of custody of a young girl to her great aunt, finding the woman did not overcome the presumption in favor of placement with the girl’s biological mother.
Justices: Personalized licenses plates are government speech
The Indiana Supreme Court Friday upheld the Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ process for approving or denying requests for personalized license plates after finding the plates are government speech. A Marion County judge ruled last year the statute governing personalized license plates is unconstitutional.
Companies’ agreement not a requirements contract, 7th Circuit holds
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated judgment in favor of a company that sued its carbon black supplier after it was unable to fulfill orders, holding the lower court erred in ruling in favor of the purchaser after finding the agreement between the companies was a requirements contract.
Court must recalculate attorney fees
A trial court has the discretion to determine whether and how much to award in attorney fees, but a Porter Superior Court incorrectly determined what attorney fees the prevailing party was entitled to in a slander of title action, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday.
Clause limiting time client can sue attorney violates public policy
The contract a client signed to have the Conour Law Firm represent her contained a clause limiting her ability to sue the firm to one year, which the Indiana Court of Appeals found violated public policy and the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct. The lawsuit seeking to recover settlement funds stolen by William Conour continues against his former colleague.
Out-of-state move did not relieve sex offender from updating address
The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a man’s claim that because he had moved out of state when law enforcement officials performed a random check of his home address, he was no longer required to register as a sex offender in Indiana.
Court affirms enhanced sentence for incest offense
Finding the District Court conducted the correct analysis when determining the sentence of a man who had failed to register as a sex offender in Indiana and then committed incest with his 18-year-old daughter, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the six-level sentencing enhancement.
LLC denied royalties because of unenforceable contract
A company that sued seeking nearly $750 million in unpaid royalties for sales on medical devices using certain patents lost its appeal before the Indiana Court of Appeals because the contract is unenforceable.
COA: Jury properly rejected defendant’s insanity defense
Because there was evidence that a defendant’s mental state at the time he stabbed his estranged wife was due to voluntary intoxication, the jury properly rejected his insanity defense, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Thursday.
COA upholds attempted stalking conviction
A man who claims he is the only person in Indiana ever charged with or convicted of attempted stalking failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his conviction should be overturned.
Justices acquit mother involved in fistfight turned fatal
The Indiana Supreme Court acquitted the woman involved in a planned beatdown that resulted in one man dying and she, her son and another man being convicted of attempted aggravated battery. The justices previously this year ordered the other two perpetrators’ convictions reversed and said the “basic principle of justice” requires the same result in the woman’s case.