Court opinions - The Indiana Lawyer

Opinions April 21, 2022

April 21, 2022

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Jesse L. Mathews v. State of Indiana
20A-CR-2229
Criminal. Affirms the Clay Circuit Court’s decision to use the state’s jury instruction on the issue of motive in a partial decapitation case in which Jesse Mathews was convicted of felony murder and Level 6 felony abuse of a corpse. Finds that either the trial court or the state’s instruction would have produced the same verdict. Also finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion is excluding evidence of a witness’s purported call to a police officer. Finally, finds a mistrial was not warranted in response to an individuals’ spontaneous testimony regarding a possible polygraph test, and the cumulative effect of the trial court’s decisions does not require reversal of Mathews’ conviction.

Appellate court affirms use of state’s jury instruction on motive in partial decapitation case

April 21, 2022 | Katie Stancombe

A pattern jury instruction on motive used in a murder case adequately equipped the jury to perform its role in convicting a man who tried to decapitate a woman he killed, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has ruled.

Change to habitual offender statute does not violate state constitution, COA rules

April 21, 2022 | Marilyn Odendahl

A defendant challenging his habitual offender status based on a change to state statute did not persuade the Court of Appeals of Indiana, which found the Legislature’s move to limit the jury’s role did not infringe on any constitutional rights.

COA reverses man’s resisting conviction due to lack of evidence

April 21, 2022 | Jordan Morey

The Court of Appeals of Indiana has partially reversed for a Greencastle man after it concluded testimony from a sheriff’s deputy wasn’t enough evidence for a resisting law enforcement conviction.

COA affirms marriage, widow gets pension

April 18, 2022 | Marilyn Odendahl

A terminally ill firefighter’s marriage days before his death to a woman who was 36 years his junior and the beneficiary of his pension was upheld by the Court of Appeals of Indiana, which found no evidence to support his children’s contention that the nuptials should be annulled because their father’s mental capacity was impaired by pain medication.

IN Supreme Court rules for Community Health in dispute over family records

April 14, 2022 | Katie Stancombe

The Indiana Supreme Court has ultimately found a hospital is not liable after one of its ex-employees compromised confidential health records of several former patients and another former employee in a family feud.

Indiana Court Decisions – March 24-April 6, 2022

April 13, 2022

Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the latest reporting period.

Former employers lose again in breach-of-confidentiality appeal, but attorney fees partially overturned

April 12, 2022 | Jordan Morey

A breach-of-confidentiality dispute between concrete-industry employees and their former employer returned to the Court of Appeals of Indiana for a second time but largely yielded the same result on Tuesday. However, one of the companies did score a partial win as the COA overturned an award of attorney fees.

Appeals court OKs Biden federal employee vaccine mandate

April 8, 2022 | Associated Press

President Joe Biden’s requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 was upheld Thursday by a federal appeals court.

Tippecanoe School Corp. wins summary judgment on injured cheerleader’s negligence claim

April 7, 2022 | Katie Stancombe

The Tippecanoe School Corporation has secured summary judgment against a student’s negligence claim after the Court of Appeals ruled in its favor following a cheerleader’s injury.

COA: Trial court didn’t properly instruct jury in drug-induced homicide case

April 7, 2022 | Jordan Morey

A trial court’s erroneous decision to reject a defendant’s proposed preliminary instructions has led to the reversal of the defendant’s drug dealing conviction. But the Court of Appeals of Indiana left open the possibility of a retrial due to other significant evidence, including evidence of text messages sent and received by a man who died of a drug overdose.

7th Circuit: IN Legislature, not state, was employer of women who accused former AG Hill of groping

April 7, 2022 | Olivia Covington

Three of the four women who accused former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill of groping them cannot sue the state under Title VII, the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, finding the legislative staffers were employed by the Indiana House and Senate, not the state itself.

Opinions April 6, 2022

April 6, 2022

Court of Appeals of Indiana
State of Indiana v. Lamar Fox
21A-CR-2445
Criminal. Reverses the grant of Lamar Fox’s motion to suppress. Finds the home detention contract Fox signed explicitly stated he waived his Fourth Amendment and state constitutional rights. Also finds State v. Ellis, 167 N.E.3d 285 (Ind. 2021), applies.

Separate pleading not needed in Medicaid reimbursement dispute, Indiana Supreme Court rules

April 6, 2022 | Marilyn Odendahl

In a lesson to the lower courts about judicial economy, the Indiana Supreme Court has overturned a ruling that had prevented a health care provider from obtaining a declaratory judgment as to whether it could charge patients for the cost of nonformulary over-the-counter medications.

Tax exemption for Indy neighborhood’s ‘green space’ upheld

April 6, 2022 | Katie Stancombe

A green space in an Indianapolis residential subdivision should have received a common area property tax exemption for the 2016 and 2017 tax years, the Indiana Tax Court has affirmed.

COA reverses suppression of evidence found in hotel room based on home-detention rights waiver

April 6, 2022 | Jordan Morey

The Court of Appeals of Indiana has reversed the suppression of evidence found during the search of a man’s hotel room after determining the defendant had waived his constitutional search-and-seizure protections in a home detention agreement.

High court opens door wider to malicious prosecution claims

April 5, 2022 | Associated Press

In a victory for people falsely accused by police of crimes, the U.S. Supreme Court removed a barrier Monday to lawsuits against law enforcement for malicious prosecution.

Husband with 2 wives avoids annulment at COA

April 4, 2022 | Marilyn Odendahl

A Goshen wife who discovered during divorce proceedings that her husband had actually been married to another woman during their marriage had her decree of annulment overturned after the Court of Appeals of Indiana found the man was not properly notified through a service by summons.

COA affirms default judgment for mortgagor, finding appeal untimely

April 4, 2022 | Jordan Morey

A request to reconsider a default judgment on a voided mortgage was denied after the Court of Appeals of Indiana concluded the appeal was untimely.

Opinions April 1, 2022

April 1, 2022

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In the Matter of the Marriage of: Andrew J. Hoesli v. Jamie L. Hoesli (mem. dec.)
21A-DC-2001
Domestic relations with children. Reverses the Perry Circuit Court’s division of property in the dissolution of the marriage of Andrew Hoesli and Jamie Hoesli. Finds the trial court erred by issuing a retroactive possession of property and excluding the Huber Funeral Home distributions from the marital estate. Remands for the trial court to include the distributions in the marital estate and either divide the marital property pursuant to the rebuttable presumption of an equal division or set forth its rationale for an unequal division of the marital estate.

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