Court opinions

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Latuwan Anthony Partee v. State of Indiana
21A-CR-1529
Criminal. Affirms Latuwan Partee’s conviction and 27 ½-year aggregate sentence for dealing in cocaine, a Level 2 felony, and possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, along with being found to be a habitual offender. Finds the Marion Superior Court did not commit fundamental error by failing to explicitly tell the defendant he could be present at his own trial if he behaved. Also finds the trial court’s sentence order contains a scrivener’s error. Remands with instructions for the scrivener’s error to be corrected.

Indiana Supreme Court
Elizabeth Roetter v. Michael P. Roetter, Jr.
21S-DC-568
Domestic relation with children. Affirms the Hendricks Superior Court’s award of spousal maintenance to Elizabeth Roetter and the division of property between her and ex-husband Michael P. Roetter Jr. Finds the trial court didn’t err in its spousal maintenance award and that Elizabeth’s request is for rehabilitative maintenance. Also finds the trial court didn’t err in its division of property and that it was not required to follow a rigid, technical formula.

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Mark Price
20-3191
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Criminal. Affirms Mark Price’s conviction of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition as a felon, as well as his enhanced sentence. Rejects Price’s “stalking horse” theory on first impression and finds the parole search wasn’t a violation of Price’s Fourth Amendment rights. Also finds Price’s terms as a parolee lessened his privacy status. Finally, finds the district court didn’t err as to the sufficiency of the evidence or in giving Price three sentencing enhancements.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Perise L. Fowler v. State of Indiana
21A-CR-1596
Criminal. Affirms Perise L. Fowler’s conviction for murder. Finds no error in the Marion Superior Court’s denial of Fowler’s oral motion to reconsider his guilty verdict and to enter judgment of conviction on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter that was not argued at trial.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Michael Bedtelyon v. State of Indiana
21A-CR-1952
Criminal. Reverses the revocation of four years of Michael Bedtelyon’s suspended sentence after his probation officer found Bedtelyon had violated his probation by watching sexually suggestive anime cartoons. Finds the Elkhart Superior Court abused its discretion. Also finds the state failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Bedtelyon violated his probation because it produced no evidence that he had accessed or viewed obscene videos depicting or describing sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner.