In a case focusing on elevator graffiti, Robert Collier is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a single use of the N-word in the workplace can create a hostile work environment, giving an employee the ability to pursue a case under Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
USA v. Ethel Shelton
19-3388
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. Senior Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen.
Criminal. Reverses and remands Ethel Shelton’s conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Finds that the district court erred when it found that Shelton lacked any reasonable expectation of privacy in her office. Finds Stafford Garbutt’s document collection violated Shelton’s Fourth Amendment rights. Finds the warrant would not have been issued in the absence of the information gathered as a result of the unlawful searches. Thus, the district court should have suppressed the evidence obtained from the search authorized by that warrant, and granted Shelton’s motion for a mistrial.
Soraida Flores v. City of South Bend
20-1603
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. Judge James T. Moody.
Civil. Reverses the Northern Indiana District Court’s dismissal of Soraida Flores’s lawsuit against former South Bend police officer Justin Gorny and the City of South Bend as personal representative of deceased Erica Flores. Although the district court concluded Gorny did not violate the motorist’s constitutional rights, the 7th Circuit finds that Flores’s allegations plausibly state claims against both defendants, and she is therefore entitled to proceed with her case. Remands for further proceedings. Circuit Judge Michael B. Brennan writes separately in concurrence.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Br.S. v. J.N.S.
20A-AD-1790
Adoption. Reverses the Delaware Circuit Court’s ruling that although mother J.N.S. did not communicate with her children when she was able to do so, her lack of communication was justified. Finds J.N.S. did not have justifiable cause for not communicating with the children, so her consent to their adoption by their stepmother is unnecessary. Remands for the trial court to determine whether adoption is in the best interests of the children.
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline on Monday:
Katherine Black v. Cherie Wrigley
20-2656
Civil. Affirms a jury’s verdict against Katherine Black in her defamation dispute with Cherie Wrigley and denies her request for a new trial based on her assertions that the Northern District Court of Illinois erred in several ways. Finds no errors warrant a reversal of the jury’s verdict.
A law school professor suing for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress could not convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that the jury was wrong to reject her claims.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Karl Woodall v. State of Indiana
20A-CR-00862
Criminal. Affirms Karl Woodall’s murder conviction and the Marion Superior Court’s grant of the State of Indiana’s motion for a mistrial on grounds of jury taint. Finds Woodall was not subjected to procedural double jeopardy upon retrial. Finds the trial court did not commit fundamental error in instructing the jury or in conducting the sentencing hearing.
A northern Indiana man could not convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that a search of his home that revealed drugs and firearms was baseless and that he endured prosecutorial misconduct during his trial.
A debate over a federal criminal procedure rule and a restitution order did not sway a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel, which upheld a man’s conviction and sentence for child pornography.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday:
United States of America v. Adonnis Carswell
20-1036
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division. Judge Holly A. Brady.
Criminal. Affirms Adonnis Carswell’s convictions of four drug and firearm offenses, including possession of heroin with intent to distribute. Finds that the judge who issued the search warrant intended for Carswell’s home had a reasonable basis for thinking evidence of drug and firearm crimes was likely to be found there. Also finds the prosecution’s closing arguments were not improper, did not make Carswell’s trial unfair and did not deny him due process of law.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Juventino V. Ramirez v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
20A-CR-1982
Criminal. Affirms Juventino V. Ramirez’s conviction of Level 4 felony child molesting. Finds the Allen Superior Court’s rulings on Ramirez’s discovery requests were not an abuse of discretion, nor did they violate his constitutional rights. Also finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Ramirez’s motion for a continuance, did not allow him to make an offer of proof of a recording of a forensic interview, allowed a witness to give vouching testimony or in instructing the jury. Finally, finds that even if the trial court abused its discretion in allowing vouching testimony or hearsay, the error was harmless.
The Indiana Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a tax trade publication that sought disclosure of tax dollars and incentives Indianapolis and the state offered Amazon in the city’s failed attempt to lure the online retail giant’s coveted second headquarters project known as HQ2.
The following Indiana Supreme Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Tuesday:
Zachariah Brian Wright v. State of Indiana
20S-LW-260
Life without parole. Affirms the denial of Zachariah Brian Wright’s request to self-represent, and his sentence of life without the possibility of parole plus 18 years for his convictions of murder, Level 3 felony criminal confinement, Level 6 felony theft, Level 5 felony burglary and Level 2 felony attempted burglary. Finds that Wright’s waiver of the right to counsel was knowing and voluntary, but because his waiver was neither unequivocal nor intelligent, the Boone Superior Court properly denied his request. Also finds Wright’s sentence was not inappropriate in light of the nature of his offenses or his character. Remands for the correction of a minor oversight in the sentencing order. Justice Mark Massa concurs in result with separate opinion. Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissents with separate opinion.
A man convicted of dealing meth based largely on text messages failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that the messages were improperly admitted at his trial.
A Boone County murder defendant convicted and sentenced to life without parole failed to convince a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court that the trial court improperly denied his request to proceed pro se. The majority provided an analysis for considering pro se requests in capital and LWOP sentences, but minority justices raised concerns about the majority “till(ing) new constitutional soil.”
Indiana Court of Appeals
National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Jennifer Finnerty, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Cullen Finnerty, and Carol Anderson, Individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Neal Anderson, and Maura Solonoski, Individually, and as Attorney-In-Fact for Andrew Solonoski Jr.
20A-CT-1069
Civil tort. Dismisses the NCAA’s appeal of the denial of its protective order to quash the depositions of Mark Emmert, Donald Remy and Dr. Brian Hainline. Finds the NCAA’s repetitive motion for a protective order/motion to reconsider did not extend the time for an interlocutory appeal of the Marion Superior Court’s denial, so the appeal is untimely. Also finds there are no extraordinarily compelling reasons to consider the merits of the appeal. Judge Elizabeth Tavitas dissents with separate opinion.
Indemnity claims brought by one health care provider against another are subject to the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday, finding the language of the MMA is not limited to claims brought by patients or their representatives. The court issued its ruling in a case involving a dispute between a hospital and independent radiologists.
Indianapolis-based NCAA’s appeal seeking to bar depositions of key executives in a concussion-injury lawsuit filed by the estates of former college football players was dismissed Tuesday. A divided Indiana Court of Appeals panel found the appeal untimely.
The United States Supreme Court waited exactly three years to reject the appeal petition of a defendant sentenced to life without parole for a murder he committed near Ball State University 27 years ago when he was 17.