Articles

Appeals court affirms denial of workers’ comp benefits

A divided Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board’s decision to deny workers’ compensation benefits to a man after determining that his medical problems were not related to an on-the-job injury in 2010.

Read More

COA rejects self-defense claim against battery charge

A man who punched a racer at a southern Indiana racing track cannot claim self-defense to rebut his battery charge because the facts show that the man was the initial aggressor against the racer, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday.

Read More

COA recommends judge’s recusal in remand of motion to contest adoption

In a 41-page opinion handed down Thursday, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a putative father’s motion to contest adoption, finding that the adoptive parents had caused delays in the court proceedings and also noting that the judge in the case should have recused himself to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Read More

COA affirms summary judgment to parents in family land dispute

After a yearslong dispute between northern Indiana parents and their daughter and son-in-law, the Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the grant of partial summary judgment to the parents, finding that a real estate contract between the two couples was unenforceable.

Read More

COA affirms closing of unsupervised estate

In a dispute between two northern Indiana sisters, the Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the trial court’s decision to close the unsupervised estate of the sisters’ father, finding that the trial court did not apply the wrong legal or statutory standards when closing the estate.

Read More

OWI charge vacated on double jeopardy concerns

A divided Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed one count of operating while intoxicated against a Columbus man, finding that merging the two counts together for sentencing purposes does not satisfy double jeopardy concerns.

Read More

COA reverses protective order on basis of res judicata

In a case that Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Rudolph Pyle described as a “prime example of forum shopping,” the appellate court has reversed the grant of a petitioner’s third petition for a protective order because the petition is barred by the doctrine of res judicata.

Read More

COA hears malpractice case involving former Conour associate

Roughly five years after former Indianapolis personal injury attorney William Conour was charged in a federal wire fraud case, the Indiana Court of Appeals heard a legal malpractice action involving one of his ex-colleagues for alleged malpractice. One of Conour's victims claims the attorney's actions kept her in the dark about theft of her settlement money.

Read More

COA upholds electric utility’s rate hike

Finding substantial evidence supporting a regulatory body’s ruling, the Indiana Court of Appeals denied an attempt by Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana to overturn approval for a utility rate hike.

Read More

Appellate court interprets amended habitual offender statute

The Indiana Court of Appeals, after finding the language of the habitual offender statute doesn’t support either the defendant’s or the state’s interpretation, reversed the denial of the defendant’s objection to his habitual counts and ordered the trial court to review the matter.

Read More

COA reduces woman’s OWI conviction, orders new hearing on fees

A trial court did not properly determine whether a woman had the ability to pay fees owed after being convicted of a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge, so the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered the case back to the trial court. The judges also ordered her conviction reduced based on the evidence presented at trial.

Read More