Judges must balance timeliness rules with discretion
Recent decisions from the Indiana Court of Appeals have demonstrated the divide between statutory requirements and judicial discretion when it comes to motions filed after deadline.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Articles
Rejecting challenge of search, COA affirms cocaine conviction
Deciding that the “community caretaker role” exception to the Fourth Amendment can be extended beyond questions regarding seizures of a vehicle, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s cocaine conviction Monday after finding that evidence of the cocaine was not admitted in violation of his constitutional rights.
COA restores mother’s parental rights after incarceration
A mother’s parental rights to her two children will be restored after the Indiana Court of Appeals found Thursday that the state Department of Child Services failed to prove that removing the children from their mother was in their best interests.
Meth conviction reversed over toxicology authentication
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a man’s conviction of operating a vehicle with meth in his blood and subsequently causing death after finding that the state failed to authenticate the toxicology report that found traces of drug in his blood sample.
Appellate panel reverses parenting time for remote ex-boyfriend
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court order granting a man visitation with his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, concluding that third-party visitation should only be granted if it is in the best interests of the child.
Hill cruises to win in AG race as voters retain appellate judges
Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis T. Hill Jr. sailed to a resounding victory in the Indiana attorney general race Tuesday, and voters retained four Court of Appeals judges by wide margins.
COA: Clinics that gave tainted steroid must face suit
After a widespread fungal meningitis outbreak killed nearly a dozen Hoosiers, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided Monday that the providers who injected the injured parties with a contaminated steroid that was purchased from a third party can be found to be negligent under the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act.
COA divided over search producing gun, affirms conviction
The admission of a gun obtained without a warrant from a man later convicted of carrying a handgun without a license did not violate the man’s constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure and, thus, does not warrant the reversal of his conviction.
COA affirms convictions of auto theft, resisting law enforcement
A man convicted of stealing a car and fleeing police will not have his convictions reversed after the Indiana Court of Appeals found Friday that there was enough evidence to infer he was guilty of the charges against him.
ISP officer loses whistleblower appeal
State workers alleging retaliation for whistleblower activities must first exhaust all administrative remedies before suing, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Wednesday, affirming a trial court ruling against a 27-year Indiana State Police officer.
Ex-coach’s defamation claim against Noblesville Schools continues
The common interest privilege does not protect an Indiana high school from a defamation claim brought by its former boys basketball coach based on an altered press released the school sent out after an incident during practice in 2014, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
COA denies correction of sentencing order in dismissal
Because the plain language of Indiana Trial Rule 41(B) states that a dismissal operates as an adjudication upon the merits, the Indiana Court of Appeals found there is no need to remand a man’s case to correct his sentencing order as he claimed.
COA panel takes oral arguments to Notre Dame
A panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday at the University of Notre Dame Law School.
COA considers jury trial in State Fair stage collapse suit against ESG Security
Five years after severe weather brought the stage of the Indiana State Fair grandstand to the ground, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others, the final defendant in the ensuing litigation is asking that summary judgment in its favor be upheld.
COA: Mentally disabled man belongs in work release, not prison
A Greene County man whose home detention was revoked in favor of imprisonment will now be sent to a work-release facility after the Indiana Court of Appeals found that the man’s financial situation and documented mental illnesses were mitigating factors in his sentencing.
COA: Police lawfully entered home; battery conviction upheld
A Richmond man’s request to have his conviction for battery against two police officers overturned was denied Monday by a panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals, which found that the officers had lawfully entered the man’s home because they suspected him of being armed and dangerous.
COA awards custody to father, orders assets redivided
After a couple’s contentious battle in court over custody of their children and possession of their home, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided Friday their marital estate had not been correctly divided. However, the appellate court affirmed the decision to award custody of the children to their father.
COA affirms woman’s involuntary commitment despite moot appeal
Although the term of her commitment in an Indiana mental health facility had already expired, the Indiana Court of Appeals chose Thursday to hear a woman’s moot appeal of her commitment and affirm it, writing that the case needed to be heard as a matter of great public importance.
Vaidik re-elected chief judge of Court of Appeals
Indiana Court of Appeals Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik will serve another three-year term leading the court beginning Jan. 1 after the court’s 15 judges re-elected her Wednesday.
COA will not allow specialized driving privileges for man with 27 traffic violations
An Indiana man now living in Mississippi whose Indiana driver’s license was suspended for life after more than two dozen traffic violations cannot receive special Indiana driving privileges that would enable him to obtain a license in Mississippi.