Indiana Court Decisions — Jan. 3-17, 2019
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
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Bill proposes notice for trains blocking crossings 10 minutes
After the Indiana Supreme Court struck down a state law allowing railroads to be fined for lengthy blockages of train crossings, legislation filed in the 2019 General Assembly seeks another avenue of relief for Hoosier motorists held up by trains, especially motorists driving emergency responders.
Rush stresses ‘customer service’ during 2019 State of the Judiciary
With a theme of “Addressing the Needs of our Customers,” Indiana courts plan to emphasize quality customer service in 2019, Chief Justice Loretta Rush said in her State of the Judiciary address.
Recovery home founder gets early prison release in drug case after SCOTIN review
The founder of a drug recovery home for women in southern Indiana has been released from prison just weeks after the state’s high court revised her original 30-year drug-related sentence. Lisa Livingston was released Wednesday from Rockville Correctional Facility after serving nine months.
Plainfield attorney suspended with JLAP probation
A Plainfield attorney has been suspended for at least 180 days with two years of probation monitored by the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program after he accepted retainers from several clients but failed to adequately communicate with or appropriately advance their cases.
Scott Circuit judge to resume his duties
The Scott Circuit judge will return to the bench after his monthlong stretch of temporarily being unable to perform his duties.
Rush addresses needs of court ‘customers’ in State of the Judiciary
With applause amplified from all corners of the Indiana General Assembly’s House Chamber, the leader of the Indiana Supreme Court declared that the state judiciary is “sound, steady and strong” in 2019.
Rush, Goff publish dissent on poverty as probation violation
A split Indiana Supreme Court denied a petition to transfer a homeless man’s probation violation appeal, with two justices writing in a published dissent that the litigant was an indigent man incarcerated for probation violations that resulted from his poverty, not his intentions.
Ex-New Haven City Court judge agrees to lifetime judicial ban
A northern Indiana city court judge who resigned at the end of the year after several judicial misconduct charges were filed against him has agreed to never again serve as a judge, the Indiana Supreme Court announced.
Justices agree to again hear long-running IBM dispute
A years-long legal battle between the state of Indiana and IBM Corporation over a failed welfare benefits processing upgrade will continue now that the Indiana Supreme Court has again granted transfer to the long-running dispute.
Justices hear murder, jurisdiction arguments
Indiana Supreme Court Justices heard oral argument in two cases Thursday, beginning with a man who argued there was insufficient evidence to sustain his triple-murder conviction and that certain evidence was improperly admitted.
State, community group urge SCOTUS to reject Lake Michigan access case
The state of Indiana and a community group favoring public access to the shore of Lake Michigan have filed briefs urging the Supreme Court of the United States to reject an appeal that could partly privatize the state’s 45 miles of Great Lakes beaches. Briefs filed Friday urge the high court to affirm the Indiana Supreme Court ruling that found the public has a right to walk along the shore of Lake Michigan from the water’s edge to the ordinary high water mark.
Majority justices remand drug sentence to determine treatment eligibility
A woman who has yet to receive court-ordered substance abuse treatment may soon receive it after the Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer to her case.
Indy attorney who told court ‘someone is going to die’ suspended
An Indianapolis attorney charged with intimidation against a Marion County court and other offenses has been suspended from the practice of law after the Indiana Supreme Court granted a petition for his emergency suspension.
Decatur lawyer sentenced to jail for forgery, counterfeiting
A suspended northern Indiana lawyer was sentenced Friday to nearly nine months in jail for forging a judge’s signature on a phony divorce order and sending a client a bogus email that she represented as coming from a deputy prosecutor. Jill Holtzclaw of Decatur was sentenced to serve 270 days behind bars followed by a year of probation for her convictions of Level 6 felony counts of forgery and counterfeiting.
State court suit aims to ban Indiana death penalty
A lawsuit naming Gov. Eric Holcomb filed on behalf of a prisoner on Indiana’s death row urges a state court to issue an injunction halting capital punishment and rule that the state’s ultimate criminal penalty violates the Indiana Constitution.
Justices question traumatic brain injury claims in triple murder
Counsel for a man sentenced to death for two separate murders and 65 years in prison for a third argued his representation was ineffective in the first two cases when prior counsel failed to adequately investigate and present evidence of a traumatic brain injury the man had sustained.
Justices: Agreed juvenile adjudication appeals follow T.R. 60
Juveniles who agree to delinquency adjudications cannot immediately challenge their adjudications on direct appeal, but instead must make a request for post-judgment relief via Trial Rule 60 before pursuing their constitutional right to appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled.
Rush to give 2019 State of the Judiciary next week
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush announced she will present the 2019 State of the Judiciary next week to Gov. Eric Holcomb and a joint session of the Indiana General Assembly.