Elkhart woman ordered to stop unauthorized practice of law
An Elkhart woman has been ordered by the Indiana Supreme Court to cease the unauthorized practice of law in matters of immigration, business and family law.
Indiana Supreme Court
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Justices toss 2 resisting convictions from triple-fatality
A wrong-way driver who caused the deaths of three adults and one unborn child while fleeing police had two of his three convictions for resisting law enforcement overturned after the Indiana Supreme Court determined state law allows only one conviction for each act of resisting.
Justices: One resisting conviction for fatal crash with injuries
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that Indiana Code permits only one conviction of resisting law enforcement from a single incident, regardless of how many people are harmed in an accident.
Discipline file: Knox County judge tossed friend’s case
Knox Superior Court 2 Judge Ryan D. Johanningsmeier faces judicial discipline proceedings after he reinstated a close friend’s suspended driver’s license and allegedly suggested a deputy prosecutor dismiss the case.
Justices send Hamilton County utility rate case back to COA
The Indiana Court of Appeals erred in determining that state utility regulators acted arbitrarily in excluding a Hamilton County sewer utility’s contractor expenses in reviewing a rate case, the Indiana Supreme Court determined Wednesday, sending the case back to the COA.
Justices reinstate manslaughter charge in Larkin case
John Larkin, whose manslaughter charge in connection to the 2012 shooting death of his wife was dismissed, will once again face the trial court after Indiana Supreme Court justices found the dismissal to be “an extreme remedy” for police and prosecutorial misconduct and an abuse of the trial court’s discretion.
Justices discipline lawyer for practicing while suspended
A Marion County attorney who was accused of representing a client while he was suspended and misleading her regarding his ability to handle her son’s involuntary commitment case has been suspended from the practice of law for at least two years.
Justices vacate juvenile gun adjudication as double jeopardy
Indiana Supreme Court justices affirmed in part a Marion Superior Court decision on Monday that found a 16-year-old delinquent. Justices affirmed the teen’s dangerous possession of a firearm adjudication but vacated his adjudication for carrying a handgun without a license, as both the state and defense agreed it constituted double jeopardy.
Decatur attorney accused of forging judge’s signature suspended
An attorney in northeastern Indiana has been suspended from the practice of law after she was criminally charged. The lawyer has been accused of signing a judge’s name to a phony order in a divorce case and sending emails to an expungement client’s widow posing as a deputy prosecutor.
Indiana Court decisions – June 7-20, 2018
Read Indiana appellate decisions from the most recent reporting period.
Indiana excessive fines civil forfeiture case going to SCOTUS
Indiana’s civil forfeiture framework has received ample attention from the state legislative and judicial branches in recent years, but now, the nation’s highest court will weigh in on a case that could have implications in Indiana and nationwide.
Justices take jurisdiction from COA in ‘policing for profit’ case
A case challenging the constitutionality of Indiana’s civil forfeiture laws is heading to the Indiana Supreme Court, just as a separate Indiana civil forfeiture case will be heard next term by the United States Supreme Court.
Justices won’t hear nursing home moratorium appeal
A majority of Indiana’s Supreme Court let stand Indiana’s moratorium on nursing home construction. The 3-2 ruling is a loss for Carmel-based Mainstreet Property Group, which sought to overturn the ban.
E-filing now available in Montgomery County
Electronic filing is now available in more than 40 civil and criminal case types in the Montgomery Circuit and Superior Courts. By August 21, e-filing will be mandatory for attorneys in the Montgomery County courts for all subsequent and initial filings in case types that allow it.
Judges request public input on child support guidelines
The Domestic Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana is seeking public comment on Indiana’s current child support guidelines. The committee will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. on Aug. 17 in the Supreme Court Courtroom on the third floor of the Indiana Statehouse to discuss the guidelines and is also accepting written comments.
Justices appoint Lake Superior judge pro tempore
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider will temporarily step down from her seat on the bench after informing the court she would be unable to perform the duties of her office. Serving in her place as judge pro tempore will be attorney Stephen A. Tyler.
Justices: Motel room used for sting operation was not ‘place of detention’
The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld the admission of incriminating statements made in a motel room during an undercover drug investigation after finding the motel room was not a “place of detention” requiring an electronic record of the statements. The court also created a test for analyzing whether a location can be considered a “place of detention” under Indiana Evidence Rule 617.
Justices reinstate murder, drug convictions after invited error
The Indiana Supreme Court has overturned a ruling for a convicted murderer to get a new trial and instead reinstated the murder and drug convictions after determining the defendant invited the structural error that compromised his right to an impartial jury.
Carmel attorney suspended for not communicating with clients
A Carmel attorney who contracted with a Texas law firm but did not engage with the clients he represented as part of the contractual relationship has been suspended from the practice of law in Indiana for 30 days.
Justices: No Miranda violation in school delinquency case
A 17-year-old boy adjudicated delinquent for spray painting sexual graffiti on bathroom walls at Brownsburg High School was not required to be read his Miranda rights because he was only interviewed by a school official, not by police, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled.