Weissmann celebrates life’s ‘authors’ at robing ceremony
Almost a year after being sworn into the judiciary, a robing ceremony was held for Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Leanna Weissmann on Aug. 26.
Judge Leanna Weissmann
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Year in Review: COVID aside, Barrett’s ascent to SCOTUS tops year’s biggest legal news stories
COVID may have seemed like the only thing that happened in 2020, but for Indiana’s legal community, the past year brought watershed developments that will be with us for years to come, many of which were touched directly by the pandemic. Here are the Top 10 non-coronavirus Indiana legal news stories as determined by consensus of the Indiana Lawyer editorial staff.
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Coming full circle: Weissmann joins COA after years of appellate practice
At 10 a.m. Monday, Leanna Weissmann transitioned from practitioner to judge. “What a star,” Chief Justice Loretta Rush said of Weissmann when her appointment was announced. “I will miss you standing before me arguing cases. … I always knew it would be a whale of an argument.”
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Articles
Robing ceremony held for COA Judge Weissmann
Almost a year after being sworn into the judiciary, a robing ceremony was held for Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Leanna Weissmann.
Summary judgment affirmed for grandparents in wrongful-death case after toddler drowned
Deciding a “novel issue grounded in tragedy,” the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed summary judgment for a 2-year-old’s maternal grandparents after the child drowned in their backyard pool.
COA rejects evidentiary challenges to Spencer Co. murder
A Spencer County man who shot and killed his girlfriend failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn his murder conviction on evidentiary grounds.
Robing ceremony set for Judge Leanna Weissmann
A ceremony celebrating the addition of Judge Leanna Weissmann to the Indiana Court of Appeals will take place next week.
COA: No error in detaining teen during competency restoration after attacks on mom
A Marion County court wasn’t in the wrong when it ordered a teenage girl to be detained while she received competency restoration services following numerous acts of domestic battery and criminal recklessness against her mom, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
COA: Search warrant not defective, but drug possession conviction reversed on double jeopardy
A search warrant that led to dealing and methamphetamine use convictions for a DeKalb County man was not defective, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled. But one of his convictions was reversed on double jeopardy grounds.
Heavy-hitter women judges to be honored at ISBA 19th Amendment event
Past and present female judges from across the state will gather this month at an Indiana State Bar Association event to reflect on the history and significance of the 19th Amendment.
Bail bondsman released from order to repay $20,000 bond
A bail bondsman has been freed from an order to pay up on a $20,000 bond he posted several years ago after the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed upon finding the bond had expired and was no longer forfeitable.
COA vacates judgment for hospital, dismisses sepsis theory in widow’s med-mal complaint
A sepsis theory included in a widow’s medical malpractice claim has been ordered dismissed by the Indiana Court of Appeals after it found a Steuben County court lacked jurisdiction to enter partial summary judgment on that portion of the claim.
Divided COA flushes attorney fees, equipment costs in sewer judgment
Northern Indiana property owners were relieved of the bulk of a court order requiring them to pay more than $48,000 to connect to a sewer system, including a ruling on appeal voiding an award of more than $20,000 in attorney fees to the sewer district.
COA majority holds Clark Co. REMC breached insurance contract, but dissent finds ‘logical fallacy’
A local utility breached its contract with its former directors when it revoked their health insurance coverage, a majority of the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled. A dissenting judge, however, found that the majority engaged in a “logical fallacy” in holding that the utility was obligated to continue providing coverage to the plaintiffs.
1 of 2 arson convictions vacated for man who burned parole office
A man who set fire to a government building to destroy evidence of pornography constituting parole violations will have one of his arson convictions vacated after the Indiana Court of Appeals used recent caselaw to find a double jeopardy violation.
Parole revocation affirmed for molester after ‘unapproved’ relationship
A man whose parole from a child molesting sentence was revoked after he had an “unapproved romantic relationship” lost his appeal Tuesday, with the Indiana Court of Appeals holding he confused the conditions of parole and probation revocation.
COA reinstates small claims case after COVID cancelation of vacation
A small claims case arising from a COVID-canceled vacation will return to the trial court after the Indiana Court of Appeals found dismissal was improper.
State argues against new trial for man freed in 2002 Elkhart killing
It’s been more than 15 years since Andrew Royer was convicted of an Elkhart County murder and more than nine months after he was freed due to concerns over his confession and other evidence, but his case is not over yet. Instead, it’s back at the Indiana Court of Appeals, where the state is asking for the reversal of an order giving Royer a new trial.
Despite human trafficking victimization, woman’s 14-year sentence upheld on appeal
Despite the trial court’s erroneous failure to consider a woman’s history as a victim of human trafficking, her 14-year sentence on felony charges is not inappropriate, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
Split COA reverses post-conviction denial in teen murder case
A split Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed the denial of a teenager’s petition for post-conviction relief of his murder conviction, finding his attorneys performed deficiently in a 2017 trial related to the fatal shooting of a South Bend toddler.
In affirming murder conviction, judge sees double jeopardy ‘dilemma’
The 65-year sentence of a man convicted of murder was affirmed Monday on appeal, but a judge wrote separately to “address a practical dilemma facing appellate courts, lawyers, and litigants” after recent appeals revised longstanding double jeopardy caselaw.
Strip search of ‘fidgety’ arrestee that found cocaine splits COA
A woman who was strip searched while being processed at the Marion County Jail, turning up a small packet of cocaine on her breast, lost her drug-conviction appeal Friday. The newest member of the Indiana Court of Appeals dissented, warning the majority’s holding in the case “would render per se reasonable a strip search of every person being processed for a substance offense, no matter how minor.”