COA awards city of Carmel attorney fees in dispute over mayor’s emails
A lengthy legal dispute over obtaining emails from Carmel’s mayor stemming from a local summer camp incident has led to the city winning attorney fees twice.
Judge Melissa S. May
-
Female judges encourage women to seek out the bench, become ‘seed planters’
Women who aspire to become judges need mentors and role models to help show the way. One longtime Indiana appellate judge shared the value of such encouragement that speaks to the experience of many female jurists: “She saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. That caused me to apply.”
Read More -
New murder trial affirmed for Elkhart man with mental disability
A man with a mental disability who has for years claimed he was wrongfully convicted of an Elkhart murder and who spent more than 15 years behind bars can proceed to a new trial after the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a post-conviction relief order vacating his murder conviction.
Read More -
Round trip: Indiana COA hears arguments in all 92 counties
The Indiana Court of Appeals has wrapped up its pursuit of visiting every county through its Appeals on Wheels program. Introduced during the appellate court’s centennial in 2001, the traveling program has ventured statewide to high schools, colleges, law schools and other venues, promoting civics education by inviting local communities to observe how the appellate judiciary works.
Read More
Articles
COA rejects evidentiary challenges, upholds murder conviction
With the dying words of his victim and cellphone records against him, an Indiana murderer failed to get his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeals of Indiana on Thursday.
COA: Parole not part of sentence modification statute, trial court lacked authority to modify to probation
An Indiana man’s request to modify his sentence to probation instead of parole has been denied by the Court of Appeals of Indiana, as it concluded the trial court didn’t have authority to make the change.
COA splits over custody modification, rules against mom who proceeded pro se after attorney quit
A split Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed a child custody switch from mother to father, finding that although the mother had to proceed pro so at the custody hearing, she was not prejudiced by the denial of her motions to continue after her counsel quit.
COA: Trial court didn’t properly instruct jury in drug-induced homicide case
A trial court’s erroneous decision to reject a defendant’s proposed preliminary instructions has led to the reversal of the defendant’s drug dealing conviction. But the Court of Appeals of Indiana left open the possibility of a retrial due to other significant evidence, including evidence of text messages sent and received by a man who died of a drug overdose.
Split COA affirms dismissal of adult charge against man for alleged acts as teen
Determining the heart of the issue was “a lack of clarity in the Indiana Code,” a split Court of Appeals of Indiana panel ruled an adult criminal court rightly dismissed, for lack of jurisdiction, a child molesting charge against a man who allegedly forced a preteen to have sex with him when he was 16.
COA reverses adoption petition after mother ‘thwarted’ father’s communication efforts
An Indiana woman’s efforts to keep her child’s biological father from communicating with their daughter for a year has resulted in a reversal by the Court of Appeals of Indiana on a petition to adopt.
No constitutional violation when defendant ordered to smile for jury, COA rules
The Wells Circuit Court didn’t violate a methamphetamine dealer’s Fifth Amendment rights when it ordered him to show his teeth to a jury to demonstrate he was the same person that was in an incriminating video, according to the Court of Appeals of Indiana.
COA affirms felony auto theft conviction, habitual offender finding
A Lawrence County man has failed in his bid to overturn his auto theft conviction and habitual offender status, despite his argument that the ruling produced an improper double enhancement.
COA upholds denial of guardianship petition filed by child’s de facto guardians
The Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed the denial of a couple’s petition for guardianship of a child for whom they served as de facto custodians, finding that guardianship was not in the child’s best interests.
False-statement conviction vacated for double jeopardy after woman falsified form to recover grandfather’s handgun
A woman who provided false information on a document to recover a handgun she had pawned was wrongly convicted on double jeopardy grounds, according to the Court of Appeals of Indiana. However, one of the woman’s two felony convictions will not be vacated.
COA affirms expungement denial following remand from Supreme Court
The Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed the denial of a man’s expungement petition for a violent burglary he took part in two decades ago following a remand from the Indiana Supreme Court.
Justices deny transfer to child custody case, but David dissents based on decisions that ‘circumvent’ appellate rule
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied transfer to a child custody case reversed by the Court of Appeals of Indiana, but one justice dissented with multiple concerns, including the “increasing number of appellate opinions that explicitly circumvent Appellate Rule 65(E).”
Despite ‘problematic’ precedent, COA upholds denial of defendant’s motion to compel police report
Despite having concerns about the continued viability of a 1985 Indiana Supreme Court decision, the Court of Appeals of Indiana upheld the denial of a defendant’s motion to compel evidence of unredacted copies of police reports based on that precedent.
COA affirms custody, child support awarded to grandmother after child’s father dies
The Court of Appeals of Indiana rejected multiple arguments in a mother’s appeal for the custody of her child Tuesday, affirming the Hancock Superior Court’s ruling that it’s in the best interest of the child to live with his paternal grandmother and that the mother must pay child support despite the child receiving survivor benefits.
COA: Arbitration order not a final judgment up for appeal
In a dispute between neighbors over a dock being built on a shared lake, the Indiana Court of Appeals has dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal.
COA rules assets unfairly distributed in divorce
The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a lower court erred in its distribution of assets and debts between a divorced Hendricks County couple.
COA: Arbitration order for homebuilder, owner ‘premature’ in plumbing dispute
A Lawrence couple will not be compelled to arbitration over a sewage dispute with their homebuilder at this time, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in a Friday reversal, finding an order to do so by the Marion Superior Court was “premature.”
COA reverses trial court’s modification in child custody case
A trial court erred in granting a petition for sole custody of a child to his father and will need to revisit its decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
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.