Notre Dame Law School professor Charles E. Rice died Wednesday following an illness. Rice had been a member of the faculty since 1969 and was a noted expert in the area of natural law.
A trial court acted within its discretion in admitting evidence seized from a man’s home, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday. The police search was justified by reasonable suspicion that the man engaged in criminal activity and a search condition contained in his agreement with community corrections.
Because removing a defendant’s habitual offender enhancement altered the sentence the parties had bargained for, the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered the trial court to vacate the entire plea agreement.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Tonya Windell v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (mem. dec.)
31A04-1409-CC-429
Civil collection. Affirms summary judgment in favor of Portfolio Recovery Associates on its complaint for collection of credit card debt.
Larry Lefler v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
82A05-1408-PC-407
Post conviction. Affirms denial of petition for post-conviction relief.
In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of K.E., Child and J.E. (Father) and S.S. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
82A04-1407-JT-320
Juvenile. Affirms termination of parental rights.
Stephen Schauf v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
49A02-1406-CR-444
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class B misdemeanor battery.
Marco Webster v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
49A02-1404-CR-253
Criminal. Affirms convictions of four counts of Class B felony robbery while armed with a deadly weapon and one count of Class A felony robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.
D'Andre Driver v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
49A02-1407-CR-487
Criminal. Affirms convictions for Class C felony forgery and Class D felony theft.
Beth Marquardt v. Rick L. Barnes and State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
90A02-1406-JP-410
Juvenile. Affirms in part and reverses in part order modifying child support. Remands for reduction of credit assigned to father for overnight parenting time until the child is three years of age and for the entry of a revised order and child support obligation worksheet reflecting this adjustment.
Brandy L. Lawson v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
29A05-1408-CR-366
Criminal. Affirms sentence for Class D felony resisting law enforcement.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Betty Ruth Nelson v. Peggy Holinga Katona, individually and in her official capacity as Lake County Auditor, et al.
13-1652
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen.
Civil. Affirms judgment entered against Nelson on her lawsuit that she was unlawfully terminated from her job in the auditor’s office because of her political support of Barack Obama. Nelson failed to file any post-verdict motions.
An Indiana statute and a 16-year-old Indiana Supreme Court decision interpreting that statute are under review as three teenagers serving 45-year sentences asked the justices to overturn their convictions for felony murder.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s 90-day involuntary commitment in a mental health facility because the treatment facility presented sufficient evidence that the man posed a substantial risk of harming others and was therefore dangerous.
The member of a town’s advisory plan commission who was appointed to a four-year term, then unanimously recalled, will be allowed to go forward with his lawsuit stemming from his removal, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
A Florida fisherman convicted of tossing undersized grouper off his boat is off the hook after a divided Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that he should not have been ensnared by a law targeting accounting fraud.
Because an Indiana driver did not take advantage of an available statutory method for challenging the suspension of her license before filing a petition for judicial review, the Court of Appeals reversed the grant of judicial review that ruled in her favor.
A non-union subcontractor presented evidence establishing a genuine issue of material fact that the company awarded a contract to build a new school violated Indiana’s Antitrust Act by unlawfully restraining open and free competition for the public project, the Court of Appeals held Thursday.
The 7th Circuit court of Appeals quickly affirmed a jury verdict against a former employee in the Lake County Auditor’s Office who claimed she was unlawfully terminated for political reasons. The ex-employee failed to file any post-verdict motions, a necessary first step for the appeals court to review the case.
A premarital agreement entered into by a pregnant teenage girl and her future husband who was twice her age was unconscionable when the agreement was executed in 1995, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Thursday in an issue of first impression.
An ex-convict who robbed a bank hoping he'd be sent back to prison told an Indiana judge he wanted to plead guilty only if he received the maximum 8-year sentence.
Loretta Lynch won approval from a key Senate committee Thursday to serve as the nation's next attorney general, as divided Republicans clashed over her support for President Barack Obama's immigration policies.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Rachel Staggs v. Corena Buxbaum (mem. dec.)
47A01-1406-PL-254
Civil plenary. Affirms finding against Staggs on a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation. Remands with instructions to reconsider and recalculate the damages.
Michael C. Feldhake v. Meryle Feldhake (mem. dec.)
49A04-1405-DR-250
Domestic relation. Affirms judgment of the trial court regarding the value of certain assets but remands for the limited purpose of allowing the court to address matters of payment pursuant to the provisional agreement and joint tax liability.
John Deckard v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
53A01-1405-PC-222
Post conviction. Affirms denial of petition for post-conviction relief.
Clay Howard v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
48A02-1406-CR-384
Criminal. Affirms murder conviction.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Gordon L. Peak, Jr. v. State of Indiana
27A04-1406-CR-260
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class D felony possession of marijuana in excess of 30 grams. Trial counsel was not deficient for failing to file a motion to suppress the marijuana or for not objecting at trial to the admission of it on the grounds the traffic stop was illegal.
The Allen Superior Court is conducting a statewide search to replace retiring Magistrate Judge Jerry Ummel. The court hopes to have the new magistrate on the bench in late April.
A proposal that would leave the long-criticized Marion County township small claims courts intact with modest changes has cleared the Indiana Senate. The bill would raise the limit on disputes from the current $6,000 to $8,000.
The Indiana Court of Appeals held Wednesday that a probable cause affidavit allowing police to search the home of a man suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine did not establish a confidential informant’s credibility and lacked probable cause. The majority also concluded that the good-faith exception would not be applicable in David Cartwright’s case.