Service of process fees increase under proposal in Senate
Fees sheriffs collect to serve parties in civil lawsuits would nearly double under a bill that cleared a Senate panel last week.
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Federal courts warn of threatening jury duty scam calls
Federal courts are warning residents of scam phone calls threatening prosecution for failure to comply with jury service, according to an alert released Thursday by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Justices uphold convictions in second trial after partial deadlock
The Indiana Supreme Court Thursday upheld the convictions of a man involved in a fatal drunken-driving crash. The defendant was retried on all charges after a jury convicted him on some counts and deadlocked on others.
Opinions Jan. 15, 2015 ILD
Indiana Court of Appeals
Karen E. Fielder v. Brandon E. Fielder (NFP)
49A04-1405-DR-216
Domestic relation. Affirms value of retirement accounts. Remands for a more specific order showing how the marital estate was valued.
Travis Lunsford v. State of Indiana (NFP)
27A04-1403-CR-143
Criminal. Affirms convictions of Class D felonies operating a motor vehicle while privileges are suspended and resisting law enforcement, and Class B misdemeanor failure to stop after an accident resulting in non-vehicle damage.
Sean Patrick Hogan v. State of Indiana (NFP)
02A05-1404-CR-179
Criminal. Affirms convictions of four counts each of Class A felony child molesting and Class C felony child molesting, and one count of Class D felony dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
Angelo P. Dove v. State of Indiana (NFP)
45A03-1311-PC-460
Post conviction. Affirms denial of petition for post-conviction relief.
Jarrez Hughley v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1406-CR-395
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class A misdemeanor trespass.
Leeshawn Rodgers v. State of Indiana (NFP)
20A03-1405-CR-175
Criminal. Affirms 60-year sentence for murder but reverses restitution order that Rodgers pay funeral bills. Remands for further proceedings.
Opinions Jan. 15, 2014
Indiana Court of Appeals
David Paul Brown v. State of Indiana
32A01-1405-CR-194
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class D felony theft. Finds trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to a portion of Brown’s videotaped interview with a detective as hearsay and for not tendering a jury instruction on criminal conversion as a lesser-included offense.
$1.8M verdict against Walgreen for pharmacist’s data breach stands
The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected Thursday several claims raised by Walgreen Co. on rehearing, holding that the company and its pharmacists are liable for damages sustained by the plaintiff after the pharmacist divulged her prescription records to a third party.
Counsel’s ‘risky’ trial strategy is not considered ineffective
A trial attorney who decided to pursue a trial strategy in a theft case that did not request a jury instruction on the lesser-include offense of criminal conversion did not provide ineffective assistance of counsel, the Court of Appeals ruled.
COA reverses sentence based on a ‘suspect enhancement’
Finding that a judge was clearly influenced by a jury’s not-guilty decision on another drug charge when he sentenced a defendant for cocaine possession, the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered the man’s sentence reduced.
Full 7th Circuit declines to rehear right-to-work appeal
An even split among all of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judges as to whether to rehear an appeal challenging Indiana’s right-to-work law means that its previous affirmation of the law will stand.
Teacher fired for in vitro seeks attorney fees
A teacher who won a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend after being fired for trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization is now seeking about $756,000 in attorney fees.
Defense wants statements omitted at Indiana fatal fire trial
Defense attorneys for an Evansville man accused of starting a deadly March fire have asked a judge to keep statements he made to police from being used at trial.
Lawmakers: Longer sentences, more police will deter crime
Harsher sentences and an increased police presence can help fight crime in Indiana, Republican state senators said Wednesday.
Rush proposes business court, makes pitch for e-filing funding
In her first State of Judiciary speech, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush on Wednesday said the judiciary is “currently working on the development of a business court model focused on complex commercial litigation,” and urged the General Assembly to help fund the courts’ electronic filing initiative.
Author and death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean calls for judicial reform
When she became pen pals with an inmate on Louisiana’s death row, Sister Helen Prejean said she did not know much about the law or the U.S. Constitution. She was not aware of constitutional protections or how the Supreme Court of the United States was interpreting them.
Opinions Jan. 14, 2015 ILD
Indiana Court of Appeals
Celebration Worship Center, Inc. v. Patrick Tucker and Carolyn P. Tucker a/k/a Patty Tucker (NFP)
22A01-1405-PL-229
Civil plenary. Reverses grant of summary judgment in favor of the Tuckers and remands with instructions. Summary judgment should have been granted in favor of Celebration Worship Center regarding a land dispute.
In the Matter of the Term. of Parent_Child Relationship of: K.N. and M.B. v. The Ind. Dept. of Child Services (NFP)
82A05-1405-JT-239
Juvenile. Affirms termination of parental rights.
Michael Brown v. State of Indiana (NFP)
84A04-1407-CR-337
Criminal. Affirms two-year executed sentence in the Department of Correction for Class D felony disseminating a matter harmful to minors.
Terry McMillian v. Donna McMillian (NFP)
49A02-1405-DR-328
Domestic relation. Reverses dissolution decree and ruling on Terry McMillian’s motion to correct error. Remands for further proceedings.
Anthony Ervin v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1406-CR-390
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class A misdemeanor trespass.
Dominique Hughes v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1311-CR-985
Criminal. Affirms sentence for Class D felony theft and for being a habitual offender.
Adam White v. State of Indiana (NFP)
20A05-1404-CR-187
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class C felony battery committed by means of a deadly weapon or resulting in serious bodily injury.
Do.D. v. De.D. (NFP)
49A04-1404-PO-169
Protective order. Affirms denial of husband’s motion to correct error after a protective order was issued against him at the request of his wife.
Travis Wilson v. State of Indiana (NFP)
79A02-1405-CR-314
Criminal. Affirms conviction and sentence for Class B felony criminal deviate conduct.
Opinions Jan. 14, 2015
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Dwan Rashid Taylor
14-1981
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson.
Criminal. Affirms denial of motion to suppress drugs and guns found by police in Taylor’s storage locker pursuant to a search warrant. The police learned of the storage location using a GPS unit that it attached to Taylor’s car without a warrant in 2011, a year before the Supreme Court of the United States held that attaching a GPS device to a car for purposes of gathering information was a search under the Fourth Amendment. Because the officers used the GPS monitor in objectively reasonable reliance on binding appellate precedent in effect at that time, the suppression motion was properly denied.
7th Circuit upholds use of GPS unit on car in 2011
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a defendant’s claim that his motion to suppress drugs and guns found by police at a storage locker through the use of a GPS unit should have been granted because attaching the device to his car for purposes of gathering information was a search under the Fourth Amendment.
Senate panel advances bill to open adoption records
Advocates of opening Indiana’s adoption records won an emotional first round Wednesday as a Senate panel advanced legislation that for the first time would open birth records of hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers.
Pence troubled by report Guard mishandled domestic case
Gov. Mike Pence is troubled by allegations that the Indiana National Guard mishandled a domestic violence case and will review a Pentagon report on the matter, his spokeswoman said.
Court orders termination of spousal maintenance following ex-wife’s remarriage
A woman who remarried and now has substantial income and assets as a result of that marriage is no longer entitled to spousal maintenance, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.