Opinions

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: R.S. and N.S., and M.Y. (Mother) and T.S. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
23A-JT-1192
Juvenile termination of parental rights. Affirms the Clark Circuit Court’s termination of mother M.Y. and father T.S.’s parental rights to R.S. and N.S. Finds neither M.Y. nor T.S. have shown that the trial court committed clear error in terminating their parental rights to the child or at any point during the TPR proceedings. Also finds neither demonstrated a due process violation.  

Court of Appeals of Indiana
In the Matter of A.M.J. and A.L.J., Minor Children Alleged to be Children in Need of Services; S.J. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services
23A-JC-2241
Juvenile CHINS. Affirms the Allen Superior Court’s order modifying custody of father S.J.’s sons in favor of their maternal grandmother. Finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion by modifying custody of the children in favor of the maternal grandmother.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Automotive Finance Corporation d/b/a AFC v. Meng Liu
23A-CC-1468
Civil collections. Affirms the grant of Meng Liu’s motion to set aside a summary judgment order in favor of Automotive Finance Corporation. Finds the Marion Superior Court did not abuse its discretion. Judge Elaine Brown dissents with separate opinion.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Tum Uk v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-616
Criminal. Affirms Tum Uk’s conviction for Level 1 felony child molesting. Finds no fundamental error. Also finds sufficient evidence supports Uk’s conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Desmond Banks v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-896
Criminal. Affirms and reverses in part Desmond Banks’ convictions in a quadruple murder and his de facto life sentence. Finds the Marion Superior Court properly denied Banks’ motion for mistrial based on Critical Emergency Response Team members approaching and standing behind him as jurors filed out of the courtroom. Also finds three of the four robbery convictions should be vacated due to insufficient evidence. Finally, finds Desmond’s convictions for the murder and Level 2 felony robbery of Marcel Wills constitute double jeopardy, and his 220-year sentence is inappropriate. Reduces his sentence to 135 years. Remands with instructions for the trial court to enter conviction for Level 5 felony robbery. Judge Cale Bradford concurs in part and dissents in part with separate opinion.

Monday opinions
Court of Appeals of Indiana
Lela Jo Boucher v. Dennis J. Doyle
23A-DN-1534
Domestic relations without children. Affirms the Delaware Circuit Court’s order dividing the marital estate in favor of Dennis Doyle. Finds Lela Jo Boucher failed to demonstrate that the trial court’s deviation from the presumptive equal split of the marital estate was clearly erroneous.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
James T. Morgan v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1489
Criminal. Affirms the Montgomery Superior Court’s judgment ordering the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department to retain the seized firearms and ammunition of James Morgan in relation to the state’s “Red Flag Law.” Finds the trial court did not err in admitting a deputy’s testimony and that the state established a probability that Morgan presented a risk of personal injury to himself or to another individual in the future.

Indiana Supreme Court
State ex rel. Richard Allen v. Carroll Circuit Court and the Honorable Frances C. Gull, Special Judge
23S-OR-311
Original action. Grants Richard Allen’s request to reinstate Andrew Baldwin and Brad Rozzi as his counsel but denies his request for an order for his trial to begin within 70 days and for a new judge. Finds the trial court did not find that Baldwin and Rozzi’s disqualification was a necessary last resort after weighing the prejudice to Allen. Also finds Allen did not make his 70-day trial request in trial court. Finally, finds Allen did not overcome the presumption of impartiality. Justice Geoffrey Slaughters concurs and dissents in part with separate opinion. 

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Donald L. Barriger, Jr., and Dianne Barriger v. The Brown County Board of Health and the Brown County Health Officer (mem. dec.)
22A-PL-2944
Civil plenary. Affirms the Brown Circuit Court’s determination that a second order requiring Dianne and Donald Barriger to clean and repair a piece of real estate in Nashville superseded the first order, was lawfully issued and is therefore enforceable. Finds the Barrigers’ claims are either waived or without merit.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Mandale Hamilton v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-CR-818
Criminal. Affirms the denial of Mandale Hamilton’s motion to suppress. Finds the Hendricks Circuit Court did not err in finding that Officer David Shedrow had “legal authority” to pull over the driver of a Cadillac. Also finds the use of a K-9 for an open-air sniff cannot be said to have prolonged the traffic stop, so it did not implicate the Fourth Amendment or Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. Finally, finds that Officer Mark Christian’s removal of four screws to lower a panel on the dash to retrieve a gun that the officers knew was located in a “tight space” rendered the seizure of the gun unreasonable under Article 1, Section 11.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Estate of Gerald Everett Goldsberry v. Drake Air, LLC, by its member Brent L. Drake
23A-MI-1987
Miscellaneous. Affirms Morgan Superior Court’s judgment for Drake Air, LLC, by its member Brent L. Drake, for $50,000 following a bench trial. Finds the trial court correctly concluded that Bill Myrtle’s and Brad Huddle’s access to the helicopter on the day of the crash did not destroy the bailment between Drake Air and Gerald Goldsberry. Also finds that the trial court did not err when it concluded that the Goldsberry estate failed to demonstrate that the loss of the helicopter was not Goldsberry’s fault.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Willow Haven on 106^th Street, LLC v. Hari Nagireddy and Saranya Nagireddy
22A-PL-2931
Civil plenary. Affirms the preliminary injunction enjoining Willow Haven on 106^th Street LLC from completing construction of a home on a lot next to where Hari and Saranya Nagireddy reside. Finds the Nagireddys were not required to exhaust administrative remedies before pursuing injunctive relief with the Hamilton Superior Court. Also finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion in entering a preliminary injunction in favor of the Nagireddys. Judge Leanna Weissmann dissents with separate opinion.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
J.G. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
23A-JV-113
Juvenile. Affirms and reverses in part J.G.’s adjudication as a delinquent for what would be Level 4 felony child molesting, Level 5 felony criminal confinement and Level 6 felony dissemination of matter harmful to minors if committed by an adult. Finds the admission of hearsay testimony was harmless. Also finds insufficient evidence supports the Marion Superior Court’s true finding on the Level 6 felony. Finally, finds the scrivener’s error should be corrected. Remands with instructions to correct the scrivener’s error.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Spencer Turner v. Mark Sevier
23A-MI-1053
Miscellaneous. Reverses the Henry Circuit Court’s summary disposition of Spencer Turner’s post-conviction relief petition. Finds the post-conviction court erred. Remands for the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the state is able to show good cause for the delay in holding Turner’s revocation hearing, or whether he is entitled to have the alleged parole violations dismissed.

Indiana Supreme Court
Tailar L. Spells v. State of Indiana
23S-CR-232
Criminal. Affirms the retention of Tailar Spells’ cash bail to cover her $100 supplemental public defender fee and $2 jury fee. Vacates the $20 fine and other costs and fees. Finds the statutory agreement under Indiana Code § 35-33-8-3.2(a) permits application of cash bail to the whole of a defendant’s public defender costs. Also finds a court may retain cash bail to pay most other fines, costs and fees only after considering the defendant’s ability to pay. Finally, finds the indigency determination in this case was incomplete. Remands for further proceedings on the fines, costs and fees.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Kenyonn Sincere v. State of Indiana
23A-CR-1172
Criminal. Affirms Kenyonn Sincere’s conviction of a Class A misdemeanor for falsely representing himself to be a detective with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. Finds the admission of the challenged evidence was cumulative of other properly admitted evidence and therefore harmless. Also finds the deputy prosecutor did not commit prosecutorial misconduct and that the evidence is sufficient to sustain Sincere’s conviction.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
David Freed v. Elizabeth Freed
23A-DC-129
Domestic relations with children. Affirms the Johnson Circuit Court’s order awarding a pre-embryo to Elizabeth Freed following her divorce from David Freed. Finds the trial court applied the appropriate test and considered the appropriate factors before awarding the pre-embryo to Elizabeth Freed.

Indiana Supreme Court
Edward Zaragoza v. Wexford of Indiana, LLC, et al.
23S-CT-99
Civil tort. Reverses the award of summary judgment to the defendants on Edward Zaragoza’s complaint alleging medical malpractice and deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. Finds genuine issues of material fact remain to be determined.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
Imogene Perry v. Anne H. Poindexter, Personal Representative of the Supervised Estate of Richard Abbott, Janice Mandla Mattingly, Michael P. Brown and Phillip Brown
22A-EU-2774
Estate. Reverses the Hamilton Superior Court’s denial of Imogene Perry’s motion for relief from default judgment. Finds the trial court erred when it denied Perry’s motion for relief from judgment because she did not receive notice of the estate’s motion for return of funds and/or the related hearing in a way calculated to provide her a meaningful opportunity to appear and defend herself. Remands to the trial court to hold a hearing on all pending motions in the matter including but not limited to the motion for return of funds and any motions with respect to fees Perry and/or the estate paid to Janice Mandla Mattingly and/or Lauth Investigations International Inc.

Court of Appeals of Indiana
State of Indiana v. Trisha M. Woodworth
22A-CR-2557
Criminal. Reverses the grant of the Lake Superior Court’s own motion to correct error, vacating Trisha Woodworth’s conviction of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death and granting Woodworth a new trial, but also reverses Woodworth’s conviction. Finds the trial court abused its discretion when it granted its own motion to correct error. Also finds there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction.