Opinions

Indiana Court of Appeals
Michael and Mary Poore, Individually and on Behalf of J.P. v. Indianapolis Public Schools and its Board of Education
19A-CT-1439
Civil tort. Affirms in part the Marion Superior Court’s judgment in favor of Indianapolis Public schools and its Board of Education on Michael and Mary Poores’ claims for breach of contract, negligence, and violation of the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act when IPS refused to pay for their child’s advanced math class taken outside of the IPS system. Holds that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the testimony of a certain witness; IPS was not negligent because IPS did not deny J.P. the benefit of early college credits; and no valid, enforceable contract existed between IPS and the Poores requiring IPS to pay for the class. Reverses the conclusion on the DCSA and holds that IPS was not subject to the statutory requirements of the DCSA.

Indiana Supreme Court
Patrick Humphrey v. Brian Tuck, US Xpress, Inc.
20S-CT-548
Civil tort. Grants transfer and affirms the Jackson Superior Court’s entry of judgment on a jury’s $40,000 damages verdict in favor of Patrick Humphrey, and the trial court’s denial of Humphrey’s motion to correct error. Finds there was enough evidence to support giving the challenged failure-to-mitigate jury instruction.

The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday.
Yeison Meza Morales v. William Barr
19-1999
Civil. Amends the June 26 opinion in this immigration case reversing the removal order for Yeison Meza Morales and expanding the authority of immigration judges to administratively close cases when warranted. Adds one sentence to a footnote on page 13 of the June 26 opinion expressing no view on whether the government might be precluded from contesting the nonfinal waiver of an immigrant’s inadmissibility. Affirms the June 26 opinion in all other respects. Denies the government’s motion for rehearing in a separate order.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Indiana Family and Social Services Administration; Jennifer Walthall, in Individual Capacity as Secretary of Indiana Family and Social Services, et al. v. Bonnie K. Anderson, et al.
19A-PL-3039
Civil plenary. Affirms in part and reverses in part the Bartholomew Superior Court’s denial of a motion to dismiss Bonnie Anderson’s petition for judicial review and complaint for damages brought by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration; Jennifer Walthall, the Secretary of FSSA; and the Bartholomew County Division of Family Resources. Finds the trial court did not err by denying FSSA’s motion to dismiss Anderson’s petition for judicial review, but finds it was error for the court to deny FSSA’s motion to dismiss Anderson’s complaint for damages.

The Estate of Sandra King by Special Administrator Marie Briggs v. Aperion Care d/b/a Aperion Care Tolleston Park and Steve Robertson, Insurance Commissioner for the Indiana Department of Insurance
19A-MI-3037
Miscellaneous. Reverses the Lake Superior Court’s denial of the estate of Sandra King’s motion to compel arbitration. Finds the trial court erred in its denial and remands with instructions for the trial court to enter an order granting the estate’s motion to compel.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Keith M. Brown v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
20A-CR-559
Criminal. Reverses Keith Brown’s conviction for Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement. Finds the evidence was insufficient to support Brown’s conviction.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Franciscan ACO, Inc., Franciscan Alliance, Inc., and Charlotte Sweezer v. Vaughn Newman, as personal represenatative of the Estate of Virginia Newman
19A-CT-2465
Civil tort. Reverses the denial of Charlotte Sweezer, Franciscan ACO Inc. and Franciscan Alliance Inc.’s motion for partial summary judgment on a wrongful death claim brought by Vaughn Newman as personal representative of the Estate of Virginia Newman. Finds no genuine issue of material fact exists, so the Lake Superior Court erred in denying the motion for partial summary judgment. Remands for proceedings.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Jerry Wayne Smith v. State of Indiana
20A-CR-672
Criminal. Reverses Jerry Wayne Smith’s sentence for his conviction of Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement. Finds the 365-day sentence, with 185 days suspended to probation and 180 days served consecutive to the 277 days for a probation violation, is inappropriate. Remands to the Vermillion Circuit Court to impose a sentence of 365 days, with 20 days to serve and 345 days suspended to probation.

Sarah Johnson v. Northeast School Corporation
19-2870
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division. Judge James Sweeney, II.
Civil. Affirms the Southern District Court’s entry of summary judgment to North Central High School (Farmersburg) and Northeast School Corporation on Sarah Johnson’s claims that both entities inadequately responded to her alleged of sexual harassment, therefore violating Title IX, 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). Finds Johnson has waived any arguments regarding the district court’s evidentiary rulings and that NESC was not deliberately indifferent to Johnson’s claims of sexual harassment.

Indiana Supreme Court
Benjamin S. Smith v. Franklin Township Community School Corporation
20S-CT-98
Civil tort. Affirms the denial of Benjamin Smith’s motion for reinstatement of his lawsuit against Franklin Township Community School Corporation. Finds Smith cannot use a Trial Rule 41(F) filing to collaterally attack the merits of the dismissal order. Also finds Smith failed to preserve a substantive challenge to the dismissal decision, so the Marion Superior Court acted within its discretion when it denied his motion for reinstatement.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Shiel Sexton Company, Inc., et al. v. Joshua Towe
18A-CT-01446
Civil tort. Affirms in part the Marion Superior Court’s grant of summary judgment to Joshua Towe as to Circle B Construction Systems’ assumption of a duty to protect Towe. Remands for further proceedings as to breach, causation, and damages. However, reverses the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Towe as to the assumption of a duty by Shiel Sexton, and remands for the trial court to enter summary judgment for Shiel Sexton as it had no duty to protect Towe.

Indiana Court of Appeals
John P. Hampton v. Audie Barber
20A-MI-143
Miscellaneous. Affirms the Delaware Circuit Court’s order granting Audie Barber’s request for a permanent injunction following his complaint for ouster of an unlawful office holder in which the court concluded that Muncie City Councilman John P. Hampton is ineligible to hold a seat on the council under Indiana Code Section 3-5-8-1(e). Finds the evidence supports the trial court’s finding that Barber has a special interest in the city council seat, and that finding supports the court’s conclusion that Barber had standing to file the complaint against Hampton. Also finds that Hampton has waived for review the issue of whether Indiana Code Section 3-8-1- 5(e)(3) violates Article 1, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution as applied to him.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Judy Reece v. Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., et al.
20A-CT-214
Civil tort. Majority affirms the grant of summary judgment in favor of Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. in a lawsuit alleging that tall grass on its property obstructed the view of an intersection before a crash in which a motorcyclist sustained catastrophic brain injuries. Finds Tyson negated the element of duty in Reece’s negligence claim. Senior Judge John Baker dissents, finding multiple issues of fact rendering summary judgment inappropriate, and would consequently reverse and remand for proceedings. Unanimously affirms the trial court’s evidentiary rulings.

The following Supreme Court opinions were posted after IL deadline Tuesday:
Jordan B. Wadle v. State of Indiana
19S-CR-340
Criminal. Affirms and reverses in part Jordan Wadle’s convictions of Level 3 felony leaving the scene of an accident, Level 5 felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury and Level 6 felony counts of OWI endangering a person and OWI with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, and his 16-year sentence with two years suspended to probation. Overrules the Richardson v. State constitutional tests in resolving claims of substantive double jeopardy and instead adopts an analytical framework that applies the statutory rules of double jeopardy. Finds the statutory offenses charged against Wadle were alternative sanctions, so his multiple convictions violate the statutory rules of substantive double jeopardy. Also finds Wadle’s conviction of Level 3 felony leaving the scene of an accident justifies his sentence. Remands for Fayette Superior Court to vacate all but one of Wadle’s convictions, Level 3 felony leaving the scene of the accident, and to leave his sentence in place.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Victoria V. Arrowood v. State of Indiana
20A-CR-667
Criminal. Affirms the revocation of Victoria Arrowood’s placement in community corrections home detention and the order that she serve the remainder of her sentence in the Department of Correction. Finds that because the revocation of probation or placement in community corrections is civil, not criminal, in nature, Article 1, Section 13 of the Indiana Constitution is inapplicable. Also finds Arrowood was not denied her right to counsel.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Judy Vigus, as Administratrix of the Estate of Ruth C. Vigus and the Estate of Eugene Vigus v. Dinner Theater of Indiana, L.P.
19A-CT-1365
Civil tort. Affirms the Marion Superior Court’s judgment for Dinner Theater of Indiana L.P. following a jury trial on Judy Vigus’s complaint alleging negligence as administratrix of the Estates of Ruth C. Vigus and Eugene Vigus. Finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it revoked its pretrial order on a judicial admission or when it excluded evidence of communications between the theater’s owners that they would seek a variance in the riser’s height rather than reduce that height. Also finds Vigus has not preserved for review her contention on appeal that the trial court erred when it did not instruct the jury that the theater had made a judicial admission of a building code violation.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Kenneth Lavar Lancaster v. State of Indiana
19A-CR-02970
Criminal. Affirms Kenneth Lancaster’s convictions of three counts of murder. Finds the Marion Superior Court did not err by finding that the statement of Lancaster’s brother was admissible as an adoptive admission. Neither did it err in adding the second statement made by Lancaster, which it found to be plainly admissible. Also finds sufficient evidence to support the convictions. Lastly, finds that the trial court did not err in the sentencing process.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Tyson Daishan Lamonte King v. State of Indiana
20A-CR-6
Criminal. Reverses Tyson King’s conviction in Marshall Superior Court of Class A misdemeanor driving while suspended. Finds in deciding an issue of first impression that King’s driver’s license was not suspended when he was pulled over at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2018, because his suspension expired at 12:01 a.m. that same day.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Culver Community Teachers Association, et al. v. Indiana Education Employment Relations Board
19A-PL-2989
Civil plenary. Reverses the Marion Superior Court’s denial of the Culver Community Teachers Association, Decatur County Education Association, Smith-Green Community Schools Classroom Teachers Association, and West Clark Teachers Association’s joint verified petition for judicial review of the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board’s final decisions regarding their respective collective bargaining agreements. Finds the trial court erred in denying the Teachers Associations’ petition for judicial review. Remands to the IEERB with instructions to adopt the ratified contracts. Judge Patricia Riley dissents with a separate opinion.

Indiana Court of Appeals
Susan Mwangi and Joe Mwangi v. Nicholas Bobelinski and Classic Seamless Gutter, Inc. (mem. dec.)
20A-CT-528
Civil tort. Affirms the entry of summary judgment in favor of Nicholas Bobelinski and Classic Seamless Gutter, Inc. against Susan and Joe Mwangi. Finds no abuse of discretion in the St. Joseph Superior Court’s denial of Susan’s requests to continue the trial to secure counsel. Also finds that Susan was not denied her day in court and that the trial court did not clearly err in dismissing the action.