Supreme Court of Indiana Decisions 2015
Date: December 22, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1512-PL-709
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought several claims against multiple defendants arising out of his incarceration for a probation violation that occurred after his term of probation had expired. The trial court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims…
Date: December 16, 2015
Docket Number: 71S03-1507-PL-407
Justia Opinion Summary: James Armour’s employment contract with AM General LLC entitled him to payment of a long-term incentive plan (LTIP). When Armour retired, he was to receive a lump sum LTIP payment, but instead he started receiving…
Date: December 15, 2015
Docket Number: 29S04-1506-PL-377
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an elementary school principal, was terminated after the school board learned that he had been involved in a sexual relationship with a teacher. Plaintiff filed a complaint against school defendants, alleging…
Date: December 8, 2015
Docket Number: 45S04-1512-CT-686
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis Security Systems, LLC hired Donnell Caldwell as a security guard for the West Calumet Complex. Before his employment, Caldwell had been romantically involved with Stacy Knighten, a resident of the Complex. While on…
Date: December 2, 2015
Docket Number: 22S01-1507-PL-412
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed an application for insurance on his property, despite his property being vacant and uninhabitable. Based on the application, the insurance company issued a “Dwelling Fire Policy” on the property. Two…
Date: November 10, 2015
Docket Number: 29S02-1511-DR-643
Justia Opinion Summary: Wife and Husband divorced in 2007. Husband later filed a motion to modify spousal maintenance, arguing that maintenance should be revoked entirely because of Wife’s remarriage. The trial court denied Husband’s petition…
Date: November 10, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1511-CR-644
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for not having a properly displayed license plate. The driver was placed under arrest for driving with a suspended license, and the police requested that Defendant…
Date: November 6, 2015
Docket Number: 49S00-1407-PL-494
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, as a certified class, challenged the constitutionality of the program utilized by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) in the processing of applications for personalized license plates (PLPs), arguing…
Date: November 5, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1511-CR-638
Justia Opinion Summary: The State prosecuted three co-defendants on identical charges in the same trial. The Supreme Court reversed the convictions of two of those three co-defendants and remanded to the trial court with instructions to enter…
Date: October 26, 2015
Docket Number: 48S05-1507-CR-424
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two felony counts of dealing in cocaine. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that a detective’s opinion testimony on witnessing a drug transaction led only to an…
Date: October 16, 2015
Docket Number: 02S04-1504-DR-156
Justia Opinion Summary: Husband and Wife signed an agreement to arbitrate the issues in their divorce under the Family Law Arbitration Act (FLAA). The family law arbitrator entered conclusions of law providing for legal and physical custody of…
Date: October 7, 2015
Docket Number: 49S04-1505-CR-287
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with possessing, selling and dealing in the chemical compound designated XLR11 and dealing and conspiracy to commit dealing in look-alike substances. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the charges,…
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: 22S00-1206-DP-359
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder. The trial judge sentenced Defendant to death for the murder. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court (1) did not abuse its discretion in denying…
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: 63S00-1406-LW-440
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of murder. The trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment without parole. Defendant sought post-conviction relief and subsequently received a new…
Date: September 21, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1504-CT-228
Justia Opinion Summary: Darryl Clifton was struck by a car driven by Ruby McCammack and suffered fatal injuries. At the time of the collision, Darryl’s father, Ray Clifton, was home watching television. After watching a news story about a fatal…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: 20A04-1310-CR-518
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: 20S04-1509-CR-548
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged eighteen-year-old Anthony Sharp, sixteen-year-old Blake Layman, and seventeen-year-old Levi Sparks with felony murder in the perpetration of a burglary. The jury found each defendant guilty as charged.…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: 20S04-1509-CR-549
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged eighteen-year-old Anthony Sharp, sixteen-year-old Blake Layman, and seventeen-year-old Levi Sparks with felony murder in the perpetration of a burglary. The jury found each defendant guilty as charged.…
Date: September 9, 2015
Docket Number: 15S01-1509-CT-526
Justia Opinion Summary: Kentucky attorney Suzanne Cassidy represented Ernest Smith in Kentucky in a federal employment-discrimination lawsuit against his former employers, Dennis Boyer and Richard Smith, and other defendants. Attorney Cassidy…
Date: September 1, 2015
Docket Number: 07S01-1505-PL-284
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, the Brown County Board of Commissioners enacted an ordinance that established a county-wide fire protection district. In 2008, the newly elected Board enacted an ordinance purporting to dissolve the district.…
Date: September 1, 2015
Docket Number: 39S05-1509-CR-517
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count each of aggravated battery, criminal confinement by removal, and battery resulting in serious bodily injury. Due to double jeopardy concerns, the trial court…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: 29S02-1504-MF-188
Justia Opinion Summary: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. filed a post-judgment motion to intervene in this foreclosure action to protect its interest as assignee of a mortgage on the real estate of Deborah Walton and Margaret Walton. JPMorgan filed…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: 55S04-1508-PL-501
Justia Opinion Summary: A gas leak occurred at the home of William and Betty Kindle, customers of SCI Propane LLC and related entities (collectively, SCI), resulting in an explosion and fire that killed one of the Kindles’ family members,…
Date: August 26, 2015
Docket Number: 64S03-1504-PL-227
Justia Opinion Summary: General Contractor hired several subcontractors to assist in contracting an IMAX theater. After the theater was completed and three of the subcontractors (“Subcontractors”) had not been paid in full for their services,…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 64S04-1504-MF-187
Justia Opinion Summary: Junior creditor Car-X Associates Corporation sued a mortgagee to foreclose on a lien. In addition to the mortgagee, Car-X’s complaint named senior creditor Huntington National Bank as a defendant to answer as to any…
Date: August 20, 2015
Docket Number: 82S04-1508-JT-491
Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court found Child was a Child in Need of Services. Because Father was incarcerated, the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) attempted to provide services only to Mother. Ultimately, DCS filed for…
Date: August 4, 2015
Docket Number: 89S05-1412-ES-749
Justia Opinion Summary: Before he died, John Markey entered into a contract with his second wife, Frances, to make and not revoke a mutual will providing that, upon the death of whomever died later, the couple’s estate would be divided equally…
Date: July 30, 2015
Docket Number: 49S05-1410-CR-654
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was found guilty of robbery and criminal confinement. The trial court used the same evidence, namely, Defendant’s act of being armed with a deadly weapon, to enhance both of his…
Date: July 30, 2015
Docket Number: 82S01-1507-DR-452
Justia Opinion Summary: The child at issue in this case (Child) had a close relationship with her maternal grandparents (Grandparents) from the day she was born. The child’s mother (Mother) passed away when Child was eight years old. In…
Date: July 30, 2015
Docket Number: 87S01-1410-CR-684
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second jury trial, Defendant was convicted of child molesting as a class C felony. On appeal, Defendant challenged, among other things, the admission of testimony by a child forensic interviewer who had conducted…
Date: July 29, 2015
Docket Number: 49S05-1404-PL-244
Justia Opinion Summary: Continental Casualty Company and Twin City Fire Insurance Co. (collectively, CNA) petitioned for rehearing with respect to the Supreme Court’s opinion in this matter, Wellpoint, Inc. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co.,…
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: 49S05-1412-CR-728
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of class A felony child molesting. The court of appeals reversed Defendant’s conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding that the trial court abused its discretion in…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 22S01-1506-PL-401
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a church, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment seeking to determine the boundary line between it and Defendants, homeowners, to determine ownership of its real estate, to allow it to build a fence along…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 49S05-1506-PL-400
Justia Opinion Summary: When Jeffrey Miller lost a job opportunity with the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, Miller filed a complaint and multiple amended complaints, alleging that several individuals and organizations committed torts against him.…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 84S01-1409-CR-583
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to multiple counts each of class C felony neglect of a dependent and class C felony criminal confinement. The plea agreement left sentencing to the discretion of the trial court but capped…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: 63S00-1401-LW-306
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder and arson. The trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the jury’s…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: 71S04-1506-CR-364
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of burglary, a class C felony. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, finding that the conviction was obtained through the State’s knowing use of perjured testimony. The…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: 45S00-1312-LW-512
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder, felony murder, criminal deviate conduct, and resisting law enforcement. The trial judge sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: 82S05-1502-AD-63
Justia Opinion Summary: After I.B. and W.B. were removed from their parents, both their paternal and maternal grandmothers petitioned to adopt them. The trial court found that it was in the best interests of the children for the maternal…
Date: June 9, 2015
Docket Number: 35S05-1408-CT-562
Justia Opinion Summary: Jerry Earl sustained severe injuries in a motorcycle accident. Jerry had a policy with State Farm, which provided uninsured motorist coverage. Earl and his wife Kimberly (together, Plaintiffs) sued State Farm when State…
Date: June 9, 2015
Docket Number: 79S04-1411-CR-718
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was living in the residence of an individual who was home home detention under Community Corrections supervision when community corrections officers went into the residence to conduct a warrantless search to…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: 71S03-1506-CT-350
Justia Opinion Summary: Jason and Justina Kramer hired Catholic Charities to facilitate the adoption of E. After M.S. gave birth to E., the Kramers took E. home with them. The Kramers subsequently learned that R.M. had registered as the…
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 48S02-1501-CR-10
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of a Class C felony battery. Defendant appealed, arguing that he was denied a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense because the trial court prevented him from…
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 89S01-1502-CT-64
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought this medical malpractice action against her physician and the clinic that provided her prenatal medical care alleging negligence in her care and treatment during pregnancy, resulting in the fetal demise…
Date: May 20, 2015
Docket Number: 25S00-1310-LW-713
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder, felony murder, burglary, robbery, and criminal confinement. The trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment for the murder conviction and to a term of…
Date: May 20, 2015
Docket Number: 45S00-0803-DP-125
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of three counts of murder. Defendant was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction and death sentence but remanded with instructions to issue a…
Date: May 19, 2015
Docket Number: 52S05-1408-CR-563
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of criminal confinement and battery. Defendant appealed, arguing that his convictions violated the prohibition against double jeopardy under the Indiana Constitution and common…
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Numbers: 49S02-1505-CR-275, 49S02-1505-CR-276
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were charged with murder as accomplices in a shooting. The State brought no other charges, battery or otherwise. During a bench trial, trial court found that Defendants intended a group beating of the victim…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Number: 72S04-1410-CT-642
Justia Opinion Summary: Jefferson County awarded the first phase of its courthouse remodeling plan to a contractor. Two subcontractors aided in the repairs. While the repairs were underway, a fire severely damaged the courthouse. Jefferson…
Date: May 12, 2015
Docket Number: 45S03-1505-PL-264
Justia Opinion Summary: YTC Dream Homes, Inc. and other franchisees (collectively, YTC) filed in Lake Superior Court a contract-related action against franchisor DirectBuy, Inc. and related parties (collectively, DirectBuy). YTC filed a motion…
Date: May 12, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1505-JC-260
Justia Opinion Summary: Seventeen-year-old J.K. and her mother lived with J.D.’s maternal grandmother. In 2013, the Marion County Department of Child Services (DCS) initiated CHINS proceedings over J.K. Father, whose divorce with Mother was…
Date: May 12, 2015
Docket Number: 78S05-1407-CR-460
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of molesting his three young granddaughters. Defendant appealed, arguing that he was entitled to separate trials on the allegations of each individual victim. The Court of…
Date: April 28, 2015
Docket Number: 45S04-1501-DR-23
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, when the parties’ child was just over two years old, Father and Mother’s marriage was dissolved. In 2013, Father filed to modify his support obligation given an increased number of overnights Father was having…
Date: April 24, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1504-CT-225
Justia Opinion Summary: DePuy Orthopaedics, an Indiana corporation with its principal place of business in Indiana, sold a prosthetic hip implant that Plaintiffs, nineteen individuals, had implanted during hip replacement surgeries in Virginia…
Date: April 23, 2015
Docket Number: 15S00-1401-LW-40
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder and robbery. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the murder conviction. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the evidence was…
Date: April 22, 2015
Docket Number: 49S05-1404-PL-244
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a large managed health care organization, settled certain federal multi-district litigation without admitting liability. At all times relevant to this litigation, Appellant was was its own primary and excess…
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: 29S02-1504-PL-165
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: 29S02-1504-PL165
Justia Opinion Summary: A law firm (Plaintiff) filed a quantum merit claim for part of the contingent fees earned in cases that were first handled by the law firm’s attorneys, including Defendant, and later by Defendant and his law firm after…
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: 39A01-1404-CR-162
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: 76S03-1407-CR-493
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000, Appellant was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In 2004, while unprovoked, Appellant fired a shotgun several times at multiple vehicles, including a police cruiser. The jury returned verdicts of guilty but…
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: 49S04-1311-PL-732
Date: March 25, 2015
Docket Number: 64S03-1408-CR-516
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder. Defendant appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred in refusing his proposed final jury instruction regarding the presumption of…
Date: March 24, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1312-MI-790
Justia Opinion Summary: The State filed a complaint against Defendant seeking forfeiture of her 1996 Buick Century automobile under the provisions of the Civil Forfeiture Statute, which provides in relevant part that a vehicle may be seized if…
Date: March 24, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1410-CR-617
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was found guilty of criminal trespass as a class A misdemeanor in violation of Ind. Code 35-43-2-2(a)(4) and was sentenced to 365 days in jail. Defendant appealed, challenging the…
Date: March 24, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1410-PL-643
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, due to a large budget deficit, Franklin Township Community School Corporation voted to discontinue transportation services for the majority of students attending its public schools. Parents of students who…
Date: March 24, 2015
Docket Number: 71S00-1405-LW-361
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of felony murder and murder. Defendant was sentenced to sixty-five years for the felony murder and life without parole for the murder. Defendant appealed, asserting that…
Date: March 20, 2015
Docket Number: 94S00-1405-CQ-321
Justia Opinion Summary: Debtor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and listed an insurance policy with Northwestern Mutual as an asset on his bankruptcy schedules. Debtor claimed the policy’s entire cash surrender value as exempt property…
Date: March 19, 2015
Docket Number: 49S02-1503-MH-138
Justia Opinion Summary: After a civil commitment hearing, the trial judge declared that, by clear and convincing evidence, T.K. was both dangerous and gravely disabled. The court then ordered T.K. to be involuntarily committed. The court of…
Date: March 18, 2015
Docket Number: 45S03-1503-DR-134
Justia Opinion Summary: When Mother and Father’s marriage was dissolved in 1994, the trial court awarded Mother primary care and custody of the parties’ daughter (Daughter) and ordered Father to pay child support. In 2011, after Daughter…
Date: March 17, 2015
Docket Number: 71S04-1503-PL-132
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 49S05-1407-PL-491
Justia Opinion Summary: Indiana Restorative Dentistry, P.C. (“IRD”) insured its dentist’s office under a policy issued by ProAssurance Indemnity Company, Inc. (“ProAssurance”) and procured through the Laven Insurance Agency, Inc. (“Laven”).…
Date: March 5, 2015
Docket Number: 49S04-1408-CR-564
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of patronizing a prostitute. Defendant appealed, arguing that he had raised the entrapment defense by showing police inducement and that the State failed to offer any evidence of Defendant’s…
Date: March 2, 2015
Docket Number: 19S05-1409-CR-599
Justia Opinion Summary: Police officers asked Defendant to step out of his truck during a traffic stop and made their permission conditional on a pat-down. During the pat-down, the officers discovered marijuana on Defendant’s person. Defendant…
Date: February 18, 2015
Docket Number: 10S00-1307-DP-492
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of murder and felony arson resulting in serious bodily injury. The jury recommended the death penalty, and the trial court sentenced Defendant accordingly. The…
Date: February 10, 2015
Docket Number: 18S00-1412-JD-733
Justia Opinion Summary: The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications brought a judicial disciplinary action against Respondent Dianna L. Bennington, Judge of the Muncie City Court. The parties subsequently jointly tendered a statement of…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 06S04-1407-CR-461
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with four counts of robbery and six counts of criminal confinement, among other charges. The charges arose from four different bank robberies that occurred over the course of a year and a half. The…
Date: January 22, 2015
Docket Number: 29S02-1405-PL-314
Justia Opinion Summary: The operator of a wholesale greenhouse business hired a contractor to remove a large tree at its business. As a result of the work, the contractor received the wood from the removed tree, and the business paid the…
Date: January 15, 2015
Docket Number: 45S03-1404-CR-295
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was intoxicated when he crashed his vehicle into a service vehicle, killing the service truck driver. After a trial, Defendant was found guilty of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in a manner…
Date: January 15, 2015
Docket Number: 48S02-1404-CR-297
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of attempted murder. At Defendant’s trial and during final instructions, the trial court properly instructed the jury on the crime of attempted murder. Although Defendant…
Date: January 8, 2015
Docket Number: 49S04-1403-CR-162
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was found guilty of criminal deviate conduct and criminal confinement, among other offenses. Defendant appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court erred in limiting his…
Date: January 6, 2015
Docket Number: 93S02-1310-EX-704
Justia Opinion Summary: Mrs. Bridgewater, a Fishers Adolescent Catholic Enrichment Society, Inc. (FACES) member parent, filed a complaint with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, alleging that FACES refused a reasonable accommodation for her…
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