Supreme Court of Indiana Decisions 2014

In re Adoption of B.C.H.  
Date: December 23, 2014
Docket Number: 41S04-1408-AD-515

Justia Opinion Summary: For most of the first year of her life, B.C.H. remained in the primary care, custody and control of her maternal grandparents (Grandparents), and Mother would visit her once a week. Mother later married Stepfather, who…

Morgan v. State  
Date: December 18, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1405-CR-325

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted under Indiana’s public intoxication statute of being intoxicated in a public place and engaging in annoying conduct. Defendant appealed, arguing that the term “annoys” in the public intoxication…

Blount v. State  
Date: December 17, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1405-CR-338

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted for being a serious violent felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred by admitting a detective’s testimony…

Rolley v. Rolley  
Date: December 16, 2014
Docket Number: 87S01-1412-DR-739

Justia Opinion Summary: When Father and Mother divorced, they reached an agreement regarding child support that substantially deviated from what would be ordered by applying the Indiana Child Support Guidelines. Later, Mother petitioned to…

Parks v. State  
Date: December 10, 2014
Docket Number: 79S04-1412-CR-730

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of Class A felony dealing in methamphetamine, among other charges, and received an aggregate sentence of forty years. Defendant appealed his sentence under Ind. App. R.…

In re Hon. Mickey K. Weber  
Date: December 5, 2014
Docket Number: 10S00-1409-JD-606

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Mickey K. Weber, Judge of the Clarksville Town Court, pled guilty to criminal mischief in the second degree and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Respondent’s conduct violated…

Twin Lakes Reg’l Sewer Dist. v. Ray  
Date: December 4, 2014
Docket Number: 08S00-1402-MI-98

Justia Opinion Summary: Two landowners (Landowners) each owned property served by a regional sewer district (District). Because the Landowners’ property had outstanding fees owed to the District, the District perfected liens against the…

In re Carroll County 2013 Tax Sale  
Date: December 4, 2014
Docket Number: 08S04-1402-MI-97

Justia Opinion Summary: Two landowners owned property served by a regional sewer district. The district had perfected liens against the properties due to the landowners’ failure to pay fees and penalties. The trial court listed the properties…

In re Adoption of J.T.D.  
Date: December 4, 2014
Docket Number: 45S03-1406-AD-387

Justia Opinion Summary: N.E., the former foster parent of two minor children, filed petitions to adopt the children in Lake Superior Court 2, part of the court’s Civil Division. N.E., however, violated a local rule that all adoptions - a type…

Buelna v. State  
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 20S04-1404-CR-243

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with Class A felony manufacturing methamphetamine - enhanced from a Class B felony because at least three grams of the drug were at issue. The State relied significantly on a liquid solvent that…

First Am. Title Ins. Co. v. Robertson  
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1311-PL-732

Justia Opinion Summary: The Indiana Department of Insurance Commissioner reviewed the practices of First American Title Insurance Company, resulting in the generation of a report. Six weeks after the deadline for taking action regarding the…

Teaching Our Posterity Success, Inc. v. Ind. Dep’t of Educ.  
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 49S05-1411-PL-700

Justia Opinion Summary: One year after the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana State Board of Education (collectively, “DOE”) approved Teaching Our Posterity Success, Inc. (“TOPS”) as a Supplemental Educational Services provider,…

Zoeller v. Sweeney  
Date: November 6, 2014
Docket Number: 45S00-1309-PL-596

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, an exclusive-agency union and several of its members and officers (collectively, the Union), filed a complaint against the Attorney General and the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Labor…

Campbell v. State  
Date: October 30, 2014
Docket Number: 13S05-1410-PC-682

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, burglary resulting in serious bodily injury, aggravated battery, and battery. Defendant later filed a petition for post-conviction relief,…

Hollowell v. State  
Date: October 30, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1310-PC-684

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of conspiracy to deal in cocaine as a class B felony and sentenced to an executed term of sixteen years. After an unsuccessful appeal, Appellant filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief,…

Lyons v. Richmond Cmty. Sch. Corp.  
Date: October 28, 2014
Docket Number: 89S04-1312-PL-788

Justia Opinion Summary: A seventeen-year-old high school student with Down Syndrome choked to death during lunchtime in the school cafeteria. The parents of the child sued the school and several administrators, alleging negligence, wrongful…

Oswalt v. State  
Date: October 22, 2014
Docket Number: 35S02-1401-CR-10

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on multiple counts of child molesting, child solicitation, and possession of child pornography. Defendant sought appellate review of the trial court’s denial of his motions to…

Carpenter v. State  
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 02S05-1404-CR-246

Justia Opinion Summary: While responding to a report of dogs fighting in Defendant’s backyard, law enforcement officers entered Defendant’s house to retrieve one bloody and aggressive dog and to ensure no one was injured. Once inside the home,…

Ind. State Ethics Comm’n v. Sanchez  
Date: October 16, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1402-PL-80

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was fired from her job at the Indiana Department of Workforce Development for alleged misconduct. After it was discovered that Petitioner kept several items of state property in her possession, Petitioner was…

Wysocki v. Johnson  
Date: October 15, 2014
Docket Number: 45S03-1407-CT-459

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sued Defendants for fraudulently failing to disclose defects in a home on a sales disclosure form. The trial court awarded compensatory damages but not fees, costs, or exemplary damages under the Crime Victims…

Evansville Courier & Press v. Vanderburgh County Health Dep’t  
Date: October 7, 2014
Docket Number: 82S04-1401-PL-49

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the certificates of death that doctors, coroners, and funeral directors file with county health departments under Ind. Code 16-37-3 are public records that the public may freely obtain…

In re Paternity of D.M.Y.  
Date: October 1, 2014
Docket Number: 34S04-1410-JP-607

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, A trial court found Father in arrears in child support in the amount of $21,337 and ordered that $15,000 in funds attached from Father’s bank be released to Mother. The State later intercepted an additional…

Zavodnik v. Harper  
Date: September 30, 2014
Docket Number: 49A04-1307-PL-316

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was an abusive litigant. In this case, Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant, which the trial court dismissed for failure to prosecute or comply with applicable rules under Ind. Trial Rule 41(E). The…

Corbin v. State  
Date: September 30, 2014
Docket Number: 75S03-1401-CR-13

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a teacher and coach, was charged with two counts of attempted child seduction after communicating with a sixteen-year-old student via an internet site and asking the student to sneak out of her parents house…

In re Adoption of O.R.  
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: 21S01-1409-AD-592

Justia Opinion Summary: Child was four months old when she was placed in foster care with Adoptive Parents. When Child was six years old, Adoptive Parents filed a petition to adopt Child. Child’s biological father (Father) refused to consent to…

Logan v. State  
Date: September 24, 2014
Docket Number: 20S05-1405-CR-339

Justia Opinion Summary: The State filed a class C felony child molestation charge against Appellant, and 1,291 days elapsed before the beginning of Appellant’s trial. Appellant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to six years executed.…

In the Matter of: Trezanay M. Atkins
Date: September 22, 2014
Docket Number: 49S00-1306-DI-435
State v. Greene  
Date: September 17, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1403-PC-172

Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Petitioner was convicted of class B felony criminal confinement. Petitioner’s conviction was affirmed on appeal. Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his…

Pohl v. Pohl  
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: 32S04-1404-DR-245

Justia Opinion Summary: When Barbara and Michael Pohl divorced, they entered into a custody, support, and property settlement agreement that was incorporated into their dissolution decree. Because the original agreement did not provide for…

Hughley v. State  
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1406-MI-386

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of dealing cocaine and related offenses. The State subsequently filed civil proceedings seeking forfeiture of Defendant’s car and the cash discovered in a search incident to Defendant’s arrest,…

TP Orthodontics, Inc. v. Kesling  
Date: September 3, 2014
Docket Number: 46S03-1405-MI-337

Justia Opinion Summary: TP Orthodontics’ (TPO) board of directors formed a special litigation committee (the SLC) to investigate derivative claims filed by sibling minority shareholders. Following a lengthy investigation, the SLC produced a…

Old Nat’l Bancorp v. Hanover College  
Date: September 3, 2014
Docket Number: 68S05-1404-TR-296

Justia Opinion Summary: Hanover College, the beneficiary of two trusts, filed petitions requesting that the trusts be terminated. Old National Bancorp, d/b/a Old National Trust Company, as trustee for both trusts, filed responses to Hanover’s…

Cross v. State  
Date: September 3, 2014
Docket Number: 73S01-1401-CR-29

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was charged with several felony offenses and two misdemeanor offenses arising from a foiled drug sale. Appellant was found guilty as charged. After Appellant was sentenced, a post-conviction court scheduled the…

Nat. Res. Defense Council v. Poet Biorefining- North Manchester, LLC  
Date: September 2, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1405-MI-313

Justia Opinion Summary: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Indiana’s environmental agency, revised its interpretation of the regulatory term “chemical process plants.” After IDEM issued operating permits to two companies…

Ind. Patient's Comp. Fund v. Holcomb  
Date: August 26, 2014
Docket Number: 49S05-1404-CC-209

Justia Opinion Summary: An Estate filed an adult wrongful death medical malpractice action against a nursing home. The Estate settled its claim against the nursing home for $250,000, the maximum liability of the health care provider under…

Ind. Dep’t of State Revenue v. Caterpillar, Inc.  
Date: August 25, 2014
Docket Number: 49S10-1402-TA-79

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether Indiana’s tax statutes allow Caterpillar, Inc. to increase its Indiana net operating losses (NOLs) by deducting foreign source dividend income. Caterpillar commenced an original tax…

Guilmette v. State  
Date: August 13, 2014
Docket Number: 71S04-1310-CR-705

Justia Opinion Summary: Law enforcement officers arrested Defendant on two counts of theft and seized his clothing, including his shoes, in accordance with their standard booking protocols. After police found what appeared to be blood under the…

Gomillia v. State  
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1408-CR-521

Justia Opinion Summary: Under the terms of a plea agreement Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of class A felony criminal deviate conduct and class B felony robbery. The trial court sentenced Defendant to a total executed term of forty…

Erkins v. State  
Date: July 22, 2014
Docket Number: 58S01-1309-CR-586

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted for class A felony conspiracy to commit robbery resulting in serious bodily injury. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction because the State…

Fischer v. Heymann  
Date: July 17, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1309-PL-620

Justia Opinion Summary: Buyers agreed to buy a condominium from Seller pursuant to a purchase agreement. Buyers demanded that Seller fix a minor electrical problem as a condition of purchase, which led to this protracted litigation. In the…

In re Involuntary Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of K.W. and C.C.  
Date: July 10, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1407-JT-458

Justia Opinion Summary: After K.W., a minor child, was removed from the care of Mother and Father, the Department of Child Services (DCS) sought to terminate the parental rights of Mother and Father. On the day of the termination hearing,…

In the Matter of: Steve L. Brejensky
Date: July 2, 2014
Docket Number: 29S00-1205-DI-277
In the Matter of: Patrick H. Stern
Date: July 2, 2014
Docket Number: 49S00-1205-DI-255
S. Shore Baseball, LLC v. DeJesus  
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 45S03-1308-CT-531

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was seriously injured when she was hit by a ball while attending a South Shore RailCats baseball game at their home stadium, the U.S. Steelyard. Plaintiff filed negligence and premises liability claims against…

Murdock v. State  
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 48S02-1406-CR-415

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was found to have violated the terms of his probation by committing Resisting Law Enforcement as a Class A misdemeanor by fleeing. The trial court ordered Appellant to serve three-and-one-half years of his…

Gaddie v. State  
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1312-CR-789

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was charged with Resisting Law Enforcement by fleeing after being ordered to stop by a law enforcement officer. After a bench trial, the trial court found Appellant guilty of the charge. On appeal, Appellant…

Thang v. State  
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1402-CR-72

Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of Public Intoxication as a class B misdemeanor. The court of appeals reversed the conviction, concluding that the evidence was insufficient to establish that Defendant had…

Berry v. State  
Date: June 27, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1406-CR-416

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to B-felony burglary and lesser offenses as part of a combined plea agreement. The agreement conferred discretion to determine the placement of Defendant’s executed sentence but had no provision…

McIlquham v. State  
Date: June 20, 2014
Docket Number: 49S05-1401-CR-28

Justia Opinion Summary: Upon responding to a call about an unsupervised toddler wandering near an apartment-complex retention pond, Defendant informed the police that he was the child’s father. Defendant consented to police entry into his…

Andrews v. Mor/Ryde Int’l, Inc.  
Date: June 19, 2014
Docket Number: 20S04-1406-PL-399

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former independent commissioned sales representative for Mor/Ryde International, Inc., sued Mor/Ryde for unpaid commissions under a contract between the parties. One count of Plaintiff’s complaint alleged…

Knapp v. State  
Date: June 12, 2014
Docket Number: 28S00-1305-LW-327

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The Supreme Court affirmed in all respects, holding (1) the trial court did not err in…

Robinson v. Erie Ins. Exch.  
Date: June 10, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1311-PL-733

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs’ insured vehicle was struck by a Jeep driven by a hit-and-run driver. Plaintiffs sought coverage for property damage under the uninsured motorists coverage of the family auto insurance policy issued by Erie…

Ponce v. State  
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: 20S04-1308-PC-533

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a non-native English speaker, pleaded guilty to one count of delivery of cocaine within one thousand feet of a school. Ten years later, Defendant filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that his…

Ryan v. State  
Date: June 3, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1311-CR-734

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of felony sexual misconduct with a minor. Defendant appealed, arguing that several statements made by the State during closing argument constituted prosecutorial…

Alldredge v. Good Samaritan Home, Inc.  
Date: June 3, 2014
Docket Number: 82S01-1305-CT-363

Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2006, The Good Samaritan Home, a nursing home where Venita Hargis was living, told Hargis’s family that Hargis had suffered a fall. Hargis died later that month as a result of the injury she sustained in the…

Brown v. State  
Date: June 2, 2014
Docket Number: 48S02-1406-CR-363

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, three teenagers, including sixteen-year-old Martez Brown, robbed two victims in their home. The victims were killed during the robbery. Brown was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of robbery.…

Fuller v. State  
Date: June 2, 2014
Docket Number: 48S02-1406-CR-364

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, three teenagers, including sixteen-year-old Martez Brown and fifteen-year-old Defendant, robbed two victims in their home. The victims were killed during the robbery. Defendant was found guilty of two counts of…

Asklar v. Gilb  
Date: May 29, 2014
Docket Number: 02S03-1305-CT-332

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an Indiana resident, was driving a semi-tractor trailer on behalf of Werner Transportation, a Georgia company, when he was injured in West Virginia after another truck hit his rig. Werner insured the truck…

David v. Kleckner  
Date: May 28, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1405-MI-355

Justia Opinion Summary: Decedent died on March 25, 2011 from cervical cancer. On July 1, 2011, Decedent's Estate commenced this medical malpractice action, alleging that Defendant, Decedent’s physician, had negligently failed to perform a…

Smith v. Delta Tau Delta, Inc.  
Date: May 28, 2014
Docket Number: 54S01-1405-CT-356

Justia Opinion Summary: After Plaintiffs’ eighteen-year-old son, a freshman pledge of a college fraternity, died from acute alcohol ingestion, Plaintiffs brought a wrongful death action against the national fraternity, the local fraternity, and…

In the Matter of: Steven B. Geller
Date: May 16, 2014
Docket Number: 49S00-1106-DI-318
State v. Harper  
Date: May 14, 2014
Docket Number: 79S02-1405-CR-334

Justia Opinion Summary: On September 19, 2011, the trial court sentenced Defendant. On December 5, 2012, Defendant filed a motion to modify her sentence. On March 5, 2013, the trial court granted Defendant’s motion for modification. The State…

In re Mental Health Actions for A.S.  
Date: May 13, 2014
Docket Number: 10S01-1402-MH-113

Justia Opinion Summary: Sara Townsend and A.S. were co-workers. Townsend completed an application to initiate a process to seek immediate emergency treatment for A.S., alleging that A.S. was a threat to herself or others. A trial court judge…

Bond v. State  
Date: May 13, 2014
Docket Number: 45S03-1309-CR-597

Justia Opinion Summary: After a detective received a tip that Defendant, who was African American, was responsible for a 2007 murder, the detective brought Defendant into an interrogation room to question him about the murder. In order to…

Ballard v. Lewis  
Date: May 7, 2014
Docket Number: 49S00-1311-PL-716

Justia Opinion Summary: The Indianapolis Marion County City-County Council and Mayor Gregory Ballard agreed on an ordinance dividing Marion County into legislative districts. Three members of the Council (“Plaintiffs”) filed a complaint seeking…

In the Matter of: Christopher E. Haigh
Date: May 7, 2014
Docket Number: 98S00-0608-DI-317
Brewington v. State  
Date: May 1, 2014
Docket Number: 15S01-1405-CR-309

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on several charges relating to his divorce case. After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one felony count of intimidating the trial judge, two misdemeanor counts of intimidation involving…

Alva Elec., Inc. v. Evansville-Vanderburgh Sch. Corp.  
Date: May 1, 2014
Docket Number: 82S01-1307-PL-473

Justia Opinion Summary: In order to renovate a former warehouse building into administrative offices, Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation (“School Corporation”) implemented a plan to convey the Building to the EVSC Foundation…

In the Matter of: Karl N. Truman
Date: April 29, 2014
Docket Number: 10S00-1401-DI-55
Ramirez v. State  
Date: April 29, 2014
Docket Number: 45S05-1305-CR-331

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with murder and criminal gang activity. During trial, the trial court excused a juror from the jury after she disclosed that she had a frightening experience at her apartment and that she could not…

Meehan v. State  
Date: April 29, 2014
Docket Number: 71S04-1308-CR-535

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of class C felony burglary. The trial court sentenced Defendant to five years in the Indiana Department of Correction, enhanced by eight years for the finding that Defendant…

Bleeke v. Lemmon  
Date: April 16, 2014
Docket Number: 02S05-1305-PL-364

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Appellant was convicted of a sex crime against an adult female. In 2009, Appellant was released to statutorily mandated parole. The conditions of Appellant’s parole prohibited Appellant from having contact with…

Rice v. State  
Date: April 16, 2014
Docket Number: 45S00-1206-CR-343

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to murder, murder in the perpetration of a robbery, and robbery. Appellant sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court subsequently issued an order directing the trial court to…

In the Matter of: Anonymous
Date: April 11, 2014
Docket Number: 45S00-1301-DI-33
Groce v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co.  
Date: April 3, 2014
Docket Number: 48S02-1307-CT-472

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs obtained a homeowners insurance policy from American Family Mutual Insurance Company. After Plaintiffs’ home sustained substantial fire damage, a dispute arose regarding the amount of insurance claim benefits…

Wilson v. State  
Date: April 1, 2014
Docket Number: 27S02-1309-CR-584

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1995, Defendant was found guilty of rape, criminal deviate conduct, and armed robbery. Defendant’s aggregate sentence was imposed in such a way that one of the individual sentences was ordered…

Smith v. State  
Date: March 27, 2014
Docket Number: 18S02-1304-CR-297

Justia Opinion Summary: After Defendant, a high school principal, was told by a student at his school that she had been raped by a fellow student, Defendant did not notify law enforcement or the Department of Child Services for four hours.…

Front Row Motors, LLC v. Jones  
Date: March 27, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1311-PL-758

Justia Opinion Summary: After Jerramy Johnson, the owner of Front Row Motors, LLC, sold Scott Jones a used car, Jones filed an action against Front Row Motors, alleging, inter alia, a violation of the Indiana Deceptive Sales Act. Jones…

In re Involuntary Termination of Parent-Child Relationship of S.B.  
Date: March 26, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1402-JT-77

Justia Opinion Summary: The County Department of Child Services filed a petition to involuntarily terminate the parental rights of Mother to her four children. The case was tried to a judge who resigned before reporting recommended findings and…

In re Involuntary Termination of Parent-Child Relationship of I.P.  
Date: March 26, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1402-JT-81

Justia Opinion Summary: The County Department of Child Services filed a petition to involuntarily terminate the parental rights of Father to his child. At the conclusion of the termination hearing, the magistrate that presided over the hearing…

Robinson v. State  
Date: March 25, 2014
Docket Number: 20S04-1307-CR-471

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with four misdemeanors after a law enforcement officer stopped her vehicle for “unsafe lane movement,” conducted field sobriety tests on Defendant, which she failed, and discovered marijuana…

State v. Keck  
Date: March 25, 2014
Docket Number: 67S01-1403-CR-179

Justia Opinion Summary: A law enforcement officer stopped the vehicle Defendant was driving after observing the vehicle driving under the speed limit and coming to a full stop before turning onto a county road, where Defendant drove left of…

State of indiana v. I.T.
Date: March 21, 2014
Docket Number: 20S03-1309-JV-583
Delagrange v. State  
Date: March 18, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1304-CR-249

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of four counts of felony attempted child exploitation for taking “upskirt” photographs of women and girls at a mall by means of a concealed shoe camera. The court of appeals…

Justice v. Am. Family Ins. Co.  
Date: March 13, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1303-PL-221

Justia Opinion Summary: An underinsured motorist collided with a city bus driven by Plaintiff. Plaintiff received a net workers’ compensation award of $71,958. Plaintiff also received $25,000 from the tortfeasor’s insurer. Plaintiff carried an…

J.A. v. Ind. Dep’t of Child Servs. & Child Advocates, Inc.  
Date: March 13, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1308-JT-558

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the Department of Child Services (DCS) filed a petition alleging that G.P. was a child in need of services (CHINS) because Mother had a history of drug abuse. At an initial hearing before the CHINS court, Mother…

Alexander v. State  
Date: March 13, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1308-CR-534

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was found guilty of two counts of aggravated battery and sentenced to a term of years in the Department of Correction. The State sought restitution, and the trial court scheduled a restitution hearing. Before…

State v. I.T.  
Date: March 12, 2014
Docket Number: 20S03-1309-JV-583

Justia Opinion Summary: I.T., who admitted to conduct that would be a Class B felony child molesting if committed by an adult, was ordered by the trial court to undergo therapeutic polygraph examinations. During one of those exams, I.T.…

Hardiman v. Cozmanoff  
Date: March 12, 2014
Docket Number: 45S03-1309-CT-619

Justia Opinion Summary: A driver hit Britney Meux, who later died from her injuries, and fled the scene. The State charged the alleged driver, Jason Cozmanoff, with thirteen crimes, including one count of reckless homicide. A few weeks later,…

In re Adoption of T.L.  
Date: March 11, 2014
Docket Number: 02S03-1308-AD-528

Justia Opinion Summary: Father had two children with Mother. From 2001 onward, Father was required to pay child support. Father was also incarcerated for the majority of those years. In 2011, Mother married her boyfriend, E.J., and Mother and…

State v. Lotaki  
Date: March 11, 2014
Docket Number: 32S01-1403-CR-151

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Defendant was sentenced to seventeen years in prison. In 2010, Defendant struck a prison employee in the face. Defendant was found guilty of battery with injury and sentenced to an enhanced term of three years.…

Moryl v. Ransone  
Date: March 10, 2014
Docket Number: 46S04-1403-CT-149

Justia Opinion Summary: On April 19, Plaintiff sent a proposed medical malpractice complaint to the Indiana Department of Insurance by way of FedEx Priority Overnight. On April 21, the Department received the proposed complaint and…

E.M. v. Ind. Dep’t of Child Servs.  
Date: March 7, 2014
Docket Number: 45S03-1308-JT-557

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, one-year-old E.M. and his newborn sister El.M. were adjudicated children in need of services (CHINS) based on father’s repeated domestic violence against Mother. By mid-2010, both Mother and Father had ceased…

Fayette County Bd. of Comm’rs v. Price  
Date: March 6, 2014
Docket Number: 21S04-1308-PL-530

Justia Opinion Summary: Howard Price was the Fayette County Highway Supervisor from 1991 to 2002 and again resumed the position in 2006. In 2011, the Fayette County Board of Commissioners decided not to reappoint Price as Highway Supervisor.…

In re Brown  
Date: March 4, 2014
Docket Number: 49S00-1308-JD-560

Justia Opinion Summary: From 2002 through 2008, Respondent Kimberly J. Brown served as judge of a small claims court. In 2009, Respondent began serving as judge of the superior court. In 2013, the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications…

Mitchell v. 10th and The Bypass, LLC  
Date: February 20, 2014
Docket Number: 53S01-1303-PL-222

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a limited liability corporation, filed a complaint against Defendants - James T. Mitchell individually, the corporation that Mitchell owned, and other corporations - alleging a claim for an environmental legal…

State v. Coats  
Date: February 18, 2014
Docket Number: 49S02-1305-CR-328

Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged Defendant with class D felony sexual battery. Defendant, who was born in 1943, filed a motion for a competency determination. Doctors evaluating Defendant diagnosed him with dementia, concluded that he…

Yost v. Wabash College  
Date: February 13, 2014
Docket Number: 54S01-1303-CT-161

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a college freshman and a fraternity pledge, sustained injuries in an incident at the fraternity. Claiming that his injuries resulted from a fraternity hazing incident, Plaintiff sought damages from the…

In re S.D.  
Date: February 12, 2014
Docket Number: 49S05-1309-JC-585

Justia Opinion Summary: After one of Mother’s five children, a toddler, was rushed to the emergency room and placed on a ventilator, Mother consented to the Department of Child Services (DCS) removing the other four children from her care to…

Inman v. State  
Date: February 11, 2014
Docket Number: 49S00-1207-LW-376

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder, felony murder, robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of…

Paul Stieler Enters., Inc. v. City of Evansville  
Date: February 11, 2014
Docket Number: 82S01-1306-CT-436

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the Common Council of the City of Evansville enacted an ordinance (“the Amending Ordinance”) that amended an existing smoking ban (“the Smoking Ban”). The Amending Ordinance extended the Smoking Ban to bars,…

Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLC v. Nat’l Trust Ins. Co.  
Date: February 6, 2014
Docket Number: 49S04-1301-PL-8

Justia Opinion Summary: A fire destroyed a restaurant insured by Insurers. The Insurers brought suit against the City of Indianapolis and Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLC - a private, for-profit company responsible for operating the City’s water…

Am. Cold Storage v. City of Boonville  
Date: January 21, 2014
Docket Number: 87S01-1303-PL-157

Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Boonville passed an ordinance to annex 1,165 acres of real estate located west of the city limits. Later that year, numerous landowners opposed to the annexation filed written remonstrance and complaint for…

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