Supreme Court of Indiana Decisions 2023

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case before the Indiana Supreme Court, Thomas DeCola, the appellant, filed a suit to quiet title after purchasing property owned by Norfolk Southern Corporation, the appellee, at a tax sale. The property had…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court directing that while Plaintiff may pursue his claims against Ball State University based on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic on his on behalf, he may not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the conditional agreement of the parties in this attorney discipline case involving Respondent Theodore Rokita, the Attorney General of Indiana and their proposed discipline of a public…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in this action seeking to confiscate money under Indiana's civil forfeiture statute, holding that the right to a jury trial applies in such an action. The State…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court granting the IU Credit Union's (IUCU) motion to compel individual arbitration and finding an enforceable agreement to arbitrate between the parties, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated Defendant's sentence of consecutive prison terms totaling forty-nine years in connection with his conviction of two counts of child molesting, holding that Defendant did not waive his right to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying the Indiana Trial Rule 60(B)(6) motion filed by James and Phyllis Crowe seeking relief from the judgment of the trial court granting Savvy IN, LLC's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court denying T.D.'s motion for relief from judgment under Trial Rules 60(B)(6) and 60(B)(8) asserting that his juvenile…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Defendant's appeal of the sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to four theft-related charges, holding that Defendant's written plea agreement with the State, which both he…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court agreed with Plaintiffs in this declaratory judgment action, holding that Ind. Code 3-9-2-3 to -6 prohibits or otherwise limits corporate contributions to political action committees (PACs) or other…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff on her claims against Defendant, a hospital who mailed a letter containing Plaintiff's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in favor of Reagan Outdoor Advertising in this appeal from the determination that Reagan's billboard had lost its legal nonconforming status, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court found that the Honorable Jason A. Cichowicz, Judge of the St. Joseph Probate Court, engaged in judicial misconduct and concluded that Judge Cichowicz shall be suspended from the office of Judge of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the trial court denying Hoosier Contractors, LLC's motion for summary judgment, denying Sean Gardner's motion for partial summary judgment, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated a preliminary injunction granted by the trial court preliminarily enjoining the State from enforcing Senate Bill 1, which broadly prohibits abortion but makes exceptions in three circumstances,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court granting summary judgment for Appellant's mental health providers for not preventing his crime of voluntary manslaughter, holding that Defendant was collaterally…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court excluding certain testimony from the jury trial of Defendant's habitual offender status, holding that the trial court did not err by excluding the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the summary judgment granted by the trial court in favor of a school corporation that contractually agreed to make biannual payments to a company for access to a wind turbine, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court suppressing incriminating statements Defendant made immediately following a polygraph examination, holding that before excluding evidence as a Trial Rule 37…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court finding that Father committed an act of domestic or family violence against Child and that he represented a credible threat to the family's safety and thus…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court excluding the opinion testimony from three of Defendant's family members regarding the victim's untruthful character, holding that the trial court erred in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing a Monroe County action with prejudice and denying Appellant's motions to correct error and to amend her complaint, holding that a plaintiff seeking…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this appeal from a decision of the court of appeals requiring Adoptive Parents to provide notice to biological Father of the temporary custody of Child, rending the trial court's temporary…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder, felony robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, and two counts of criminal confinement and his sentence of life without parole for the murder conviction,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP) in connection with his conviction for the murder and burglary of his ex-girlfriend, holding that Defendant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Appellant's appeal of his sentence, holding that Appellant's written plea agreement with the State unambiguously waived his right to appeal his sentence. Appellant pled guilty to four…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the juvenile court denying Appellant's request for relief under Trial Rule 60(B)(6), holding that the new jurisdictional rule announced in K.C.G. v. State, 156 N.E.3d 1281…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court granting a motion to compel arbitration brought by Defendant Star Financial Group, Inc. in this class-action complaint alleging that Defendant collected improper…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the order of the trial court concluding that a constitutional taking of Landowners' property occurred from government-induced flooding, holding that whether the flooding's interference was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the trial court denying a motion for summary judgment brought by a contractor in this action seeking subrogation recovery and other relief, holding that the contractor was entitled…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's denial of Appellant's post-conviction petition for permission to file a belated notice of appeal, holding that the appeal should…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction of involuntary manslaughter, holding that the trial court violated Ind. Trial Rule 47(D) by denying defense counsel the opportunity to voir dire prospective jurors…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the criminal court entering an order in limine excluding from evidence the juvenile court's order in a child in need of services (CHINS)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of the murder of her ten-year-old stepdaughter, S.C., and her sentence of life without parole, holding that the State sufficiently carried its evidentiary burden to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Respondent, the Honorable Jeffrey F. Meade, Judge of the Gibson Circuit Court, engaged in judicial misconduct and that his misconduct warranted a seven-day unpaid suspension from office. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approving Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company's (Vectren) petition for approval of…