On Petition To Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 49A02-1011-CT-1174. RUCKER, Justice. Uninsured patients filed a putative class action complaint against a hospital alleging breach of contract and seeking a declaration that rates the hospital billed were unreasonable and unenforceable. The trial court granted the hospital's motion to dismiss. We affirm the trial court's judgment. Facts and Procedural History Because this case arises from a motion to dismiss the only facts on...
On Petition To Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 45A04-1106-CR-328 RUCKER, Justice. Defendant John W. Kimbrough was convicted of multiple counts of child molesting and sentenced to an aggregate term of eighty years. Concluding the trial court abused its sentencing discretion the Court of Appeals remanded this cause with instructions to impose an aggregate term of forty years. We grant transfer and affirm the judgment of the trial court. Facts and Procedural History The facts...
RUCKER, Justice. After a steel fabrication company deposited solid waste on a landowner's property the landowner filed a complaint seeking damages against multiple parties and on multiple grounds, including a claim for an environmental legal action. Both sides moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motions with respect to some claims and denied the motions with respect to others. We affirm the trial court in part, reverse in part, and remand this cause for further proceedings....
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 45A04-1011-CT-680 DAVID, Justice. In this companion case to Wisner v. Laney, 1 Inman v. State Farm, 2 and Kosarko v. Padula, 3 all decided today, we discuss the issue of prejudgment interest, specifically the statutory requirements of Indiana Code section 34-51-4-6, and the discretionary nature of an award of prejudgment interest. Facts and Procedural History I.A. was referred to Dr. Hassan Alsheik for treatment of an...
On Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 45A03-1012-CT-668 DICKSON, Chief Justice. The plaintiff in this case, Margaret Kosarko, challenges the trial court's denial of her motion for prejudgment interest following a jury verdict awarding her monetary damages. We reverse and hold that the Tort Prejudgment Interest Statute abrogates and supplants the common law prejudgment interest rules in cases covered by the statute. On February 17, 2007, Kosarko filed a complaint for damages...
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 71A03-1007-CT-382 DAVID, Justice. In this case, the jury returned a verdict for plaintiff in the amount of $1.75 million. The issues presented focus on two separate, but significant, matters. The first is whether the trial court erred by denying defendants' 1 motion for a new trial based upon the cumulative effect of plaintiff's counsel's alleged unprofessional conduct during the trial. The second issue is whether the trial...
DICKSON, Chief Justice. The plaintiff, Kathy Inman, challenges the trial court's denial of her motion for prejudgment interest in the amount of $3,616.44 pursuant to Indiana Code Chapter 34-51-4. Inman's appeal raises two questions regarding the scope of the Tort Prejudgment Interest Statute ("TPIS"), Ind.Code 34-51-4-1 to -9: whether the TPIS applies to an action by an insured against an insurer to recover benefits under the insured's underinsured motorist ("UTM") policy; and whether...
MASSA, Justice. This appeal is the latest iteration of a decade-long dispute between the Miller Brewing Company and the Indiana Department of Revenue over Miller's Indiana adjusted gross income tax liability. The Department here appeals the Tax Court's determination that Miller owes no tax on certain sales to Indiana customers. We reverse. Facts and Procedural History Miller Brewing Company is a Wisconsin corporation engaged in the production and sale of malt beverage products. It is...
On Petition To Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 12A02-1109-CR-907 PER CURIAM. After David Lawler obtained a $2,500 civil judgment against Michael Kucholick's girlfriend for unpaid rent, Kucholick drove by Lawler's rural home and fired two shots into the home. Kucholick was charged with one count of criminal recklessness (a Class C felony), Ind.Code 35-42-2-2, and one count of criminal mischief (a Class B misdemeanor), id. 35-43-1-2. A jury found Kucholick guilty as...
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 49A02-1106-CR-487 MASSA, Justice. When a husband shoves his wife and pokes her in the forehead repeatedly, causing her pain, is that pain alone sufficient evidence to prove the "bodily injury" element of the husband's conviction for domestic battery One panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals thought not, but we disagree. Facts and Procedural History In 2011, Elmer and Farrenquai Bailey had been married for eleven years and in...
MASSA, Justice. This case presents a single question: does Appellate Rule 9, which tolls the thirty-day deadline for filing a notice of appeal when a party files a motion to correct error, apply to the State in a criminal case We hold that it does. Facts and Procedural History On April 11, 2010, Mr. Elvis Holtsclaw was involved in a motor vehicle collision. The officer who responded to the scene, Detective William Crays of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, noticed that...
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 49A04-1009-CT-528 MASSA, Justice. In defending against a petition to recover excess damages arising from a medical malpractice action, may the Indiana Patient's Compensation Fund — after the healthcare provider settles with the plaintiff and admits liability — present evidence to dispute the existence or cause of the plaintiffs injury In some types of cases, we have previously said yes. In the type of case before us today,...
MASSA, Justice. Lisa Kane appeals her conviction for receiving stolen property, arguing that the trial court improperly instructed the jury on the mental state required to convict her. We agree, reverse her conviction, and remand her case for retrial. Facts and Procedural History In 2010, Sam Rifner and Lisa J. Kane had been in a relationship for about fifteen years. They had one child together, and they had shared an apartment for some time. When Sam lost his job in the fall of 2010, the...
David, Justice. This case involves an employee who was fired from his job for his failure to follow the instructions of his supervisor regarding missed work time. The employee wanted to take a college class during normal work hours and make up those hours later in the day or otherwise at his discretion. His employer allowed him to take the class, but informed him that he would have to use his vacation, compensation, or unpaid time rather than take shorter lunches, come in early, or stay late....
DAVID, Justice. This case involves a seventeen-and-a-half-year-old who murdered his ten-year-old brother. Andrew Conley confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to murdering his brother, Conner, while Conley was babysitting Conner. Following five days of sentencing testimony, including the testimony of twelve witnesses and one-hundred-and-fifty-five exhibits, the trial court judge sentenced Conley to life without parole. We hold that based on the age of Conley, the age of Conner, and the...
RUCKER, Justice. Case Summary Associated with a toy gun business, Defendants were charged with counterfeiting, theft, and corrupt business influence arising out of their conduct concerning toy semi-automatic weapons that were look-alikes of real weapons for which a gun manufacturer allegedly owned a federally protected trademark. Defendants moved to dismiss the charges; the trial court granted their motion with respect to counterfeiting on grounds that the facts alleged did not constitute an...
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 49A02-1010-CR-1075 SULLIVAN, Justice. Robert Smith was placed on home detention under the supervision of a community-corrections program in January, 2010. He argues that the introduction of certain hearsay evidence at the hearing revoking his community-corrections placement violated his due process right to confrontation. Because we conclude that the hearsay evidence introduced at the hearing was substantially trustworthy, we...
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 06A01-1008-CR-431 SULLIVAN, Justice. Douglas Cottingham was placed on home detention under the supervision of a community-corrections program before a 2010 amendment to Indiana Code section 35-38-2.6-6 took effect. He argues that he is entitled to "good time credit" for his time served on home detention pursuant to that statutory amendment. We conclude that the statutory amendment does not apply to him. Background In June, 2009,...
DICKSON, Chief Justice. Prosecuted for the heinous death of Jada Justice, her two-year-old cousin, Engelica Castillo 1 was convicted of one count of Murder, two counts of class A felony Neglect of a Dependent, one count of class A felony Battery, and one count of class A misdemeanor False Informing. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for Murder plus a total of five additional years for the other crimes. On direct appeal, she challenges her sentence of...
DAVID, Justice. In this case, a plaintiff prevailed on its Access to Public Records Act claim against a public agency and an intervening private party. As required by statute, the trial court awarded the plaintiff attorney's fees. The fees were awarded against both the public agency and intervening private party, jointly and severally. The private party argued that the Access to Public Records Act does not contemplate the award of attorney's fees against an intervening private party and that...
