Appellate precedent holds, without exception, that an appraiser’s award is binding if no party timely files exceptions. The trial court lost its discretion to deny the State’s motion for judgment when the defendant failed to timely file exceptions to the appraisers’ report. This, combined with the ethical conundrum the State finds itself in if it is compelled to mediate a judgment amount that has already been fixed by law, is sufficient to establish extreme hardship to file a Petition for Writ of Mandamus.
Alexander v. State, No. 26A-CR-2705, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sep. 30, 2026).
The legislature intended that contributing to delinquency as a Class A misdemeanor does not require the defendant’s knowledge of the child’s age, but the greater offense of contributing to delinquency as a Level 5 felony does require such knowledge.
T.M. v. State, No. 25A-JV-645, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sep. 29, 2026).
Under Indiana Code section 31-37-19-6, a dispositional decree may, among other things: remove the child from the child’s home and place the child in another home . . . and award wardship to a person, other than the department
Hre v. State, No. 26A-CR-1089, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sep. 22, 2026).
The cost of alternative transportation incurred by a victim who lost the use of a vehicle as a result of the defendant’s criminal conduct is not subject to restitution because it does not fall within any of the restitution statute’s five enumerated statutory categories.
Leonard v. State, No. 26A-IF-365, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sep. 16, 2026).
Squealing tires while departing from a traffic light, standing alone, does not prove that a driver committed the civil infraction of unsafe start.