In a defamation action, plaintiff can overcome defendant’s claim of qualified privilege by showing that defendant made the statement without belief or grounds for belief in its truth; the proper standard for determining grounds for belief in truth is not reckless disregard; the absence of any discernable basis for the truth of the matter can, however, serve as circumstantial evidence of a reporting citizen’s actual knowledge of falsity.
Civil
Hillebrand v. Supervised Estate of Charlotte Fern Large, No. 70A01-0902-CV-72, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App. Oct. 13, 2009)
The damages awarded in a wrongful death action may include the reasonable attorney fees necessary to pursue the action, and these damages inure to the exclusive benefit of the estate for the payment of such costs.
Myers v. Leedy, No. 85S02-0808-CV-478, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Oct. 15, 2009)
If, at the time of filing suit for forfeiture, a land contract vendor knows, or upon reasonable diligence should have known, that a tenant is in possession of the property, the tenant’s leasehold interest survives the forfeiture action unless the tenant is made a party to the forfeiture litigation.
League of Women Voters of Indiana, Inc. v. Rokita, No. 49A02-0901-CV-40, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 17, 2009)
Indiana’s Voter I.D. law violates the equal privileges and immunities clause of the Indiana Constitution.
In re Adoption of A.S., D.S., C.S., & J.S., No. 49A02-0901-CV-60, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 8, 2009)
Where parents executed consents for one person to adopt their children, then (without withdrawing the first consents) executed subsequent consents for two other people to adopt their children, neither Indiana’s adoption statutes nor public policy prohibits the subsequent consents.