An attorney may not waive the right to appear on behalf of a client for a mentally competent civil commitment. A trial court must waive a respondent’s presence at a commitment hearing at the beginning of the proceeding.
Civil
Yates v. Hites, No. 44A03-1710-CT-2459, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., May 18, 2018).
The trial court abused its discretion when it gave the sudden emergency jury instruction with no evidence to support it. Because the sudden emergency instruction was given and emphasized in closing argument, a new trial is warranted.
Gresk v. Demetris, No. 49S02-1711-MI-686, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., May 10, 2018).
Indiana’s anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute protects a person’s actions “in furtherance of” his or her right of petition or free speech and “in connection with a public issue”; the statute is inapplicable to a doctor that reported suspected child abuse.
Cosgray v. French Lick Resort & Casino, No. 59A01-1710-CT-2512 ,__ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., May 9, 2018).
Hotel did not owe plaintiff a duty to protect her from a criminal attack by an unknown assailant on their premises.
State v. Neff, No. 18A02-1708-IF-1933, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., May 11, 2018).
An officeholder need not abandon each and every statutory duty before removal from office may be warranted. “[F]ailure, over a period of years, to perform a critical, official and mandatory duty for a clerk-treasurer falls squarely within the confines of Article VI Sections 7 and 8 of the Indiana Constitution and our legislature’s response via the Removal Statute.”