Landscaping at a new home construction site does not fall under the Indiana Home Improvement Fraud Statute, which requires that the consumer live in the dwelling at the time of the home improvement.
Criminal
Johnson v. State, No. 19A-CR-975, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 19, 2019).
Gaming Enforcement Agent unlawfully exceeded the scope of a pat down search by reaching into defendant’s pocket and removing a ball of powdered substance.
Buford v. State, No. 19A-CR-956, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 20, 2019).
Criminal contempt for violation of a no contact order and ninety-day jail sentence was vacated on double jeopardy grounds because the State filed an invasion of privacy charge on the same day as the contempt hearing.
Butler v. State, No. 19A-MI-5, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 27, 2019).
The trial court properly ordered the forfeiture of defendant’s car because the 2018 amendments to Indiana’s civil-forfeiture scheme were procedural in nature and do not constitute an ex post facto law; defendant failed to establish that the seizure of the car was in any way improper.
Kifer v. State, No. 19A-CR-1188, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Dec. 4, 2019).
The criminal trespass statute may not be used to permanently and perpetually ban a citizen from a public building.