It was reversible error to allow a nurse testify as to the statements made by child without affirmative evidence in the record that the child understands “the role of [a] medical professional and the purpose of [her] visit” with the professional “in order for us to infer that the child was motivated to speak truthfully” to that professional for the purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment.
Bardonner v. Bardonner, No. 23A-DC-1393, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., March 12, 2024)
Parent with legal custody of child has the exclusive authority to dictate child’s religious training. Parent’s decision that child does not participate in the other parent’s church does not violate the other parent’s 1st Amendment rights.
Wells v. Wells, No. 23A-DR-990, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., March 12, 2024).
Even though father agreed to pay for daughter’s college education in the marital settlement agreement, daughter could repudiate their relationship and relieve father of his duty to pay.
A.W. v. State, No. 23S-JV-40, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., March 12, 2024).
Under the second step of the double jeopardy test announced in the Indiana Supreme Court’s Wadle opinion, when assessing whether an offense is factually included, a court may examine only the facts as presented on the face of the charging instrument. Moreover, where ambiguities exist in a charging instrument about whether one offense is factually included in another, courts must construe those ambiguities in the defendant’s favor, and thus find a presumptive double jeopardy violation. In this event, the State can later rebut this presumption at the third step of the Wadle test.
Morales v. Rust, No. 23S-PL-371, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., March 6, 2024).
The Affiliation Statute, the statute that contains objective criteria for determining eligibility to appear on the primary ballot of a major political party and discretion for a party to allow the candidacy regardless of compliance, is constitutional.