Trial court erred in concluding defendant was not indigent for purposes of appointment of counsel paid at public expense.
Vaughn v. State, No. 45A05-1102-CR-5, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 14, 2011).
Mistrial was required when bailiff, at court’s direction, restrained defendant and placed a hand over defendant’s mouth as jurors were leaving the courtroom after defendant, about to testify in his own behalf, launched into a criticism of defense counsel which continued despite court’s orders to stop.
Lucas v. McDonald, No. 63A04-1010-PL-644, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 15, 2011).
Sex offender registration relief statute confers discretion on court to deny relief even though the court finds the petitioner has made the showings required by the remedy statute to qualify for relief or, in the absence of findings, even though the evidence in the record would support a decision the petitioner made the required showings.
Lucas v. U.S. Bank, N.A., No. 28S01-1102-CV-78, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind., Sept. 15, 2011)
“If equitable and legal causes of action or defenses are present in the same lawsuit, the court must examine several factors of each joined claim — its substance and character, the rights and interests involved, and the relief requested. After that examination, the trial court must decide whether core questions presented in any of the joined legal claims significantly overlap with the subject matter that invokes the equitable jurisdiction of the court. If so, equity subsumes those particular legal claims to obtain more final and effectual relief for the parties despite the presence of peripheral questions of a legal nature. Conversely, the unrelated legal claims are entitled to a trial by jury.”
In re: The Order of Contempt Against Benson, et al v. Co-Alliance, LLP, No. 55A04-1010-CC-64, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 6, 2011)
Trial court had jurisdiction to order an attorney to pay funds for attorney’s contempt in an action stayed by the bankruptcy court because the funds paid were not property of the bankruptcy estate, but the attorney’s personal money and for damages resulting from the attorney’s contempt.