A litigant’s failure to appear at a hearing should be addressed using the indirect contempt procedure which requires a rule to show cause and a hearing. The trial court erred by relying upon information obtained from the drug testing facility by its court reporter without her testimony under oath.
Appeals
State v. Woodworth, No. 22A-CR-2557, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jan. 23, 2024).
When a trial court overturns a jury’s verdict, Trial Rule 59(J) requires special findings of fact upon each material issue or element of the claim or defense upon which a new trial is granted. When a court grants a new trial without making specific findings, the remedy on appeal is to reinstate the jury verdict.
Konkle v. State, No. 23A-CR-783, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jan. 24, 2024).
The eggshell-skull doctrine does not apply in cases of murder or voluntary manslaughter. The relevant statutes require that the defendant either must intend to kill the victim or know that his actions will likely result in the victim’s death, which is inconsistent with the proposition that you take your victim as you find them.
In re Visitation of C.B., No. 23A-MI-1586, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jan. 24, 2024).
The Grandparents Visitation Act does not preclude a grandparent from seeking visitation with a child where the custodian of the child is the grandparent’s child.
Freed v. Freed, No. 23A-DC-129, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jan. 26, 2024).
The Court adopts a balancing approach to resolve the custody of frozen pre-embryos that looks at: (1) the intended use of the pre-embryos by the party seeking to preserve them; (2) the reasonable ability of the party seeking implantation to have children through other means; (3) the parties’ original reasons for undergoing IVF, which may favor preservation over disposition; (4) the potential burden on the party seeking to avoid becoming a genetic parent; (5) either party’s bad faith attempt to use the pre-embryos as leverage in the dissolution proceeding; and (6) other considerations relevant to the parties’ unique situation.