The common law duty of good faith in performing its obligations under an insurance policy that an insurer owes its insured a does not extend to the relationship between surety and obligee in the context of performance and payment bonds on a construction project.
L. Weissmann
Smith v. State, No. 22A-CR-00364, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Oct. 25, 2022).
Prosecuting attorneys have broad discretion to bargain with a defendant in resolving criminal charges through a pretrial diversion program. But once the State enters into a valid diversion agreement, it may not unilaterally revoke the agreement based only on buyer’s remorse.
McQuinn v. State, No. 21A-CR-1637, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Oct. 19, 2022).
An appellate opinion based upon review of sufficiency of the evidence will rarely, if ever, be an appropriate basis for a jury instruction. Moreover, the personal jury waiver requirement is required in the second phase of a bifurcated trial.
In re Civil Commitment of L.B., No. 22A-MH-153, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., July 15, 2022).
A trial court must expressly find, on the record, that a civil-commitment respondent is capable of knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waiving the right to counsel before accepting the respondent’s waiver of that right.
Russell v. State, No. 21A-CR-2313, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., June 20, 2022).
There are two avenues for the use of home detention following conviction: 1) home detention as a condition of probation under Ind. Code § 35-38-2.5; and 2) home detention as a direct commitment to Community Corrections under Ind. Code § 35-38-2.6. A trial court must enter a home detention order when a defendant is sentenced to home detention as a condition of probation.