Despite an argument that it leads to an absurd result, a level 4 burglary conviction could not be enhanced with a habitual-offender finding because defendant’s two prior out-of-state convictions must be treated as Level 6 felonies under Ind. Code 35-50-2-8(b).
M. Massa
Sedam v. 2JR Pizza Enterprises, LLC, No. 39S05-1703-CT-171, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Oct. 31, 2017).
When an employer admits that an employee was acting within the course and scope of his or her employment, absent special circumstances, negligent hiring claims are precluded.
Bd. of Cmm’r of Union Cty. v. McGuinness, No. 81S01-1708-PL-529, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Aug. 15, 2017).
County did not have third-party standing to sue on behalf of its residents.
Leonard v. State, No. 02S00-1604-LW-185, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Aug. 11, 2017).
In the Richmond Hill explosion murder case, the evidence was sufficient to support the murder convictions and the statutory aggravator; the trial court properly refused to include the lesser-included jury instruction; and, Indiana’s life without parole statute is constitutional.
McGuire v. State, No. 09S02-1707-CR-491, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., July 21, 2017).
Trial court must resentence defendant who was sentenced to forty years imprisonment after entering a guilty plea to one count of felony child molesting when the correct statutory sentencing range was twenty to fifty years, not thirty to fifty years.