Juror who asked a witness a question during a recess should have been examined by the court and parties as provided in Jury Rule 24, but any error in not following the Rule was harmless in light of court’s remedy of having the witness recalled and posing the individual juror’s recess question to the witness in the presence of the entire jury during trial.
N. Vaidik
Miller v. Yedlowski, No. 49A02-0901-CV-78, __ N.E.2d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Nov. 10, 2009)
Party seeking a second extension of time to respond to summary judgment motion must do so prior to expiration of the period of the first extension.
In re Adoption of A.S., D.S., C.S., & J.S., No. 49A02-0901-CV-60, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 8, 2009)
Where parents executed consents for one person to adopt their children, then (without withdrawing the first consents) executed subsequent consents for two other people to adopt their children, neither Indiana’s adoption statutes nor public policy prohibits the subsequent consents.
Weatherspoon v. State, No. 45A03-0809-CR-466, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App., Sept. 2, 2009)
Because Jury Rule 20(a)(8) makes a clear distinction between discussions and deliberations, and because there is no evidence that the alternates participated in deliberations, trial court properly instructed jury that alternates were permitted to discuss the evidence during recesses from trial, but not deliberations.
Barber v. State, No. 49A02-0901-CR-34, __ N.E.2d__ (Ind. Ct. App., Aug. 17, 2009)
When there was no evidence defense discovery of exculpatory witnesses the weekend before trial was in bad faith, and prejudice to State from a continuance was minimal, trial court reversibly erred in denying a continuance and applying instead a hard deadline for the witness list to exclude the witnesses.