Mother’s consent was necessary to grant the adoption because (1) although Mother failed to have significant communication with Child for a period of more than one year, her willingness to shield her son from the adverse effects of her addiction, coupled with her good-faith attempt at recovery and noticeable progress, constitute justifiable cause for her failure to communicate. (2) Father and Stepmother thwarted whatever occasional attempts Mother made to communicate with Child, in violation of the agreed-upon custody modification order.
Supreme
Kempf v. Clerk of Vanderburgh Cnty., No. 82S01-1705-PL-334,__ N.E.3d __ (Ind., March 26, 2018).
A civil-judgment-creditor can garnish a cash bond held by a court clerk that a judgment-debtor has posted in an unrelated criminal matter, but those funds are available to the judgment-creditor only if the criminal court has ordered the bond released.
T.H. v. State, No. 18S-JV-80,__ N.E.3d __(Ind., March 9, 2018)
Affirms the Court of Appeals opinion that no reasonable fact-finder could find the element of loss of at least $750 was proven beyond a reasonable doubt when there are unexplained anomalies in the repair estimate.
Robinson v. State, No. 18S-CR-33, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Feb. 23, 2018).
The sentence imposed by the trial court, including the habitual substance offender enhancement, is not inappropriate under Appellate Rule 7(B) and does not warrant appellate revision.
McCallister v. State, No. 87S00-1609-LW-497, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind., Feb. 15, 2018).
The evidence, including surveillance video and phone conversations, supported jury conviction of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. LWOP sentence was proper as the jury, not the court, weighs the mitigating and aggravating factors.