Appellate Procedure: Court of Appeals Addresses Cross-Appeals During Interlocutory Review

The Indiana Court of Appeals, Thursday, addressed two issues of appellate procedure on which Indiana’s Rules of Appellate Procedure have little to say:  (1) what issues a party may cross-appeal during an interlocutory appeal; and (2) under what circumstances the Court of Appeals can reconsider an earlier denial of a motion to accept appellate jurisdiction of an interlocutory order. In Murray v. City of Lawrenceburg, a case involving a property dispute, the plaintiffs filed a complaint and demanded…

Trial Procedure: Court of Appeals Addresses Comity, Preferred Venue

In two cases late this week, the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed two issues of trial procedure. On Friday, in Jallali v. National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, Inc., the court addressed principles of comity and held that a trial court should dismiss the NBOME’s Indiana suit, which was filed after Jallali filed suit against the NBOME in Florida.  The underlying dispute concerned Jallali’s attempt to obtain access to osteopathic physician licensing exams administered by the NBOME, their…

Criminal: Indiana Supreme Court Affirms Edwards On Remand From US Supreme Court

Applying the United States Supreme Court’s standards for addressing a defendant’s competence to act pro se at trial, the Indiana Supreme Court has unanimously affirmed the convictions of Ahmad Edwards, whose appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last year established those standards. The issue in Edwards v. State arose from Edwards’s convictions in connection with a 1999 theft and shooting in downtown Indianapolis.  As the Indiana Supreme Court explained, Edwards was tried twice, after the first trial resulted in…