Chris E. Harkins v. Shannon Westmeyer, Jon Niklas, Angie Harkins, and Janet Harkins

116 N.E.3d 461
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 10, 2018
DocketCourt of Appeals Case 15A01-1703-CT-530
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 116 N.E.3d 461 (Chris E. Harkins v. Shannon Westmeyer, Jon Niklas, Angie Harkins, and Janet Harkins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chris E. Harkins v. Shannon Westmeyer, Jon Niklas, Angie Harkins, and Janet Harkins, 116 N.E.3d 461 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Tavitas, Judge.

[1] Chris E. Harkins ("Harkins"), pro se, appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Shannon Westmeyer, Jon Niklas, Angie Harkins ("Angie"), and Janet Harkins ("Janet"). We affirm.

Issues

[2] Harkins raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as:

I. Whether the trial court erred in striking Harkins' response materials as untimely filed.
II. Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Westmeyer, Niklas, Angie, and Janet.

Facts

[3] The parties involved in this case are relatives, with the exception of Niklas. Harkins and Westmeyer are siblings. Angie is Harkins' and Westmeyer's cousin. Angie's mother, Janet, is Harkins' and Westmeyer's aunt.

[4] In April 2012, Harkins moved in with his and Westmeyer's parents, James and Cheryl Harkins (the "Parents"). While living in the Parents' home, Harkins obtained access to the Parents' personal financial records. Harkins subsequently moved out of the Parents' home and into an apartment ("the Apartment") located in Aurora, Indiana. Niklas was Harkins' landlord.

*466 Harkins' ex-wife, Dawn Harkins ("Dawn"), had a key to the Apartment.

[5] Using the Parents' financial information, Harkins (1) forged checks on the Parents' accounts; (2) cashed the checks and deposited the proceeds into bank accounts in Harkins' name; (3) fraudulently added himself as an authorized user on the Parents' existing credit accounts; (4) rerouted the Parents' credit card statements to the Apartment; and (5) made unauthorized credit card purchases in excess of $37,000 on the Parents' credit cards. Harkins also stole and pawned multiple pieces of the Parents' jewelry. Harkins sold many of the items he purchased with the Parents' credit cards "for gambling funds." Harkins v. State, No. 15A01-1412-CR-553, slip op. at 4, 2015 WL 6668109 (Ind. Ct. App. Nov. 2, 2015).

[6] Harkins was arrested on June 3, 2014. After Harkins' arrest, Harkins authorized Dawn to enter the Apartment and to retrieve personal items belonging to Harkins' and Dawn's son. On June 4, 2014, Westmeyer, Angie, and Janet accompanied Dawn to the Apartment. It is undisputed that Dawn unlocked the Apartment with her key and granted Westmeyer, Angie, and Janet access to the Apartment. Harkins contends that Westmeyer, Angie, and Janet removed and disposed of valuable items of Harkins' personal property. Westmeyer, Angie, and Janet maintain that they removed only personal property items and furniture that belonged to the Parents or to other family members.

[7] On August 6, 2014, the State charged Harkins with various offenses and with being a habitual offender. After a jury trial, Harkins was convicted of five counts of forgery, Class C felonies; two counts of identity deception, Class D felonies; two counts of credit card fraud, Class D felonies; one count of deception, a Class A misdemeanor; and of being a habitual offender. Harkins was sentenced to a twenty-two-year term in the Department of Correction and is presently incarcerated in the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Indiana. 1

[8] On October 9, 2015, Harkins filed a pro se suit for damages against Westmeyer, Angie, Janet, and Niklas. In Count I, which Harkins titled "[w]rongful/[f]raudulent conversion," Harkins alleged that Westmeyer: (1) enlisted Niklas' assistance to gain entry to the Apartment; (2) recruited Janet and Angie; (3) removed and transported Harkins' personal property to a local Goodwill donation site; and (4) maliciously and intentionally deprived Harkins of his property without communicating the disposition of the items. Appellee Westmeyer's App. Vol. II pp. 22-23.

[9] In Count II, Harkins alleged that Westmeyer drove his truck or directed his truck to be driven to a location at which the keys and keyless entry remote were locked inside. Harkins sought damages for the costs of replacing and repairing "a window [that] was ... broken to gain access into the truck." Id. at 24.

[10] In Count III, Harkins alleged that, despite Niklas' knowledge that Niklas' tenant, Harkins, was incarcerated, Niklas exercised unauthorized control over Harkins' property and acted "willfully, intentionally and negligently" in "opening or making accessible the apartment" to Westmeyer, Angie, and Janet, without providing notice to Harkins as required by law. Id. at 26.

[11] In Count IV, Harkins alleged that Westmeyer "acted with the specific and *467 purposeful intentions to inflict emotional distress" when Westmeyer removed Harkins' personal property and "acted with malicious intent to cause [Harkins] to suffer emotionally ... on the belief that [Harkins] had wronged their parents." Id.

[12] In Count V, Harkins alleged that Janet and Angie aided Westmeyer in exercising unauthorized control over his property "with the intent to forever deprive" Harkins thereof. Id. at 28.

I. Motions for Summary Judgment

A. Westmeyer

[13] On March 2, 2016, Westmeyer served Harkins with requests for admissions ("RFAs"), which included the following:

15. Shannon Westmeyer did not remove any of your personal property from your apartment.
16. Any property that Shannon Westmeyer removed from your apartment did not belong to you.

Appellee Westmeyer's App. Vol. II pp. 3-4. Harkins did not respond to the RFAs. Westmeyer also served Harkins with interrogatories. In Harkins' answers to Westmeyer's interrogatories, Harkins admitted that, after his arrest, Harkins granted Dawn permission to enter the Apartment and to retrieve items belonging to their son.

[14] On June 2, 2016, Westmeyer, by counsel, filed a motion for summary judgment. On July 18, 2016, the trial court granted Harkins "an extension of 45 days from the date of th[e] order to respond to [ ]Westmeyer's Motion for Summary Judgment"; accordingly, Harkins' response to Westmeyer's motion for summary judgment was due on September 1, 2016. On September 6, 2016, Harkins filed his response in opposition to Westmeyer's motion for summary judgment, including Harkins' own affidavit, a subpoena request regarding Dawn, and Harkins' designation of evidence (collectively, "response materials"). 2 Harkins also designated the appellees' answers to his complaint, the appellees' affidavits, and the other documents filed by Westmeyer, Angie, and Janet.

B. Angie's Motion for Summary Judgment

[15] On July 5, 2016, Angie filed a motion for summary judgment. In support, Angie designated an affidavit and incorporated all materials designated by Westmeyer in support of Westmeyer's motion for summary judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
116 N.E.3d 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chris-e-harkins-v-shannon-westmeyer-jon-niklas-angie-harkins-and-janet-indctapp-2018.