Estate of Santelli v. Super 8 Motel

On August 28, 2013, the Indiana Supreme Court finally handed down its decision in the Estate of Santelli v. Super 8 Motel case which had caused quite a lot of interest and fear in the defense bar because the Indiana Court of Appeals had essentially abrogated part of the Indiana Comparative Fault Act and held that it did not apply to allocation of fault to a non-party criminal tortfeasor. While the Indiana Supreme Court's discussion on the issue was shockingly short, they held that the Indiana Comparative Fault Act should remain as it is and that the legislature clearly wanted to entitle defendants to ask the jury to apportion fault to any actor who contributed to the plaintiff's alleged injury, whether a party to the case or not and whether a criminal tortfeasor or not. Not only can the jury apportion fault to a criminal non-party defendant, but the defendants are not responsible for that portion of fault and remain only responsible for paying their percentage of fault of the jury verdict. It was a huge victory for the defense bar as the opposite result would have been nothing short of ludicrous. Email Carol Dillon for a full copy of this case.