Kathryn Davidson v. State of Indiana

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed dismissal with prejudice of Davidson’s successive negligence action arising from the same highway collision. It held that claim preclusion did not apply because the Monroe County defendants were not parties or privies to the earlier action, but issue preclusion barred relitigation of fault and damages because the earlier comparative-fault judgment allocated all fault to J Trucking. The court also held that the trial court properly resolved the defendants’ Rule 12 motions without converting them to summary-judgment motions and properly dismissed the case with prejudice.