J. Merkl grants a second motion to effect substitute service on three Hezbollah-related media entities for claims brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act by American citizens who were injured by rocket and missile attacks in Israel. The plaintiffs provided expert testimony that sufficiently claimed the three entities were still under Hezbollah’s control and that the service papers will make its way through the chain of command and into the hands of the organization’s top officials.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Merkl, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv7449, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Terrorism
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J. Aoyagi finds the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) properly denied an application for design review of a proposed development. “The city’s interpretation of the avoid-monotony and view-impact standards were implausible.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: A180520, Categories: Property
[Consolidated.] J. Fasciale finds that the appellate division improperly denied two defendants acquittal on charges accusing them of being drug kingpins. However, a third defendant was properly denied acquittal.
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court, Judge: Fasciale , Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: A-8-22, Categories: Drug Offender
J. Palafox finds a lower court ruled correctly in terminating the parental rights of a mother. The mother argued authorities had not provided adequate evidence either to justify a removal or to support their contention that removal was in the child’s best interest. In fact, not only did authorities make “reasonable efforts,” as required by law, to ensure the child could return to the mother, but the mother also did not “regularly visit or maintain significant contact” with her child while the child was in the care of Texas’ child welfare agency. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00037-CV, Categories: Administrative Law, Family Law, Guardianship
J. Schumacher finds that a mother's parental rights were properly terminated since she abused her daughter and denied her critical care for cerebral palsy and nonverbal concerns. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Schumacher, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 23-0583, Categories: Family Law
J. Nowell finds that the lower court properly granted the university administrators' plea to the jurisdiction in this lawsuit brought by a tenured professor, who was allegedly removed from teaching certain classes and brings claims for violations of his constitutional rights. The court notes that the parties' dispute over "quizzes versus homework assignments is not a matter of public concern." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Nowell, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 05-21-00799-CV, Categories: Constitution, Education, Employment
J. Brimmer grants a company that bought an internet domain name dismissal of an organization's claims contending it had already trademarked the name in another country because the company did not act to profit from the organization's trademark and had not offered to sell the domain to the organization.
Court: USDC Colorado, Judge: Brimmer, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1997, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark
J. Maltese finds that the lower court properly declined to dismiss a personal injury suit stemming from the fall of a chunk of concrete that knocked a man unconscious on a subway platform. The city failed to make a prima facie showing that it did not cause of create the dangerous condition in the sidewalk above the station. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Maltese, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 03007, Categories: Tort
J. Joyce finds the trial court properly declined to acquit defendant who was convicted as a felon with a firearm even though the charge was nonviolent. Considering the Second Amendment, “it was generally understood that those who were not ‘virtuous and law abiding' fell outside the [amendment’s] protections.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: A174543, Categories: Firearms
J. Frink Wolf recommends dismissing a former city employee’s claim that his firing, for allegedly slapping a subordinate’s buttocks, violated his due process rights. He failed to demonstrate that he was deprived of an established property interest through conscience-shocking government action. As an at-will employee, he could not reasonably consider his former job to be part of his protected property.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Frink Wolf, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv317, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Employment, Property, Due Process
J. Jones finds the trial court improperly ruled against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in a suit affecting the parental rights of a mother and father. On appeal, the department argues that the trial court erred by not terminating the parent's rights in the best interest of their children. The evidence supports the finding that it would be in the best interest of the children to terminate the parental rights of their parents. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Jones, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 03-22-00704-CV, Categories: Family Law, Guardianship
J. Wilson finds that the district court properly denied defendant's petition for habeas relief from his death sentence for murder. The district court correctly found that defendant is not intellectually disabled. Defendant failed to show that he had "subaverage intellectual functioning" at any time because all but two of his IQ scores were above the cutoff for intellectual disability. There was evidence that defendant had not put forth his best effort on the two tests where he scored below the cutoff. Defendant also failed to show that his trial counsel performed deficiently during the pretrial and sentencing stages. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 20-12727, Categories: Competence, Death Penalty, Habeas
[Consolidated.] J. Regan finds that the workers' compensation court properly refused to award the ex-NFL player supplemental earnings benefits due to knee and ankle injuries he sustained while playing in a game and practicing in the scope of his employment with the New Orleans Saints football team. The player failed to show that he cannot obtain employment earning at least 90% of his pre-injury income. Affirmed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Regan, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 22-CA-507, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Wicker finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the daycare business seller in a breach of contract action against the buyer and found that the 2011 agreement between the parties was legally executed. The trial court correctly found that the buyer voluntarily entered into the agreement and that the agreement could not be vitiated based on error, fraud or duress. However, the trial court improperly awarded the seller past due rent in a monthly amount in excess of the amount previously agreed on by the parties. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Wicker, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 22-CA-561, Categories: Contract
J. Bybee grants a petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals that concluded that an immigrant's convictions for attempting to elude a police vehicle were crimes involving moral turpitude. The Board did not address substantive changes the Washington Legislature involving driving a vehicle in a "reckless manner."
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bybee, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 21-584, Categories: Immigration, Vehicle
J. Neubauer finds that in at least two instances the trial court should have found defendant's lawyer performed deficiently at his client's trial over claims from a teenage girl that defendant repeatedly sexually assaulted her over the course of four years while he was dating her mother. In addition to two other instances in which the state concedes defendant's lawyer's performance was deficient in not objecting to references to the victim's virginity and her mother testifying that the victim's brother said he heard "monkey noises" in the house in reference to the alleged assaults, he was deficient in failing to object to testimony from a counselor and an investigator about the rarity of false sexual assault accusations, but given the weight of the other evidence none of these errors unduly prejudiced defendant. Therefore, defendant's lawyer did not ultimately provide ineffective assistance, and the circuit court properly denied his motion for post-conviction relief. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Neubauer, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 2022AP000382-CR, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Hollander partially grants a life insurance firm’s motion to dismiss allegations of breach of contract brought by a class of consumers, specifically regarding a punitive damages claim. Maryland state law observes that parties can sue for punitive damages only in tort cases, not breach of contract. However, since the firm is based out of Missouri, and it was aware that it charged consumers for expenses unrelated to death, according to state law there, the consumers’ claim for punitive damages as related to conversion may proceed.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1100, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Contract
J. Miller finds that the trial court properly awarded the company $1.4 million in a condemnation action against the city. The trial court correctly denied the company's pre-trial motion to exclude testimony related to the 2016 purchase price of the property and correctly granted the city's motion to exclude evidence of the company's alleged right to require the city to open a right-of-way for vehicular use. The trial court also correctly charged the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Miller, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: A23A0374, Categories: Property
J. Bower finds that a mother's parental rights were properly terminated since she remained unable to safely parent her children despite being provided extensive services for six years. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bower, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 23-0636, Categories: Family Law