[Consolidated.] J. Gilstrap denies two discovery motions in patent infringement litigation for claims relating to dopants in semiconductor devices. For instance, the defendant company's motion to strike the patent holder's infringement contentions is denied since the accused features in the specified product are identified with "sufficient specificity."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Texas , Judge: Gilstrap, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv212, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Discovery
J. McFadden finds that the trial court improperly entered default judgment against the company in an action brought by the individual to collect fees. The individual did not file the proof of service within five days of the service date listed on the sheriff's entry of service. Since the timeline for the company to answer did not begin until after the proof of service was filed, the trial court's entry of default judgment occurred while the company still had time to answer the complaint. The company's answer was therefore timely filed. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: McFadden, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: A24A0139, Categories: Civil Procedure
J. Grogan finds the circuit court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his knowing and voluntary guilty plea to charges of possession with intent to deliver five or more grams of cocaine. Despite defendant's argument that no factual basis for his plea exists because the state essentially combined smaller amounts of crack cocaine he was alleged to have sold on separate occasions into one larger amount to satisfy the requirements of the charge he pleaded guilty to, the plain language of the relevant statute "precisely" allows for that under certain circumstances. There is also no support for defendant's claim that he is at least entitled to an evidentiary hearing. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Grogan, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2022AP002196, Categories: Drug Offender, Plea
Per curiam, the appeals court finds the trial court improperly granted a motion to enforce a settlement agreement in a lawsuit over injuries a motorist sustained in a car collision. Because the insurance company of the driver who injured the motorist did not disclose an additional policy held by the driver's co-defendant before the motorist settled, an essential term of the motorist's offer to settle was violated, making the underlying settlement unenforceable. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 22-1749, Categories: Insurance, Settlements
J. Anderson reverses the defendant's convictions for first-degree arson, second-degree burglary and theft of a motor vehicle. The district court abused its discretion in denying the defendant the right to assert a mental-illness defense, since several reports on his mental state indicate that the disturbances leading to his conduct pre-existed his drug use. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Anderson, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: A22-1206, Categories: Burglary, Competence, Arson
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J. Fischer finds that the lower court properly declined to set aside a default judgment against the employer in a case filed by a worker alleging he was discriminated against for filing a workers' compensation claim following a fall that injured his back. The employer failed to prove good cause for its default and defaulted claims asserting the court wrongly awarded punitive damages. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Fischer, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: SC100193, Categories: Employment Retaliation, Workers' Compensation
J. Bennett grants the commission’s motion to dismiss this employment dispute brought by a former employee alleging wrongful termination and retaliation after she complained that an external speaker used the word “negro” during a presentation. She claims retaliation in violation of the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act and Title VII, but fails to plausibly allege she was engaged in a protected activity or an adverse action. The court finds she cannot cure her defects by amending her complaint. Therefore, the clerk shall close this case and it is dismissed with prejudice.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2492, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Retaliation
J. Bock finds the trial court properly awarded the wife equity in the marital residence. Although the husband made financial contributions to the property during the couple's marriage, he financially abandoned her during their separation, which entitled her to the equity award. Meanwhile, the court properly denied the husband's request for spousal support because he was not working to his full earning capacity and failed to provide any evidence he was unable to find full-time employment. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bock, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1663, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Kennedy finds that although Ohio law establishes a five-year time limit on the continuing jurisdiction of the Industrial Commission over a workers' compensation claim, that limit does not extend past administrative proceedings to trial or appeals courts involved in an employee's claim; therefore, the common pleas court erroneously dismissed the worker's claim as expired. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1625, Categories: Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction, Workers' Compensation
J. Gladwin finds the circuit court properly granted the easement in favor of the industrial board. The property owner installed a gate across a roadway that had been used by the owner as well as the board to access its own aggregate materials property for more than 30 years. The board has no other means of access, with no adequate remedy of law, and will suffer irreparable harm as a result of the owner's installing the gate. The owner had been properly served and is not entitled to relief. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CV-23-356, Categories: Property, Tort
J. Klappenbach finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, theft and firearm possession by a felon based on sufficient evidence. The victim testified defendant hit her, shoved the barrel of a gun into her mouth, transferred her to a different location, stole her ring, cell phone and money, all in an attempt to force her to hand over a friend's cremated ashes. The court impliedly granted defendant's request to sever offenses and bifurcate the trials for each count, though the same jury convicted on the offenses. Defendant's argument regarding the alleged denial of his opportunity to interview jurors is not preserved for appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CR-23-585, Categories: Jury, Assault, Kidnapping
J. May finds that the lower court properly denied defendant a jury instruction on parental privilege in his trial for intimidation and battery because defendant's actions in threatening his child with a knife did not fall under parental privilege. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: May, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 23A-CR-1060, Categories: Jury, Battery
J. Brown finds the circuit court properly terminated the parents' parental rights to their minor children. The department exercised a hold on the children, filing a petition for dependency-neglect after the incoherent and lethargic father was taken to the hospital for suspected drug use. The mother admitted to being on drugs, though she refused testing, also refusing to allow the department to investigate the state of the home. She admitted to being five months pregnant, though she refused treatment. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CV-24-5, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Guardianship
J. Murphy finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for robbery, theft of a firearm and firearm possession by a felon, sentencing him as a habitual offender to 40 years in prison. The high crime-area church pastor testified defendant, who he had cared for, allowing him use of a shower and providing him with clothes, pushed him to the ground and stole his gun. Though defendant says the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to enter sentences on robbery and theft because theft is a lesser-included offense of robbery, this double jeopardy argument is not preserved for appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Murphy , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CR-23-285, Categories: Robbery, Theft, Double Jeopardy
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly dismissed a doctor's defamation, fraud and age discrimination claims. Utilizing the medical personnel placement service, says he was not selected for a position for which he was referred because of his age. The service did not fail to refer him for employment and the employer did not hire him due to a lack of specific federal experience. The employer's statement the doctor was "difficult to reach" is not defamatory and the record does not support his claims of fraud. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 23-11066, Categories: Fraud, Defamation, Employment Discrimination
J. Gremillion finds that the chemical company may be liable for a tree on its property falling on a truck and killing the passenger. The company asserts that the tree failed because of brown rot in its trunk that it could not have reasonably discovered. However, the family sufficiently alleges that a lightning strike caused the brown rot and that the missing crown, flat top, unbalanced canopy, precarious lien, lightning scar and gap between the roots and the ground all should have been clear signs that something was wrong.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gremillion, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CW-23-379, Categories: Negligence, Wrongful Death
J. Valihura finds that shareholders of a health care technology company were not adequately informed about its acquisition by a Swedish private equity firm. The trial court improperly held that the transaction satisfied the elements of "Khan v. M&F Worldwide Corp," and the transaction is reviewed under entire fairness.
Court: Delaware Supreme Court, Judge: Valihura, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 305, 2023, Categories: Fiduciary Duty
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly declined to vacate a default on a real property contract and promissory note. Because the buyers failed to provide any reasonable excuse for their default or a good reason to be permitted to grant a late answer, their action fails. There is also no evidence to support the claim that the summons and complaint were too hidden in the packet of documents delivered to the buyers to be read in a timely manner. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 02338, Categories: Civil Procedure, Contract
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly set aside a jury verdict finding that a physician who treated the decedent had committed medical malpractice. Failing to send the decedent to the emergency room was a clear departure from the standard of care. The jury had ample evidence to find this, given that the decedent would not have committed suicide that day had he been admitted to the hospital. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 02340, Categories: Civil Procedure, Education
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly declined to dismiss the borrower's counterclaim in a foreclosure suit. Such suits must be filed within six years of the lender accelerating the mortgage, even if the mortgage is payable in installments. The counterclaim plainly showed that the debt was accelerated in 2008, more than six years prior to filing. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 02342, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property, Banking / Lending
J. Wicker finds that the trial court properly dismissed a plaintiff's driver's claim against the defendant driver in a three car collision. In this case, the defendant driver testified that he was hit from behind by a third driver and that the impact caused his car to hit the plaintiff driver's car. The police report indicated minimum damage to the front of the defendant driver's car, supporting that he was pushed into plaintiff's car, and the photographic evidence shows a strong impact between the third driver's car and the defendant driver's car. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Wicker, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 23-CA-489, Categories: Evidence, Tort, Negligence
J. Windhorst finds that the trial court properly found for the parish on a pedestrian's claim that he fell into an improperly maintained manhole up to his hips. The parish did not have constructive knowledge about the dangerous condition of the manhole because three days after the incident, a parish employee inspected the manhole and found nothing unusual about it. Also, the parish had no prior work orders for the manhole cover, and there was no history of injuries involving the manhole cover. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Windhorst, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 23-CA-498, Categories: Evidence, Negligence
J. Herman finds that the trial court should not have found for an apartment complex on the decedent's family's wrongful death action after the decedent was shot while visiting the apartment of a friend. In this case, there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the shooting of decedent was foreseeable and as to whether the apartment complex had a duty to provide security to its guests. The family made statements regarding the prior incidents of crime on the property and the lack of security measures implemented by the apartment complex. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Herman, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0588, Categories: Evidence, Wrongful Death