J. Patterson finds that the appellate division properly dismissed claims contending the County Prosecutors of New Jersey constitutes a public agency subject to public records requests because a prosecutor is not a "political subdivision" of the state, and no statute or regulation requires nonprofit associations to maintain the requested documents. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court, Judge: Patterson , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A-33-22, Categories: Public Record
J. Gladwin finds the circuit court properly revoked defendant's probation, sentencing her to 120 months in prison. Defendant previously pled guilty to charges of robbery and theft of property, receiving 10 years' probation. Later, defendant, thinking that her boyfriend was cheating on her, confronted him in the front yard of the other woman's home, attacking him with a knife. Detective interview video shows defendant admitting to having a knife, supporting the revocation. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CR-23-652, Categories: Probation, Assault, Weapons
J. Virden finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault and rape committed against his minor grandchildren. The children testified that the abuse, including vaginal and oral penetration, seemed like normal life. Defendant told one of the children that if she told anyone she would be committed to a mental institution, also threatening to hurt her pets. All evidence supports the convictions. Witness credibility was properly considered, and the court did not abuse its discretion in electing to run the sentences consecutively. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CR-23-581, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Hixson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault and introducing benzodiazepine into the victim's body. Defendant's ex-wife testified that defendant was watching their children at her home while she worked. She returned home to find her 16-year-old niece, who was not expected to be there, asleep. She said defendant was acting erratically, and that she discovered a plastic bag containing drugs. After defendant left, the niece disclosed the assault, later testing positive for the drug. Substantial evidence supports the conviction. An exception cited by defendant is not applicable to prosecutorial errors involving closing discussion of evidence not presented at trial. No ineffective assistance or court error is found. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CR-23-684, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Duncan finds the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the Coast Guard. A competitor of the dredging barge owner challenged a CG ruling that the barge was made in the United States, allowing for its use in US waters. Though the vessel used foreign-made appliances, the Coast Guard correctly ruled that the barge is considered to be US-built. The court properly deferred to the Coast Guard’s reasonable interpretation of its own regulations. The ruling is not arbitrary or capricious. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Duncan , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-20118, Categories: Government, Maritime
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J. Ortega finds the juvenile court properly ordered the Oregon Department of Corrections to disclose a father’s mental health records to the Department of Human Services for use in dependency proceedings involving the father’s child. “Father has not provided a basis on which we could reverse the juvenile court’s order based on a lack of statutory authority to issue the order.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Ortega, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A181606, Categories: Family Law
J. Kamins finds that certain prosecutor statements during closing arguments improperly shifted the burden of proof to the defense. “Prosecutor’s statements that defendant could have but did not cross-examine [the victim] or her friend suggested to the jury that defendant had the burden to prove that his version of the events was true.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Kamins, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A179175, Categories: Jury, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Sex Offender
J. Meyer holds that the trial court properly ruled for a property owner who claimed his neighbor breached an agreement that settled their easement dispute. The neighbor refused to pay for an agreed-upon cattle guard and he placed a gate across an easement road, and then he failed to timely respond to the property owner's motion for summary judgment. However, the trial court erred in dismissing the neighbor's trespass claim on standing grounds. Also, an attorney fee award to the owner for pressing his summary judgment motion was proper but the owner was also entitled to fees for defending against the neighbor's motion for reconsideration. Vacated in part.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Meyer, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 49628, Categories: Property, Settlements, Attorney Fees
J. Agee finds the lower court improperly interpreted the plain text of the decree. Environmental protection groups sued a now-defunct coal corporation for violating the Clean Water Act. They negotiated a consent decree that significantly limited the corporations' surface mining operations in Central Appalachia and required the company to reclaim its mining sites—that is, to return the mined land to a usable state. The new owner attempted to allow third parties to surface mine at the original corporation's facility to raise funds after inheriting the bankrupt coal corporation. The lower court found this violated the decree, but the decree only applies to the original corporation and does not bar others from using the land as they please. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-1696, Categories: Energy, Environment, Contract
J. Lin denies the engineering plastics company's motion to vacate the arbitration award in Amazon's favor, arguing that Amazon does not deserve it because the withholding provision of their contract is a penalty provision, not a liquidated damages provision. The arbitrator did not manifestly disregard the law in her decision, because she was fully briefed on the issue, correctly identified the legal standard, and applied the correct standard to the case facts.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1693, NOS: Arbitration - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Contract
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court improperly denied the inmate's motion for compassionate release. The inmate suffers from a pituitary macroadenoma, a malignant brain tumor. The district court did not give the necessary “specific factual reasons for its decision,” summarily mentioning only factors and pleadings. The record is insufficient to review the inmate's claim she suffers from terminal cancer, and for which she has received inadequate care. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-50400 , Categories: Health Care, Due Process, Prisoners' Rights
J. Ledet finds that defendant was properly sentenced to a cumulative 65 year sentence on his guilty plea to a sixteen-count indictment arising from a drunk driving incident that took place after a parade where he drove into a crowd, including seven bicyclists, fatally injuring two of the bicyclists. Although defendant did not have a prior criminal conviction, his criminal history included a DWI that involved drinking and driving at a parade route. Further, the circumstances of his first degree negligent injuring offenses involved inflicting injury on six victims, excluding the two fatality victims, the vehicular negligent injuring victim, and property damage, and those sentences were ordered to run concurrently, not consecutively. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ledet, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-0591, Categories: Sentencing, Vehicular Homicide
J. Pickett finds that the lower court properly awarded the mother $1.5 million and the son $125,000 for the injuries they suffered in a three-vehicle accident where one of the drivers drove a box truck covered by the insurance company. The insurance company claims that the trial court did not conduct the conference about the addressed issue on the record, but nothing on the record shows that the trial court rejected a request to do so. There is also no need to reverse the jury's assessment of fault, because they freely accepted or rejected the conflicting witness testimony in the underlying lawsuit. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pickett, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CA-23-442, Categories: Insurance, Vehicle, Damages
J. Gremillion finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant to 25 years in prison for one count of third-degree rape, two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of pornography involving a juvenile. Defendant's sentence was not excessive because he consistently targeted girls between the ages of 13 and 16 to get them drunk and perform sexual acts with them. He entered his guilty plea knowing that it waived his right to appeal his convictions. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gremillion, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: KA-23-621, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Eifert grants the university's motion for a protective order relating to to the deposition of the university’s president in a student's civil rights suit claiming the university retaliated against her by charging her with violating the Student Code of Conduct for underage drinking after she reported being sexually assaulted by a fellow student at an off-campus watch party. Since she has not shown any "special, additional, or unique information" the president may have on how the university has implemented Title IX polices aside from what others in his administration provided, the court prohibits the student from taking his deposition.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Eifert, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv532, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Education
J. Powers finds the Workers’ Compensation Division erred in denying appellant’s Worker Requested Medical Examination (WRME) request. “When an insurer submits an IME report as evidence to support its denial of a worker’s claim, the denial is ‘based’ on an IME such that the worker is eligible for a WRME.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Powers, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A176678, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Stras finds a lower court properly charged a defendant with possession of a firearm while under the influence of drugs and for shooting his drug dealer. The defendant argued that his conviction should be tossed out based on his Second Amendment right to carry a firearm. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that his constitutional rights do not provide him relief based on his past drug use and history of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Stras, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-1114, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Assault
J. Andrews finds a lower court improperly dismissed a national of Somalia's motion to remain in the U.K. The Secretary of State for the Immigration and Asylum Chamber argued that the Somalian native lacks immigration credentials, which left him stranded in Ethiopia as he fought to recover from tuberculosis. However, he presented sufficient evidence in court that his mother and sponsor, who lives in the U.K., suffers from extreme illness, and that he is entitled to relief based his status of returning resident. Reversed.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Andrews , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CA-2023-482, Categories: Immigration
Per curiam, the circuit finds that defendant's request to reinstate his appeal should be again remanded as brought from the lower court's refusal to modify a condition of probation that prohibits him from having direct contact with minors, including his own children, without approval. Action had not been taken on remand within 30 days, and the issue should be heard by a different judge this time around.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-6145, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Probation
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed class securities fraud claims brought after a spinoff of Honeywell International filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to legacy asbestos indemnity issues because the class failed to plead scienter with sufficient specificity to establish that the spinoff recklessly assured investors of its financial health while planning for bankruptcy. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-668-cv, Categories: Bankruptcy, Fraud, Securities
J. Matsumoto dismisses a defamation lawsuit against a couple, who run a website and YouTube channel, and allegedly made defamatory statements about a North Carolina maker of tabletop role-playing games. The court finds the majority of the statements, some of which amounted to nothing more than name-calling, would merely be interpreted as opinions and thus are too subjective to be actionable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Matsumoto, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv5686, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation
J. Huskey finds that the district court properly dismissed defendant's amended petition for post-conviction relief and denied his motion for reconsideration. His claim that he was not given adequate notice of the state's motion for summary dismissal fails because the state's motion referred to his original and amended petitions and included its argument that those filings were deficient. Also, the district court was not required to give him additional notice, and his notice claim was not preserved since he did not raise it in district court. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Court Of Appeals, Judge: Huskey, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 50063, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sex Offender, Battery
[Modified.] J. Streeter makes three changes to a previously published opinion with no change in judgment. The lower court properly denied defendant’s petition for relief. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery and sentenced to 50 years to life. He was granted a resentencing hearing after a lower court found he was denied counsel, and though the same errors were repeated during the resentencing hearing, the instant court finds them harmless. Evidence is sufficient to support defendant’s convictions and sentence, along with associated enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Streeter, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A166001, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Self Representation
J. Lanier finds that the trial court improperly dismissed a customer's slip and fall action over an incident in a shopping center parking lot that was being re-tarred. There are genuine issues of material fact as to whether the alleged unreasonably dangerous condition of the parking lot was "open and obvious." Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Lanier, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2023CA1016, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence