60 results for 'judge:"Brennan"'.
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of drug trafficking after denying his motion to suppress evidence recovered in a search of his garbage, which found cocaine residue on a pair of gloves and supported a full search of his house. Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the garbage found in cans on the street awaiting trash pickup. Further, he had no right to confront the state's confidential source whose voice is heard during the controlled buy video. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 23-1615, Categories: Confrontation, Drug Offender, Search
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found for the bank in a suit filed by two debtors seeking to reclaim an interest in their foreclosed home after it was sold to another couple. The record shows the debtors knew about the foreclosure proceedings prior to filing their bankruptcy petition but did not disclose that property as an asset at that time. Therefore, they clearly knew about the property's sale, which bars their current claim that they were never properly served. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 230253, Categories: Foreclosure
J. Brennan denies the consumer's motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, ruling her failure to inform the court the amended complaint would include new factual allegations was misleading, while the eight month delay between the filing of the first amended complaint and her motion was not supported by good cause and unnecessarily delayed the litigation.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1111, NOS: Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Brennan reverses the suppression of 50 vials of THC and the defendant’s admission that he was doing something wrong to make some extra money. The police detective who stopped the defendant acted on a reasonable suspicion when he stopped him, based on the detective’s extensive background observing and intercepting drug transactions, and the seller and defendant’s behavior.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 23-P-358, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Search
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly dismissed a consumer class action against an infant formula maker for selling formula made at a facility later deemed unsanitary. At the time of purchase, there was no known risk of contamination of the product, and therefore the consumers suffered no economic loss at the time of purchase. Consumers claim there was a "potential risk" the products were contaminated, but they were not subject to that risk in a personal and individual way. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 23-2525, Categories: Consumer Law, Class Action
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J. Brennan reverses the dismissal of indictments against the defendant for attempted rape of a child, attempted indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and attempted indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. Even though he didn’t touch his 13-year-old daughter, he instructed her to masturbate with him on the phone with her.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 23-P-37, Categories: Sex Offender, Assault, Child Victims
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly denied the woman's application for supplemental security income, finding her able to perform light work despite her migraine disorder, degenerative disc disease, social anxiety disorder and ADHD. The agency's vocational expert was not required to provide information regarding his methodology, and her counsel did not pursue the matter. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 23-1196, Categories: Social Security
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's habeas petition challenging his conviction for sexually assaulting his daughter. Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to move for the in camera review of the daughter's medical records, as the motion would have been futile. The daughter's mental state was already before the jury as far as her reports of hearing voices, and defendant cannot show the medical records contained material evidence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 17-2903, Categories: Habeas
J. Brennan grants, in part, the Ohio paint removal company's motion for summary judgment, ruling the competitor's RICO claims must be dismissed. It knew or should have had strong suspicions regarding the Ohio company's fraudulent bidding practices before or during the criminal bribery trial of its owner, which took place more than four years before this complaint was filed; therefore, the complaint was filed outside the statute of limitations.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 5:21cv731, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Fraud, Racketeering
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of unlawful possession of a firearm, and sentenced him to 96 months in prison. The verdict was supported by sufficient evidence he possessed a handgun and threw it away while running from police even if no dashcam video captured the handgun. The video does not contradict the police officer's testimony that defendant had the gun in his waistband. Further, the court did not err by sentencing defendant to a below-guidelines sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-1878, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Brennan finds that the lower court improperly granted the state's untimely petition to deny defendant pretrial release on drug charges. The state's petition was due 21 days after defendant's arrest, but it was not filed until 51 days later. Vacated.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 230728, Categories: Drug Offender, Bail
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found that the children of guardians who activated DNA test kits on their behalf are not bound by the arbitration agreement signed by the guardians who signed up for the genetic testing service. Therefore, the children may sue Ancestry for violating their privacy rights by disclosing their confidential genetic information when another business acquired Ancestry.com. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 22-2813, Categories: Arbitration, Privacy, Contract
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found for the volleyball club owners in a class action accusing them of hiding previous claims of sexual abuse, but also imposed sanctions on them for communicating with class members in a manner "potentially coercive." The $20,000 attorneys fees award was properly calibrated to compensate the players for time spent dealing with this misconduct, and the $5,000 civil penalty aligns with precedent. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 22-2944, Categories: Sanctions, Tort, Class Action
J. Brennan denies the automotive clutch manufacturer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the issue of notice provided to the part manufacturer cannot be determined by the court because of numerous issues of fact, including when the clutch manufacturer made the part maker aware of defects and whether the defects were the result of a design or manufacturing problem.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv893, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Warranty, Contract
[Consolidated.] J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found for the defendant financial services company in a copyright action filed by a client who found out the company was using substantially similar documents for another client's bond offering. The client did not independently draft much of the text in the documents, and the new text it drafted consists entirely of uncopyrightable material. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 23-1527, Categories: Copyright, Banking / Lending
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly ordered the village to release records pertaining to a closed meeting held in violation of the Open Meetings Act. However, it improperly denied the village's request to redact portions of the records sought by the union on the grounds of attorney-client privilege. On remand, the village must be given the opportunity to prove which communications were exempt from disclosure. Affirmed in part.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 220466, Categories: Privacy, Privilege
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly upheld the Social Security Administration's decision denying the applicant's request for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. The applicant points to 800 pages of new medical evidence as proof that the administrative law judge failed to develop the record, but at the hearing his attorney confirmed that the evidence was complete. The ALJ was not required to investigate a gap in the record when counsel said that the record was complete. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 22-3084, Categories: Social Security
J. Brennan finds that the lower court must reconsider defendant's sentence on firearms charges because changes to the sentencing guidelines since his sentence changed how status points are applied and would have lowered his criminal history and resulting guidelines range. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 22-2665, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Brennan finds that the immigration board correctly found the immigrant removable due to his conviction of complicity to first-degree robbery in Kentucky. The state's complicity law is not overbroad with respect to generic aiding-and-abetting liability, and was properly categorized as a crime of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 22-2383, Categories: Immigration, Agency
J. Brennan grants the ERISA plan administrator's motion to dismiss, ruling its failure to transfer assets from certain passively managed investment funds cannot support a fiduciary duty claim because the comparator evidence from the participants involves actively managed funds. Meanwhile, the participants' failure to cite any similar funds with lower management fees requires dismissal of the claim for excessive fees under ERISA.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv256, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Fiduciary Duty, Class Action
J. Brennan denies the former employee's motion to vacate an arbitration award, ruling that while he may not have explicitly agreed to use electronic signatures during the arbitration process, the rules established by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority do not require wet signatures and, therefore, the e-signatures comply with all applicable requirements and validate the award.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: November 20, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1412, NOS: Arbitration - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Procedure
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence of drug activity in his apartment. Police had a reasonable basis for believing someone was being injured inside the apartment, so their entrance was justified by exigent circumstances and they searched only in places where an injured person could be. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: November 13, 2023, Case #: 22-2135, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly granted immunity to police officers who failed to prevent the murder of a witness leaving the courthouse whom they knew was under a death threat. The performance of courthouse security is subject to absolute immunity, and there are no facts that would support a finding that the estate could cure the defect in its pleadings. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 230035, Categories: Immunity, Police Misconduct
[Consolidated.] J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found for the government in a Freedom of Information Act suit seeking the disclosure of information about a man's transfer from ICE custody to officials in Indiana. ICE properly withheld the redacted information as the crime-fraud exemption does not apply because there is no factual foundation for the man's claim that ICE intentionally misled the habeas court. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 22-2445, Categories: Public Record
[Consolidated.] J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted both defendants of fraud for "spoofing" the precious metals market by placing fake orders with no intent to trade to push the market in a certain direction. The evidence is sufficient to support defendants' conviction, showing that they placed the orders solely to manipulate the market. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: 23-1528, Categories: Fraud, Securities
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of conspiracy with intent to distribute meth. Defendant claims that screenshots of a text message conversation between him and another person should not have been admitted because the conversation was hearsay. However, there was considerable other evidence against him, so any error in admitting the texts was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 22-3219, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Technology
J. Brennan finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's habeas petition. Defendant established that his attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel, and he was likely prejudiced by his attorney's failure to provide mitigation evidence as he received a maximum sentence despite his mental health history. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: 20-3273, Categories: Habeas, Ineffective Assistance