131 results for 'filedAt:"2024-02-05"'.
J. Dever grants a police detective’s motion to dismiss allegations of malicious prosecution brought by the nephew of an elderly woman who acted as her power of attorney. The nephew had access to and certain control over the woman’s bank account, which she had granted him. He went on vacation to Thailand and could not return as planned due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Shortly after, the woman passed away and Wells Fargo locked her account until her nephew could prove his power of attorney, which he could not do until he returned to the U.S. Suspecting foul play, the detective arrested the nephew accusing him of exploitation. Although this was not the case, the detective had just cause, so the nephew’s claim fails.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv466, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Elder Abuse, Banking / Lending
J. Garaufis preserves in part a mother’s civil rights complaint that seeks to hold officials at the Downstate Correctional Facility liable for injuries she suffered after her son, who suffers from bipolar and schizoaffective disorders, experienced a psychotic episode shortly after his release from prison and stabbed her with a knife. She sufficiently alleges those involved in filling out her son’s discharge papers omitted several key facts regarding his disciplinary history, which prevented her and the prison from taking cautionary steps to prevent him from suffering a psychotic break.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Garaufis, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv4169, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Negligence, Prisoners' Rights
J. Hood finds the appeals court erroneously applied an abuse of discretion standard to the trial court's ruling on restitution. Current Colorado law requires a trial court to consider restitution alongside every criminal conviction, which allows for application of a clear error standard, given the issue in this case was one of proximate causation, which is exclusively fact-based. Regardless, the trial court properly imposed restitution for damage to the victim's vehicle because his decision to swerve in front of defendant as he rode away on a stolen bicycle was foreseeable and did not break the chain of causation. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Supreme Court, Judge: Hood, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024CO6, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Restitution
J. Saylor grants in part some Boston-area restaurants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against them by a former employee, who worked for them as a chef, for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and Massachusetts Wage Act. While all of the restaurants were connected, possibly by sharing a website and many employees, this doesn’t mean that the chef was an employee of all of the restaurants listed and therefore not all of them should be held accountable for claims related to employment.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Saylor, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv11867, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Employment Retaliation, Labor
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J. Davila finds in favor of a homeowner who claims that State Farm denied her property damage claim when a broken thermostat caused her home to suffer excessive heat damage. State Farm denied the claim after finding there were at least two policy exclusions that prevented the homeowner from recovering damages, but under the clear language of the agreement, the loss is covered by their "Power Interruption" provision.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Davila, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv4193, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Piper finds the admission of a detective's testimony about the silence of defendant's brother during a police interview did not violate defendant's fair trial rights. Although it attacked defendant's credibility, he had already changed his story several times and admitted to the jury he lied to police; therefore, the testimony did not act as a "credibility tiebreaker." Meanwhile, the prosecution's question to defendant about his decision to remain silent after his arrest did not constitute prosecutorial misconduct because it was part of a valid cross-examination and was used to impeach defendant about his previous version of events. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Piper, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-382, Categories: Fair Trial, Murder, Prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Rush finds that the trial court properly held that a conservation officer with the department of natural resources had not acted criminally by charging a driver for hitting and killing the officer's family dog with her car, and thus that the state was properly required to indemnify the officer for acting in the course of his employment. The driver initially stopped after hitting the officer's dog but subsequently drove the last mile to her boyfriend's house so he could accompany her to the scene of the accident. The state contends the officer lied to law enforcement by contending the driver had not returned until the next day, but "the complaint was admitted for a limited purpose," which prevented the court from considering allegations in the complaint as proof that the officer lied. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Supreme Court, Judge: Rush, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 24S-MI-46, Categories: Employment, Government, Indemnification
J. Rice grants the plasma machine seller's partial motion to dismiss, ruling that although the machine did not work as intended, the buyer's fraud claim fails because no specific representations were made by the seller about types of cuts, nor did the seller know the machine would not perform to specifications. Additionally, the existence of a valid contract between the parties precludes an unjust enrichment claim, which will also be dismissed.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv333, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Fletcher affirmed in part a district court judgment in favor of prison officials in an action brought by a Hawaii prison inmate, a Muslim, who alleged that prison officials violated his First Amendment right to free exercise of religion and unconstitutionally retaliated against him for engaging in protected First Amendment activity. The matter was vacated and remanded to allow the district court to conduct analysis concerning the delivery of an evening meal at 3:30 p.m. during Ramadan. The inmate alleged that the food delivery substantially burdened his free exercise of religion. The district court correctly granted partial summary judgment in favor of the Chief of Security on the inmate's claim that he was transferred from a medium-security facility to a high-security facility in retaliation for filing grievances. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Fletch, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 22-15997, Categories: First Amendment, Prisoners' Rights
J. Fallon declines to dismiss infringement claims concerning two patents directed to establishing a point-to-point connection between electronic devices through the use of an image pattern because the claims are not directed to an abstract idea set forth under step one of the "Alice" analysis.
Court: USDC Delaware, Judge: Fallon, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv218, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Hartz finds that the lower court properly tossed civil rights claims from a man who was suing, pro se, the U.S. Marshal Service based on alleged excessive force during an arrest. The man rests his claims on a 1971 Supreme Court ruling in "Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents," which found that federal agents could be held liable for damages in the event of unreasonable force during an arrest, but that ruling has since become a "relic of the 20th century." Under current precedent, there is no avenue for the individual in this case to recover damages. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 23-7008, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Partida-Kipness finds that the lower court improperly dismissed the family's negligence claims related to a product recall in this case arising from an alleged "rollover accident involving a utility terrain vehicle." The lower court erred in granting the dealer's no-evidence summary judgment motion as to the recall-related claims, as the dealer's motion was "insufficient as a matter of law as to the element of duty." Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Partida-Kipness, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 05-22-00677-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence, Product Liability
J. Ross grants the Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for final judgment and orders iFresh, a chain of Asian shopping markets on the East Coast, to disgorge over $1 million in ill-gotten gains and to pay $104,585 in pre-judgment interest and $550,000 in civil penalties after settling claims for federal securities violations. The shopping chain was accused of failing to disclose to investors over $12 million in payments to third parties owned and controlled by the company’s owner and his brother.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Ross, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3200, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities
J. Bell grants a debt collection agency’s motion to dismiss allegations of unfair debt collection brought by a consumer after she moved and the agency garnished her wages. The consumer claims that the agency violated federal debt collection law because she lived in North Carolina at the time of notification, even though she incurred the debt in Mississippi. However, because she produces no evidence of whether she signed the debt contract in Mississippi or elsewhere, she cannot use this law to allege the agency’s violation.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 5:21cv102, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law, Banking / Lending
J. Rosenthal denies, in part, an insurer's motion to dismiss a homeowner's claims arising from a coverage dispute for storm-related damage. The homeowner sufficiently alleges his breach of contract claim and a claim related to an allegedly unexplained incomplete payment made by the insurer.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Rosenthal, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv1897 , NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Property, Contract
J. Rubin grants Towson University’s motion to dismiss this disability discrimination suit brought by a student. The student brought claims under the Rehabilitation Act, the equal protection clause and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, but he failed the burden to allege a plausible claim for discrimination or retaliation.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Rubin, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2998, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Education, Equal Protection
J. Richardson grants the government officials' dismissal motion in this immigration action without prejudice based on a lack of jurisdiction. The petitioner seeks a decision on his waiver application, which has allegedly been pending for over two years. However, the majority of the courts have found "that judicial review is precluded."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv527, NOS: Other Immigration Actions - Immigration, Categories: Administrative Law, Immigration, Jurisdiction
J. Pitman dismisses a putative class action brought by male migrants against Governor Greg Abbott and other officials alleging they were “channeled into a separate criminal system” after being arrested for criminal trespass as part of Operation Lone Star — Texas’ state operation to counter human and drug smuggling — rather than being processed “through the normal state jail system.” The migrants said they sometimes “waited for weeks or months” for a defense attorney and were “detained for extended periods of time after they were eligible for release.” The migrants’ claims fail for a number of reasons, including because they have failed to show “direct involvement” of state officials in allegedly unconstitutional policies and because higher courts have rejected their arguments that they could seek injunctive relief despite no longer being in prison.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Immigration
J. Ross partially reverses the imprisoned man's conviction for escape from custody, and dismisses an appeal of drug- and ammunition-possession charges. The imprisoned man has made no arguments supporting his notice of appeal for the drug and ammunition charges, but the district court abused its discretion in failing to instruct jurors that the state was required to prove that the prisoner's failure to return to custody following a furlough for his mother's funeral was voluntary and intentional. Reversed in part.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ross, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: A23-0128, Categories: Escape, Jury Instructions
J. Ross affirms a woman's indecent-exposure conviction for exposure of her breasts in a convenience store. Female breasts are "private parts" under Minnesota's indecent-exposure prohibition, apart from a statutory exclusion for breastfeeding. The woman's conduct, directing attention to her breasts and comparing her conduct to her employment at a strip club, also supports the contention that her self-exposure was lewd. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ross, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: A23-0158, Categories: Sex Offender, Public Indecency