246 results for 'court:"4th Circuit"'.
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court improperly abstained from ruling on the federal constitutional claims. Two landowners sought to challenge a new West Virginia law that authorized the combining of separately owned mineral tracts to form a single operating unit overlapping all or part of a common source of oil or gas, claiming the statute constitutes a taking of their property and deprives them of property without due process of law, in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The lower court abstained, claiming the case would be better litigated in state courts. According to the lower court, the West Virginia constitutional provision is not ‘broad and sweeping’ but is directly pertinent to the issues presented in this case. The lower court did not identify the West Virginia constitutional provision that it had in mind, nor did it identify any state law issue on which the commission’s motion to dismiss the federal constitutional claims would turn. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 22-2271, Categories: Energy, Property, Real Estate
J. Richardson finds the board properly denied the petition for asylum. The petitioner failed to show that his persecution by MS-13 gang members was on account of his membership in a protected group. The claimed social group of “Salvadoran males without male protection” is not cognizable, and even if it was, the petitioner has not established that he was a part of that group as he primarily lived with his uncles during the time he was extorted. Petition denied.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 22-1808, Categories: Immigration, Gangs, Extortion
J. Ballou finds the lower court properly declined to vacate the defendant's plea. The government did not advise the defendant, convicted of aiming a firearm at another person after shooting a gun in the air out of frustration for being kicked out of a club, of the significance of supervised release—that if he were to violate it, he could be subject to additional prison time above the statutory maximum period allowed for the underlying offense. The defendant's substantial rights were not affected because the record does not show that he would have declined to plead guilty if he had been advised about the significance of supervised release. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Ballou, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: 19-4865, Categories: Fair Trial, Firearms, Plea
J. Walker finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence stemming from the execution of a search warrant. The police had probable cause to search his residence because an accomplice to his firearms and drug selling told them they would find a plethora of evidence at his house following a post-arrest interview. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 22-4088, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
J. Hart finds the lower court improperly convicted the defendant for witness tampering. The government waited 60 days, 30 days too long, past his arrest for drug and sex trafficking to charge him with witness tampering for assaulting a prostitute he told not to testify against him in court. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 20-4534, Categories: Drug Offender, Speedy Trial, Witnesses
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. Heytens finds the lower court properly granted judgment to the insurance company. The investment advisor sought coverage from her company's insurance plan after a company sued her for defamation for telling her clients not to invest after she claims to have found damning information about the company's CEO. The insurance company refused to pay because the advisor was acting on her behalf rather than her company's when she blew the whistle on the company. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens , Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1542, Categories: Insurance, Defamation, Whistleblowers
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly dismissed the developer's claims that the city violated their equal protection rights when it denied their rezoning applications. The city council was right to be concerned as the area compounded flood risk and increased enrollment at already overpopulated schools. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1690, Categories: Construction, Zoning
J. King finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence that police seized from his house. The defendant's wife told officers when they attempted to execute an arrest warrant at the defendant's home that another grown woman, two children, and a dog were in the residence, giving the officers credible reason to conduct a sweep of the home to ensure the civilian's safety. While conducting the sweep, an officer found guns and THC gummies. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 22-4536, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court improperly granted judgment to the property owners instead finding their policy violated the Fair Housing Act because it disproportionately ousted Latinos from the rental properties. The property owners began requiring proof of renters' legal status to renew leases, arguing they were protecting themselves against federal anti-harbouring laws. The anti-harbouring statute does not apply to landlords merely leasing to undocumented immigrants. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 22-1660, Categories: Immigration, Landlord Tenant, Housing
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly granted judgment to the county. The gun store owners argued that pamphlets that the county requires to be given out with the purchase of each firearm violated the First Amendment. Still, the literature distributed pursuant to the ordinance was constitutionally permissible because it compelled commercial speech that was factual and uncontroversial and furthered a government interest. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1351, Categories: Constitution, Firearms, First Amendment
J. King finds the lower court properly denied class certification to the counseling company. In this putative class action, where 1000s of recipients accused the financial group of sending unsolicited advertisements by fax, the 59,000 recipients were each sent the fax individually or by an online fax service that is not reached by current law. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 22-1119, Categories: Communications, Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Richardson finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant of drug trafficking charges. The defendant is not eligible for relief through the speedy trial provision despite it taking nearly two years from his arrest to his trial because it excludes any period of delay caused by a continuance, so long as the court grants the continuance because it serves the ends of justice and the court sets forth its reasoning on the record. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendant going through four attorneys, and incompetency proceedings, the court had plenty of reason to delay the trial. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 22-4209, Categories: Competence, Drug Offender, Speedy Trial
J. Harris finds the lower court properly found that the debts at issue here are non-dischargeable. The debtor is not allowed to file for bankruptcy because his debt stems from a settlement agreement in which he is paying a woman he willfully physically assaulted. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 22-1762, Categories: Bankruptcy, Settlements, Assault
J. King finds the lower court improperly dismissed the wrongful death claim. The mother and the flooring company, accused of selling laminated floors that emitted illegal and unsafe levels of formaldehyde, entered into a settlement in regard to her consumer protection claim but not her wrongful death claim. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 22-1643, Categories: Consumer Law, Jurisdiction, Wrongful Death
J. Agee finds the lower court properly awarded judgment to the home health agency that provides healthcare services to patients in their home on an Americans with Disabilities Act claim. Doing field visits to patients' homes, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when staffing was short, is essential to the nurse's job. The nurse, who suffers from chronic arthritis, was given the reasonable option to screen patients before visiting their homes to ensure she could complete her duties without aggravating her knee. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 22-1825, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Health Care
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly applied a sentence enhancement to defendant's assault conviction for causing severe bodily harm. The defendant's sister accused their roommate of sexually assaulting her, leading to the defendant firing a shot near the roommate's foot that sent small shrapnel into the roommate's forehead. The defendant claims the injury suffered was ordinary, but the culmination of the roommate's need to go to an emergency room where he received strong painkillers along with his testimony on the pain, give enough to believe it was serious. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 22-4442, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Assault
J. Diaz finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant for the use of excessive force. The defendant, a former police officer, assaulted a drunk arrestee in the police station restroom before slamming the arrestee's head into a door frame while dragging him into another room. The defendant challenged his conviction on the ground that requiring witnesses to testify while wearing facemasks violated his constitutional right to face-to-face meetings with witnesses appearing before the trier of fact. The use of facemasks during the Covid-19 pandemic constitutes an important public policy as required to circumvent the face-to-face requirement. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 22-4178, Categories: Fair Trial, Sentencing, Assault
[Consolidated.] J. Floyd finds the lower court improperly sentenced one of the gang member for two murder charges stemming from the same murder, where the gang members shot and killed a rival as he left the laundromat. However, two life sentences for the other gang member are supported by the record. Vacated in part.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Floyd, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 16-4844, Categories: Murder, Double Jeopardy, Gangs
J. Quattlebaum finds the lower court improperly dismissed the employee's claims for being time-barred. The university fired the employee in April 2019 after a graduate student submitted a report that the two were dating while she was a student. The employee unsuccessfully appealed the university's decision in June of 2019. Two years later, in May of 2021, she brought federal due process claims within two years of the university's decision to deny her appeal. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum , Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1441, Categories: Education, Due Process, Employment Discrimination
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant for violating the conditions of his supervised release. The defendant was arrested and convicted under state law on three counts of manufacturing or distributing illegal drugs and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for those offenses during his supervised release for a previous drug trafficking conviction. Despite the judge referencing some prohibited factors during sentencing, the sentence itself is not unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer , Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 22-4291, Categories: Drug Offender, Parole, Sentencing
J. Heytens finds the lower court improperly did not provide a sufficient explanation of its rationale for applying an obstruction of justice enhancement. The defendant is accused of trading gunshots with another man late at night. When police arrived on the scene, they found the defendant, who claimed not to be a victim, rather than one of the two men firing shots. The defendant not sharing that he had also fired shots does not count as concealment to obstruct justice. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 21-4281, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Obstruction
J. Heytens properly convicted the gang members. The gang members associated with the Bloods street and prison gang were convicted of racketeering after admitting to killing rival gang members and selling drugs. Evidence, including text messages and witness testimonials, are more than sufficient for their convictions. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 20-4565, Categories: Evidence, Racketeering, Gangs
J. Harris finds the lower court improperly calculated its sentencing guidelines range when sentencing the defendant to 80 years in prison. The defendant was involved in a large-scale conspiracy to transport and sell drugs – primarily methamphetamine, but also heroin, cocaine, and crack – across Ohio and West Virginia. Police seized nearly three kilograms of meth from another drug trafficker who bought from the same seller as the defendant and attributed the amount to the defendant when calculating his sentence despite no evidence of the defendant and that drug trafficker being connected. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 21-4181, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Thacker finds the lower court improperly awarded attorney's fees to the Egyptian immigrant's neighbors. The immigrant suffered a year-long harassment campaign from her neighbors including vulgar text messages and threatening comments. The case was not without cause as the Home Owners' Association president told the immigrant that the neighbors were giving her problems due to her wearing a hijab giving her enough reason to believe she was being discriminated against based on her religion and place of origin. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 21-1284, Categories: Attorney Fees
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted the investigator summary judgment regarding the teenager's First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment claims. A woman who had been raped and robbed called the police and identified the teenager as one of the two men responsible. DNA eventually showed that the teenager was likely not involved but the investigator had probable cause to interrogate him based on the victim's identification. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 22-1788, Categories: Burglary, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Sex Offender
J. Agee finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's motion for compassionate release. The defendant has a lengthy criminal record and most recently pleaded guilty to the distribution of more than 500 grams of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The defendant argued that the death of his wife from COVID-19 left his minor son without a primary caregiver and created an additional extraordinary and compelling reason justifying an early release. The defendant is not a candidate for release due to the violent nature of his offense, his criminal history, the proximity of prior crimes to the ones for which he is incarcerated, his disciplinary infractions while incarcerated, and his potential danger to the community if released. The defendant did not address whether anyone else was available to care for his son, nor did he show that his release would result in a more stable environment for his child. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 22-6607, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Plea
J. Gregory finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant. The defendant pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of a stolen firearm stemming from a robbery of a sports equipment store, and his sentence was enhanced due to him being an unlawful user of controlled substances and being under indictment for a felony at the time of the offense. The defendant told the police in an interview that he was addicted to cannabis and had smoked up until 2021, which is well past the commission of his state and federal crimes meaning he admitted to being an unlawful drug user contemporaneous with his arrest. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Gregory, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 22-4426, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Wynn finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the insurance company. The law firm owner sought compensation after the federal government served the firm with a grand jury subpoena in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation involving the Somalian government. The owner is not entitled to coverage under his professional liability insurance policy asd the insurers never made a clear and definite promise to cover the expenses over which he has sued. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 22-1621, Categories: Contempt, Insurance
J. Keenan finds the lower court improperly denied the post-trial motion for relief from judgment. The police officer accused of excessive force failed to disclose that he had a similar excessive-force lawsuit that had been filed against him. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Keenan, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 21-2060, Categories: Civil Rights, Jury, Police Misconduct