545 results for 'court:"5th Circuit"'.
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court improperly ruled in favor of the realty investment entities. The individual investor prevailed in a breach of contract suit filed by the entities and was awarded more than $50 million in damages. He filed this suit alleging the entities transferred assets to avoid paying the judgment and the court ruled in favor of the entities. The entities' counsel used nearly every category of improper closing argument, including personal attacks and insults, as well as evoking local bias. The improper and prejudicial statements demonstrate the need for a new trial. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 21-10805, Categories: Enforcement Of Judgments, Contract, Attorney Discipline
J. Richman denies the petition for rehearing on the health care professionals' various convictions regarding a multi-million dollar surgery-referral kickback conspiracy. The out-of-network hospital paid surgeons to refer patients, incentivizing the patients by waiving financial responsibility beyond what the surgery would cost in-network. Though the hospital owners say proceeds received from private insurers do not fall within the forfeiture statute because the insurers were not part of the conspiracy, receiving kickbacks for the privately insured patients was still part of the conspiracy. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Richman , Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 21-10292, Categories: Fraud, Conspiracy
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly granted the merchant vessel owners' motion for summary judgment. The retired mariner, after contracting lung cancer, sued the owner of every vessel he had worked on during his nearly 50-year career on allegations he was exposed to asbestos. The mariner died at the age of 92, with his estate taking over the lawsuit. The estate shows no evidence of asbestos exposure, while its expert reports on causation were properly excluded. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-30460, Categories: Evidence, Tort, Asbestos
J. Clement finds the district court properly approved a receiver’s proposed plan of distribution of assets from a scheme to defraud seniors by selling them precious metals at inflated prices. Though the nonparty attorney argues the receiver's valuation methodology fails to consider whether individual investors received compensation, the court still has significant discretion in determining how to distribute funds of equitable receiverships. The court, in such instances, is not required to follow a particular plan in ethically distributing the assets. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Clement , Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-10420, Categories: Fraud, Securities
J. Stewart grants, in part, a healthcare service's petition for review. The labor relations board's holdings the company improperly issued an oral workplace rule and threatened an RN for disruptive behavior are not supported by substantial evidence considering the existing precedent that a rule must be communicated to multiple employees to constitute a violation. However, the board's petition for enforcement is also partially granted, as the company violated labor rules by conducting coercive investigations and unlawfully terminating the RN.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Stewart , Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 22-60584, Categories: Health Care, Employment Retaliation, Labor
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J. Duncan finds the district court properly granted the officers' motion to dismiss. The security guard, following a heated exchange with a Houston police officer, was arrested for assault. Though a grand jury indicted the guard, the charges were later dropped, and the guard filed suit against the officers alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution and assault. The officers are entitled to qualified immunity. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Duncan , Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-20075, Categories: Immunity, Assault, Police Misconduct
J. Southwick finds the district court properly granted summary judgment to the attorney. The attorney and partner formed a "gentleman's" venture to form a business for making settlement-secured medical loans to litigants, but the partner was not listed on any formational document. After some time of a 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement, the partner sought financial information, but was told that he held an economic benefit only interest, and that the business was owned by a trust. Though the parties made a profit-sharing agreement, tax documentation shows a possible change in payments from profit-sharing to services rendered. The statute of frauds applies to the unenforceable oral agreement. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 23-50297, Categories: Fraud, Tax, Contract
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court improperly denied the group of insurance companies’ motion to compel arbitration. After the property owner was denied full coverage by various insurers for property damage sustained in a hurricane, he filed suit alleging all the insurers engaged in the same breach of contract. Certain involved insurers are domestic and signatory to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, while others are not. Equitable estoppel can allow the non-signatory foreign companies to a contract with an arbitration clause to compel arbitration with signatories. The district court failed to apply the proper “interdependent and concerted misconduct” test. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-30171, Categories: Insurance, International Law, Contract
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the adult entertainment clubs. The black dancer was barred from performing at a certain club for not complying with its tip-sharing policy, then was turned away from another club because it had "too many black girls." This discrimination suit followed more than four years after the alleged events and is barred by limitations. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-20440, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination
Per curiam, the circuit denies the Honduran national's petition for review. After the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the denial of his application for asylum, the immigrant sought to apply for adjustment of status based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen. Though the immigrant demonstrated a credible fear of persecution or torture if returned to Honduras, and was paroled for temporary entry, he was ordered removed for seeking entry without valid documents. He has not demonstrated eligibility for an adjustment of status since, as conceded, he is inadmissible.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-60022, Categories: Administrative Law, Immigration, International Law
J. Smith grants the users of an online academic research tool's petition for a writ of mandamus. The underlying suit alleges the Commodities Futures Trading Commission's department of marketing oversight acted capriciously in finding the research tool not in compliance with directives. The district court improperly transferred their suit to the District Court for the District of Columbia due to court congestion, which is a clear abuse of discretion.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 24-50079, Categories: Commerce, Venue, Technology
[Consolidated.] J. Jones finds the district court improperly remanded this oil and gas royalties dispute to state court. The landowner and stockholders initiated this class action alleging that the energy company had underpaid more than $100 million in royalties. The company says the Class Action Fairness Act requires the case be heard in federal court, while the district court reasoned the Act's local controversy exception supported remand in spite of a third of the royalties recipients being located in other states and countries. The Act ties principal injuries sustained to the entire class, not a subset. No exception exists for cases in which most parties sustain the principal injury in the forum state, but some do not. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Jones , Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 23-40591 , Categories: Energy, Jurisdiction, Class Action
J. Douglas finds the district court properly convicted defendant, by guilty plea, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of meth. The court also denied defendant habeas relief for his argument that trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to object to the purity of meth attributed to him. That defendant was accountable for a certain amount of the drug by weight makes his evidentiary argument meritless. The court would have adopted the same guideline range and imposed the same sentence even if the drug purity objection had been made. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Douglas , Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 22-51046, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Ineffective Assistance
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly convicted defendant for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and conspiracy to commit money laundering. After a postal inspector alerted authorities to a package later confirmed to be a drug shipment, a package type and activity profile was set up that led investigators to defendant. Sufficient evidence, including wiretapped phone conversations, supports the conviction. Defendant declined the plea offer, and no abuse of discretion is found in the conviction or sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 23-60101, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Money Laundering
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly convicted defendant for drug trafficking. Though defendant admitted to having a gun at his residence when asked before he was Mirandized, the public safety questioning exception applies. The subject was also brought up in court by defendant even though the prosecution had not mentioned it. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-11007, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Miranda
J. Stewart finds the district court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the police officers. Armed protesters opposed to a city ordinance preventing unauthorized firearm carry were arrested after aggressively refusing to comply with officers' lawful orders. Though a Taser was used, causing one of the subjects to fall and hit his head, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity. The protesters have pointed to no clearly established law showing excessive force was used. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Stewart , Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-50915, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Higginbotham finds the district court properly convicted defendant for producing child pornography. Law enforcement learned that internet addresses associated with a church uploaded child pornography images to a website. A warranted search of the church yielded a hard drive with videos of children taking baths in the church's offices. Certain videos captured defendant working with the pastor to set up the porn shoots. The court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress statements made to investigators where he admitted to setting up the shoots, or in excluding a psychologist's testimony that defendant shows no signs of pedophilia. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginbotham , Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 23-40144, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Pornography, Jury Instructions
J. Southwick finds the district court properly dismissed the pilot's claims against the corporate defendants. The pilot suffered injuries from a crash caused by alleged component malfunctions of the single-engine plane he was flying. He filed suit in Mississippi state court against various manufacturers, and the suit was removed to federal court because two Mississippi defendants were improperly joined. Claims against the out-of-state defendants were then dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. Although certain requested documents could potentially show Mississippi connections, the pilot relies "on vague assertions that additional discovery will produce needed, but unspecified facts,” which is insufficient to allow jurisdictional discovery. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 22-60603, Categories: Product Liability, Jurisdiction, Aviation
J. Wilson finds the district court properly ruled in favor of the business advisor, who was found to be entitled to commission for its promotion of the sale of its former client, the building supply company. Though the building supply company argued for the application of Texas’s procuring cause doctrine, this common law doctrine was found to be displaced by the parties’ contract. The nearly $4 million fee the advisor stands to receive is proportional to the $190 million sale price of the company, and the court merely held the parties to contractually agreed-upon terms. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Wilson , Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 23-20030, Categories: Business Expectancy, Contract
J. Jones finds the district court properly ordered restitution for defendants' convictions for healthcare fraud and receiving Medicare kickbacks. No error is found in the court’s calculation of the improper benefit received as to the purpose of sentencing and restitution. That a certain defendant received the primary benefit from the fraudulent payments is irrelevant for assessing restitution. The court properly imposed restitution on each defendant jointly and severally for the full amount. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Jones , Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 22-20620, Categories: Fraud, Sentencing, Restitution
J. Higginbotham finds the district court properly convicted defendant by guilty plea for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams of meth. Defendant says the judge coerced him into withdrawing his objections to the presentence report's calculation of drug amounts by threatening to deny his acceptance of responsibility points. Even assuming the court coerced defendant, he still does not show the error affected his substantial rights. Furthermore, his contention as to how his sentencing range was affected is factually incorrect. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginbotham , Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 22-50837, Categories: Drug Offender, Judiciary, Sentencing
J. Higginson finds the district court properly convicted defendant for assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury. The shooting occurred on the Choctaw reservation after a long night of drinking, when an argument ensued over where and how to get more alcohol, and it is undisputed defendant shot the victim four times. All evidence supports the conviction, and no error is found in the court's denial of defendant's pretrial motion to recuse the lead prosecutor for having previously represented him while employed as a public defender in the tribal court. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 23-60040, Categories: Assault, Weapons, Due Process
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court improperly granted Amazon's motion to dismiss an employment discrimination claim filed by an employee who experienced exhaustion based on a task he says only men were assigned to because of its physical rigor. The court granted the motion based on failure to state a claim, being there was no ultimate employment decision at question. However, the circuit has previously held that “a plaintiff need only show that [he or] she was discriminated against, because of a protected characteristic." Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 23-10556, Categories: Due Process, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Southwick finds the district court properly found the investors' challenge of the bankruptcy court's removal of subrogation rights was statutorily and equitably moot. Provisions of the bankruptcy reorganization of the energy company, which stripped the sureties of their subrogation rights, were integral to the sale of the company's assets. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 23-20104, Categories: Bankruptcy, Construction, Debt Collection
J. Southwick finds the district court properly held a mineral lease is not yet in effect such that the developer has standing to pursue constitutional takings claims against the parish. The clear text of the lease shows the developer has not secured necessary governmental approvals. Therefore, the developer has no vested interest in the property at question or its clay deposits. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 23-30084, Categories: Constitution, Energy, Property
J. Smith finds the district court improperly determined that legislative privilege did not apply to discovery documents sought by the migrant worker advocacy group. The documents were exchanged between the Texas legislature and members of the state executive branch, and involve elections integrity. The advocacy group alleges the legislature enacted the relevant elections integrity bill intending to discriminate against minorities. This fails to implicate federal interest beyond constitutional or statutory claims of racial animus. Legislative privilege was properly invoked and protects the documents. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 23-50201, Categories: Elections, Immigration, Privilege
J. Dennis finds the district court properly granted the hardware company's motion to dismiss the breach of contract claim. The furniture designer licensed designs to the company, then discovered it was using artisan resources she had divulged after the company orally promised to not use them for anything other than the licensed designs. The oral agreement was an unenforceable agreement to agree, conditioned on the company's manufacture of unlicensed products with the artisans and both parties reaching a mutual agreement on compensation. The only detriment suffered by the designer was an opportunity to negotiate for future compensation. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Dennis , Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 22-30277, Categories: Licensing, Contract
J. Dennis finds the district court properly granted summary judgment to Raytheon on a former systems engineer's allegations of retaliation for his reporting of misrepresentations the company allegedly made involving the recalibration of a radar system. Certain case law bars review of claims implicating the merits of Raytheon's decision to revoke the engineer's security clearance, and the circuit lacks jurisdiction over those claims. The employee has not cited any specific facts he needed and was prevented from discovering that would create a dispute of material fact as to whether the action was materially adverse. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Dennis , Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 21-11060, Categories: Fraud, Government, Contract
J. Clement finds the district court improperly applied a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice after defendant pleaded guilty to child pornography possession when his wife discovered images on his phone and reported him. Defendant's wife later decided to defend him, and the enhancement was applied based on a conversation they had about a letter of support she was writing for his sentencing proceeding. A case cited by the government is distinguishable in that defendant coordinated with his wife, not a criminal counterpart, telling her to use her own words. No obstruction exists in defendant's answering his wife's questions about what he thought she should say. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Clement , Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 23-50100, Categories: Sentencing, Obstruction, Child Pornography
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly denied both defendants' motions for continuance and properly sentenced them both to life in prison on their RICO conspiracy, kidnapping and related convictions. Although they argue the district court improperly allowed an unlisted government witness to testify and failed to grant an alternative discovery motion, there is no general constitutional right to pretrial discovery of witnesses in non-capital cases. The within-guidelines sentences are reasonable. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 22-40619, Categories: Sentencing, Kidnapping, Racketeering