J. Williams finds that the lower court properly awarded $0 in damages to the appellant in this breach of contract case involving oilfield equipment that allegedly fell into an oil well and had to be retrieved. Additionally, the amount owed to the appellee under multiple invoices was not “previously discharged by any material breach,” as the appellant argues. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Williams, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 11-22-00230-CV, Categories: Damages, Contract
J. Wilson finds that the trial court improperly dismissed the lender's breach of contract claim for lack of standing. The lender alleged sufficient facts to show standing on the claim for an unpaid loan against the individual accused of misdirecting the funds "for the benefit of a different religious community." Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00131-CV, Categories: Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Wilson finds that the probate court properly ruled against the attorney when it approved the account for final settlement and removed the case from the docket. The attorney's constitutional complaints were inadequately briefed, and his argument about the lack of timely notice for the hearing is without merit. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00146-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Wills / Probate
J. Glickman upholds the superior court's finding for a condo developer and neighboring condominium on a condo association's claims pertaining to rooftop restrictions the developer agreed to include in its bylaws to appease the neighboring condo and attain a permit to build a condo exceeding height limitations. The bylaws, which were amended properly, are not unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Glickman, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 21-CV-0798 , Categories: Licensing, Real Estate, Housing
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J. Harris finds that the trial court properly awarded damages and attorney fees to a food distributor, and rejected a food supplier's motion for a new trial in a dispute over invoices for tortillas. The supplier claimed an inconsistent verdict but breach of contract and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing are independent causes of action so the jury could find bad faith without finding a breach of terms. And a jury could reasonably award damages based on the bad faith claim after finding that the elements of a contract claim aside from damages had not been met. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 20220982-CA, Categories: Damages, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Tenney finds that the trial court properly ordered an ex-husband to reimburse an ex-wife the money she paid to satisfy a mortgage loan their divorce decree had required him to pay. The order to reimburse was an enforcement ruling, not a modification, since it gave effect to the decree's requirement that he be responsible for any loans on the residence. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 20210902-CA, Categories: Civil Procedure, Family Law
J. Luthy finds that the trial court properly refused to suppress incriminating statements defendant made to police during an interrogation about a murder. Police gave him a Miranda warning at the outset and were not required to give another warning after a five-hour break, and the physical evidence was so overwhelming that suppression would not have changed the guilty verdict. Also, no evidence showed that defendant's son faced imminent harm that would justify self defense, or that defendant's delusions of risk related to any imminent danger. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Luthy, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 20210849-CA, Categories: Miranda, Murder, Self Defense
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly found for a mason who was injured while removing and replacing bricks. He proved his case by showing that the ladder on which he was working fell while he was eight feet above the ground and supported this with photographic evidence. However, he also testified inconsistently about the event and whether he promptly reported the accident or not, which requires further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 02609, Categories: Labor
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a medical malpractice and ordinary negligence suit. At the nursing home facing the claim, registered nurses performed all patient assessments, so the claimant's nursing expert had the requisite experience to opine as to whether the fall in question could have been prevented. Further proceedings are needed since challenges regarding an expert's qualifications do not affect the admissibility of their testimony, but rather the weight it should be afforded. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 02608, Categories: Experts, Medical Malpractice
J. Horton finds, in this interlocutory appeal, the trial court properly granted the river authority's motion for summary judgment. The utilities entities did not have the right to assert certain affirmative defenses to the authority's breach of contract claim for payment under longstanding contracts it used to secure repayment of its debt in return for the sale of outstanding bonds. Under statutes applying to the bonds, the legislature made the validity of a local government's contracts pledged to secure a debt obligation and approved through the process required by these statutes “incontestable in a court or other forum.” The incontestability statutes expressly foreclose the utilities' right to assert the affirmative defenses raised. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Horton , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 09-23-00167-CV, Categories: Debt Collection, Government, Municipal Law
J. Hudson finds the county court properly denied the inmate's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Defendant was convicted for battery and committing a terroristic act for firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle, causing injury. Though sufficient evidence supports the convictions, defendant says the presiding special judge was not properly appointed, and also makes double jeopardy claims. Defendant offers no evidence the judge's appointment failed to comply with procedure, and a challenge to the appointment of a special judge is not cognizable in habeas proceedings. The acts of firing the weapon multiple times and the result of the victim being injured are legally separate charges, and double jeopardy does not apply. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CV-23-633, Categories: Habeas, Battery, Terrorism
J. Hudson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for capital murder, aggravated residential burglary, robbery and theft. Defendant was arrested after DNA evidence showed he was involved in an apartment break-in and murder. The court properly denied defendant's motion to exclude officer testimony involving fresh blood drops she saw that dried before being taken as evidence. Defendant thoroughly impeached the witness, and the jury was free to determine the weight held by the officer's testimony. The testimony was properly admitted, as the officer's opinion was based on her experience as a crime-scene specialist. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CR-23-710, Categories: Burglary, Evidence, Murder
J. Webb finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder, rape and abuse of a corpse. The suffocated victim was found wrapped in a bedspread on the side of the road with injuries indicating the victim had been beaten and sexually assaulted. An investigation revealed the victim had been in a relationship with defendant, leading to a warrant to search the home where signs of a struggle and blood spatter were found, along with pillow shams matching the bedspread in which the victim was wrapped. Defendant's DNA found on a cigarette butt near the victim's body, as well as the victim's DNA found in the trunk of defendant's vehicle support the conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Webb , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CR-23-745, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Sex Offender
J. Cadish finds the trial court properly convicted defendant, by no-contest plea, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant was pulled over for driving without a license plate light. It was discovered he had an active warrant and he was arrested. Defendant moved to suppress a weapon found during a warrantless search of his vehicle on the basis that the search was not an inventory search, but a ruse to conduct an investigatory search. The search was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances, and no error is found in the court's denial of the motion to suppress. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Supreme Court, Judge: Cadish , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 85564, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Search
J. Powell finds the lower court properly determined the originating court lacked jurisdiction. A patient in southwestern Virginia went to a medical center in nearby North Carolina for evaluation and treatment after complaining of a rash. Doctors met with the patient multiple times and communicated with the family via phone when they had inquiries. Despite seeing the patient for a long period, the doctors continued to push off having a biopsy done, allowing his soon-to-be-discovered skin cancer to increase in severity. The emails, text messages, and telephone calls from the North Carolina doctors constituted transacting business for the purpose of exercising longarm jurisdiction. Still, the communications did not qualify activities taking place within Virginia. The actual treatment occurred in North Carolina and the medical center did not maintain a presence or solicit business in Virginia. Affirmed.
Court: Virginia Supreme Court, Judge: Powell, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 230260, Categories: Jurisdiction, Medical Malpractice
J. Russel finds the lower court improperly concluded that sovereign immunity barred the successor's claims. The Virginia Department of Transportation contracted a contractor for construction inspection and permitted them to bill VDOT for certain overhead costs, including the cost of rental vehicles. Because of the nature of the projects at issue, VDOT, in turn, could seek reimbursement from the federal government for the expenses it reimbursed so long as VDOT complied with Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions. The FAR clauses purportedly did not allow VDOT to receive reimbursement for expenses paid to the successor, an entity under its common control. The parties eventually mediated the claims and agreed upon a settlement agreement that the contractor felt it had no choice, given its economic situation, but to sign. It later received information previously withheld that led to the suit, filed in part to invalidate the settlement agreement. Sovereign immunity doesn’t apply to claims based on express contracts. Reversed.
Court: Virginia Supreme Court, Judge: Russel , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 230365, Categories: Government, Immunity, Contract
J. Powers finds that the lower court properly held that a change in state executive law that established the commission on ethics and lobbying in government was unconstitutional. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought the claim after the new ethics panel took up a probe initiated by its predecessor into his book on leading during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, alterations configured by the state legislature failed to observe the traditional separation of powers by usurping a governor's executive authority and making the new commission the enforcer of ethics laws instead. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Powers, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CV-23-1778, Categories: Government
J. Suddaby dismisses the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights advocacy group with over 720,000 members across the country, from a civil rights lawsuit that claims a housing authority violates their members’ right to bear arms by prohibiting tenants from possessing any firearms as a condition of their Section 8 housing benefits. The court rules the advocacy group lacks representational and associational standing to bring suit under a 50-year legal precedent.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv1540, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Housing, Firearms
J. Alsup dismisses all contract claims from X Corp. accusing Bright Data of breaking X's Terms of Service by scrapping and selling its data. X has not brought forward any evidence that supports a damage claim or how exactly Bright Data is using any X accounts that are bound to the Terms of Service. Attempts from X to circumvent those shortcomings by relying on arguments under the Copyright Act only "undermine the purpose and intended effects" of the Act, leaving all of their claims to fail.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Alsup, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv3698, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Copyright, Contract
J. Corley grants final approval to a $51,000 class settlement with Atlantic Recovery Solutions over alleged unfair debt collection practices. The terms appear fair and include $123,000 in attorney fees.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Corley, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv4108, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Settlements, Class Action
J. Contreras finds that the lower court properly terminated the father’s parental rights to his daughter. The evidence sufficiently supports the statutory grounds for termination, specifically that he failed to comply with certain “requirements ordered by the court.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Contreras, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 13-24-00040-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Silva finds that the lower court properly modified the appellant’s probation “to a placement at a secure, post-adjudication juvenile facility” after he was adjudicated as delinquent. On appeal, he contends that the modification order violated his constitutional rights, but he failed to preserve the argument for review. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Silva, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 13-24-00098-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Constitution, Juvenile Law
J. Volk grants the deputy state auditor's motion for summary judgment in the deceased woman's civil rights suit. She claimed that her due process rights were violated when the deputy auditor conveyed deeds to two parcels of her property to a man who bought them at sales for unpaid taxes without first conducting an exhaustive search of publicly available records of her current address when prior right-to-redeem notices were returned as unclaimed. The deputy auditor is entitled to qualified immunity since "he could not have been expected to forecast the duty here imposed, which appears nowhere in the statute governing his authority nor decisional law."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Volk , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv328, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Property