162 results for 'filedAt:"2023-09-06"'.
J. Walter affirms the bankruptcy court's order denying a debtor and insurer's motion for preliminary injunction and affirms the bankruptcy court's dismissal of the debtor and insurer's appeal. The debtor filed a voluntary chapter 7 petition during a personal injury suit after she hit a highway patrol officer during a traffic stop, causing extensive injuries. The insurer funded the debtor's defense, refused to settle for policy limits, and settled with the debtor to prevent her from pursuing bad faith claims for failure to settle. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the officer in the personal injury trial. The personal injury appeals are property of the estate. The bankruptcy court did not err in dismissing the debtor's appeal, which was largely based on arguments made in prior appeals that had been rejected, multiple times.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Walter, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv4286, NOS: Bankruptcy Appeal 28 USC 158 - Bankruptcy, Categories: Bankruptcy
J. Pregerson denies a police officer's motion for summary judgment regarding a family's excessive force claims relating to an incident where the officer shot and killed a man with a gun. Multiple witness accounts contradict the officer's version of events, and none of them heard the officer identify himself or tell the man to drop the gun before he shot him multiple times. "A reasonable factfinder could well question [the officer's] account of events, and thus the reasonableness of his use of deadly force."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Pregerson, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv6447, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
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[Consolidated]. J. Erickson finds a lower court properly convicted a male Mexican national for conspiracy to commit money laundering and distributing meth, but may have erred in convicting a female Mexican national on the same charges. The government argued that the female Mexican national was in close proximity to meth while barricaded in a room, carried a knife in her purse, and attempted to flush drugs down a toilet, which resulted in a sentence of 180 months in prison. However, she presented sufficient evidence in court that she was inside the residence to cook, clean, and provide child care, and may be entitled to judgment of acquittal. Reversed in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Erickson, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 22-2914, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Money Laundering
J. Ohlson finds the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals properly affirmed defendant’s conviction on 13 specifications of premeditated murder and 32 specifications of attempted premeditated murder. Defendant worked as an Army psychiatrist and entered a crowded building on the military base where he worked and opened fire on its occupants with a semiautomatic handgun, killing 13 people and wounding 31 others. Because defendant received a death sentence, it is before the instant court for mandatory review. Defendant seeks to reverse the findings and sentence, but the instant court finds he is not entitled to relief. Affirmed.
Court: Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, Judge: Ohlson, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 20-0193, Categories: Murder, Sentencing
J. Pittman denies, in part, the lenders' motion to dismiss claims by small business owners who allege the lenders racked up more than $970 million in revenue from the Payroll Protection Program but failed to pay out the promised loans to their businesses and others. They have sufficiently alleged their claims for fraud, breach of contract, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and unfair competition.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Pittman, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv686, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Unfair Competition, Contract
J. Estudillo grants preliminary approval of a $2.2 million settlement in a class action accusing the telecommunications company of not paying its technicians minimum and overtime wages. The settlement is fair because the technicians and the telecommunications company engaged in discovery that involved interviewing over 100 class members, they have spoken about the settlement for years with the use of multiple mediators, and they capped the attorneys fees so that they are directly proportionate to class funds.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Estudillo, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv5438, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Settlements, Class Action
J. Windhorst finds that the trial court properly determined that a decedent's transfer on death beneficiary designation of a brokerage account in favor of her cousin is invalid and that the funds belong to the decedent's estate. In this case, the form does not comply with the state requirements for the legal transfer of assets upon death. The form was not handwritten by the decedent, is not dated as required for an olographic will, and does not satisfy the requirements for a notarial will. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Windhorst, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 22-CA-460, Categories: Family Law, Wills / Probate
J. Gwin finds the failure by defendant's attorney to cross-examine the coroner who performed the autopsy of the victim did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. Testimony about the number of drugs in his system at the time of death was presented at other times during trial and, therefore, there is no indication a cross-examination would have provided any exculpatory evidence. Meanwhile, the jury did not clearly lose its way when it rejected defendant's self-defense argument and convicted him of murder. Although the victim threatened defendant verbally, these types of threats do not constitute serious provocation under Ohio law, while surveillance footage of the incident also undercut defendant's claim he feared for his life before he fired the fatal shot. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gwin, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3137, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder, Self Defense
J. Rubin grants CVS its motion for summary judgment in a suit where a pneumonia and tetanus vaccine recipient alleges that she was injured when receiving the two injections. The injury, which came from the CVS staff member injecting both vaccines into virtually the same place in the recipient’s arm, caused her to develop complex regional pain syndrome. However, because the recipient and several experts could not determine whether one or the other injection, or both, ultimately caused her symptoms, her negligence claim fails.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Rubin, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv589, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Negligence
J. Neeley finds the trial court properly revoked defendant’s deferred adjudication community supervision for his guilty plea conviction for engagement in organized criminal activity. Defendant’s motion to quash the state’s motion regarding the allegation that he failed to abide by the terms of his community supervision was properly denied. The trial court sought to explain to the new trial counsel that before the state’s filing of its motion to adjudicate, the court met with defendant’s prior attorneys along with the prosecuting attorney and, at defendant’s request, the alleged violation was crafted in such a way that the nature of defendant’s agreement was intentionally obfuscated. The trial court took judicial notice, and, to the extent that such facts may not be an appropriate subject of judicial notice, defendant made no objection, failing to preserve error. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Neeley, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00305-CR, Categories: Probation, Conspiracy
J. Lee finds that the district court improperly denied corrections officers' motion to dismiss an action alleging that the officers did not protect an inmate from other detainees at a jail. The officers moved to dismiss the complaint, contending that the individual did not state a viable claim. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 21-55981, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Rodriguez finds a lower court ruled correctly by mostly ruling in favor of Austin after an employee accused the city of employment discrimination. The jury found that Austin had indeed taken some retaliatory actions against the employee but awarded him zero damages. The employee argued the jury and the lower court had erred in a number of ways, including when prosecutors referenced “domestic violence allegation details and false news reports” against him during closing arguments, but he did not adequately preserve error, and the jury could have reasonably concluded that he “did suffer mental anguish but [that] it stemmed from other circumstances in his life unconnected to his work environment.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00041-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Jury, Employment Retaliation
J. Klappenbach finds the circuit court properly held the construction company in contempt in this suit brought by the trucking company asserting a claim for specific performance related to an agreement to sell real property. The court found that the trucking company was entitled to specific performance, ordering the construction company to convey the “missing land” per the terms of the contract. The trucking company failed to deliver the required warranty deed and an affidavit of heirship and argues that they did not willfully violate the order being that their compliance was outside of their independent control. They show no evidence to demonstrate this. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: CV-22-689, Categories: Contempt, Property, Contract
J. Wilson finds defendant did not timely file his notice of appeal. Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of domestic assault, three counts of vandalism, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of violating an order of protection. The trial court sentenced him to 11 months and 29 days for his misdemeanor counts, and six years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections for the aggravated assault convictions to run consecutively. Defendant claims he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, as he did not understand the consequences of his guilty plea. On appeal, the post-conviction court found no deficiency in his representation. The instant court finds defendant filed his notice of appeal after the filing deadline and will not be considered. Dismissed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: W2022-01597-CCA-R3-PC, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Assault, Plea
J. Parker finds that the district court properly declined to enhance the sentence imposed upon defendant's guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors argued defendant's prior state conviction for possessing cocaine justified the armed career criminal enhancement, but New York's definition of cocaine is categorically broader than the federal counterpart. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Parker, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 21-3102, Categories: Sentencing
Per curiam, the Supreme Court of Ohio finds the lower court properly dismissed the inmate's petition for a writ of prohibition to vacate his sentences for an allegedly unlawful transfer of his underlying criminal case. Any violations of local rules regarding the transfer of the case to a visiting judge should have been brought on direct appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3098, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Judiciary
J. Wood finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for rape and sexual assault of his 7-year-old granddaughter. The child had stayed with her grandparents for some time before her parents began noticing that she did not want to leave their sides and had begun to experience pain or difficulty urinating, as well as bed-wetting. After defendant claimed that he removed a tick from the girl's private area, she explained that he had touched her several times. The child's testimony that defendant touched her “privates” multiple times provides substantial evidence of sexual gratification sufficient to support the convictions. The weight of testimony concerning access to defendant's computer, which contained searches for “does masturbation cause precocious puberty” and “precocious erotic stories" was properly left to the jury to decide. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wood , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: CR-22-224, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Land partially grants a company's pre-trial motion to exclude certain settlement communications in a breach of contract action against a former employee. The employee may not introduce the post-preliminary injunction takedown communications. The company's motions regarding exclusion of the fifth amended agreement and evidence related to quantum meruit damages are also granted. The agreement is not relevant to any remaining issues in the case. The employee's motion to exclude testimony from a certified public accountant on the company's damages is denied.
Court: USDC Middle District of Georgia, Judge: Land, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv95, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Experts, Discovery, Contract
J. King finds that the district court properly dismissed a mother's civil rights and false reporting complaint against two doctors, a detective, a prosecutor and a social worker who alleged she had abused or neglected her son. Her third amended complaint was dismissed because defendants were immune from liability and the complaint failed to state a valid claim for relief. She waived her right to appeal the dismissal of the third amended complaint because her appeal relies on facts and allegations from a proposed fourth amended complaint that was denied by the district court. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Bevan, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 49385, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Immunity
J. Pinson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, aggravated assault and other offenses. Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's allegedly deficient performance. Defendant's counsel was not deficient for failing to request a limiting instruction allowing the jury to consider defendant's stipulations to prior convictions only for the purposes of proving his status as a convicted felon or for impeachment purposes. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: S23A0454, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Hixson finds the circuit court properly terminated both parents' rights to their minor children. DHS originally became involved with the family when one of the children tested positive for THC at birth. The children remained in the family home while DHS offered services, including random visits and drug screens. DHS exercised a seventy-two-hour hold on the children due to the parents' continued drug use, finding head lice and bed bugs on the children at a medical checkup. The parents' behaviors over the course of the case does not show enough stability to render the court’s finding of potential harm clearly erroneous. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: CV-23-11, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Guardianship