171 results for 'filedAt:"2023-11-15"'.
J. Ortego finds that the trial court properly ruled that the vendor conveyed all of the immovable property to the vendees in the sale of a business. The vendor did not give sufficient evidence to support her claim that she had retained a 29% ownership interest in the immovable property. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ortego, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: CA-23-7, Categories: Evidence, Property, Contract
J. Smith finds the trial court properly entered summary judgment for the holdings company, which acquired title to land containing a sand and gravel mine previously transferred to the materials company by the original leaseholder of the mine. Undisputed facts based on a history of email evidence show the materials company failed to pay royalties, received adequate notice and failed to cure within 10 days of notice. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 23-20023, Categories: Property, Business Expectancy, Contract
J. Worthen finds the trial court improperly awarded sanctions in favor of the apprentice tattoo artist against whom a breach of noncompete agreement suit was filed after she was terminated from her apprenticeship and obtained work at another studio. Owners of the studio from which she was fired filed suit, then a notice of nonsuit after the apprentice's attorney filed a motion to dismiss, then sought sanctions. A justiciable issue existed for the studio to seek declaratory judgment to interpret the agreement, and the trial court did not explain the connection between the sanctions and conduct or how it arrived at the amount. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00060-CV, Categories: Sanctions, Contract
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J. Abramson finds the circuit court properly entered the adoption decree allowing stepparent adoption of the children by the mother's new husband without consent of the father. The father physically abused the mother, who was given custody of the children during the pendency of the divorce, and the final decree provided he was to have no contact with the children. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abramson , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: CV-22-628, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Guardianship
J. Barrett finds the trial court properly granted the homeowner's motion to strike a contractor's untimely answers, entering default judgment in favor of the homeowners. Though Sunday service of process is not allowed in most circumstances, in this case it was the only viable alternative and was properly made. Affirmed in part.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: CV-22-86, Categories: Construction, Due Process, Contract
J Thyer finds the trial court improperly designated the divorced couple's home as marital property and allocated the husband's 401(k) plan among him, his former ex-wife and his now-ex-husband. The ex-husband quitclaimed interest in the home to the husband in exchange for release from liability on the mortgage, which meets the statutory definition of a gift and thus satisfies the marital property exception. The trial court also failed to give full consideration to the domestic relation order entered in the prior divorce action as it applies to allocation of the retirement account. Reversed in part.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: CV-22-622, Categories: Family Law, Property, Contract
J. McCoy finds that defendant was properly convicted of second degree murder. In this case, the victim was found shot in a car that was similar to the one that was owned by a person who had been in a bar fight with defendant. Further, defendant's car was caught on a traffic camera minutes later driving away from the neighborhood where the shooting took place. Also, bullets from the victim's car and the house that defendant shot up when looking for the person in the bar fight matched, supporting that defendant mistakenly shot the victim because she was in a similar car. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ellender, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,354-KA, Categories: Evidence, Murder
J. Salter finds that the circuit court properly ruled in favor of the South Dakota Department of Transportation in a matter in which the Department constructed a median in the highway abutting a company's property. The company sued over changes to its access to the property. The circuit court correctly applied substantive takings principles to conclude that the installation of the median did not constitute a taking. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Salter, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2023SD58, Categories: Property, Transportation
J. Molaison finds that defendant was properly sentenced to 40 years at hard labor on his conviction for sexual battery of a victim under the age of 13. The sentence was proper based on defendant being a trusted part of the victim's family for years and being considered to be the victim's "step-grandfather." Further, the record shows that defendant abused the victim over a span of several years and was also facing a misdemeanor charge for the sexual battery of the victim. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Molaison, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 23-KA-33, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Marconi affirms the denial of a utility company’s motion for a rehearing to recover the development costs of an abandoned project by increasing rates for its customers. Because the development costs were costs associated with construction work that wasn’t completed, even though the costs also didn’t go towards construction work in progress, the utility company does not have a right to recover those costs through a rate increase.
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court, Judge: Marconi, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2022-0146, Categories: Commerce, Construction, Consumer Law
J. Hunter finds that the trial court properly sustained a peremptory exception of prescription and a dilatory exception of improper use of a summary
proceeding filed by attorneys seeking payment for legal work performed. The attorneys were retained by the decedent under a contingency contract to annul a donation of property . The record shows that the decedent was unable to afford legal representation and the attorneys assumed costs by successfully pursuing litigation, which resulted in the decedent regaining ownership of her property. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Hunter, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,336-CA, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Crawford allows an inmate to continue certain claims contending correction officers assaulted him, causing fractured ribs and a collapsed lung; halted his water supply; deprived him of meals and hygiene supplies for three weeks; and falsely charged him with aggravated harassment of a corrections employee. Evidence did not indicate supervisors were aware of the "prolonged deprivation" of meals and hygiene materials, but the complaint plausibly alleges certain officers and a nurse knew about it. Meanwhile, the alleged verbal harassment of the inmate constitutes a plausible adverse action, and evidence indicates officers staged a crime scene the day the inmate was removed from his cell.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Crawford , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv41, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Prisoners' Rights
J. Pitman finds that defendant was properly convicted of manslaughter on his indictment of second degree murder. The evidence supported that defendant did not shoot the victim in self-defense because the victim was not found with a weapon, the victim was shot in the back, and defendant left the victim to retrieve a gun, which he then used to shoot the victim four times. Further, defendant's act of pointing a gun at the victim and shooting demonstrates that he intended to kill or inflict great bodily harm. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,312-KA, Categories: Evidence, Manslaughter
J. Stephens finds that defendant was properly convicted of second degree murder. Defendant's motion to suppress statements made to the police without being read his Miranda rights was correctly denied because he was not arrested or restrained at the time he made his statement. The evidence shows that defendant voluntarily rode in a police vehicle to the station for questioning as a witness to the crime and was not treated any differently than the other witnesses brought in to give a statement. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stephens, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,315-KA, Categories: Miranda, Murder
J. Woodcock partially denies an employer’s motion for summary judgment against its employee, who is suing it for multiple forms of discrimination, violation of the Equal Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Maine Family and Medical Leave Requirements, and the Maine Human Rights Act. The employee’s claims related to sex-based discrimination and the Maine Human Rights Act are not adequately alleged, while the others may proceed against the business.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv70, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Johnson finds that defendant was properly convicted on three counts of second degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Evidence from surveillance video, phone records, and eyewitness testimony shows that defendant was wearing a red sweatshirt at the crime scene in the backseat of a car. A police officer testified that all three victims’ wounds were consistent with the shooter firing a 9 mm/.380 caliber gun from the back seat of a vehicle. A witness testified that defendant was known to carry a 9 mm gun with an extended clip, and other witnesses testified to seeing a man in a red sweatshirt running away from the scene of the crime. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 23-KA-41, Categories: Evidence, Murder
J. Logue finds the trial court did not abuse its discretion in its non-final order stating that the mother and father's eldest child should remain in military school, that the father should have 100% time-sharing of their three minor children and that the mother should have no contact with the minor children, in part because it properly weighed the competing arguments and considered the correct legal standard in deciding the non-final order, specifically what is in the best interest of the minor children. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Logue, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 23-1018, Categories: Family Law
J. Oretga finds the trial court erred in issuing a sentence denying defendant, convicted of assault, eligibility for post-conviction programs, but finds the court should not correct the error because the requisite findings could have been supported by the record. The state concedes the error. Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Ortega, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: A176871, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Pitman finds that defendant was properly sentenced on her guilty plea to two counts of molestation of a juvenile. In this case, the imposed sentences of 50 years for each count, with the first 25 years of which would be served without benefits, was proper based on the seriousness of the crimes. Further, the sentences imposed had been reduced from a possible statutory 99-year sentence per count to a cap of 50 years and an agreement that the sentences would be served concurrently rather than consecutively. Also, based on the plea, the state held defendant responsible for only two of the ten original counts, and those had also been reduced from first degree rape of a victim under the age of 13 to molestation of a victim under the age of 13. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,215-KA, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Plea
J. Hunter finds that the trial court properly denied the stepmother's petition for intrafamily adoption of her husband's child. In this case, the biological mother met her burden of proving just cause for her failure to provide financial support and to visit with the child for a period of at least six months because she was incarcerated but had attempted to call the child. The testimony supported that the stepmother actively tried to prevent communication between the mother and child, including threatening to obtain a restraining order. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Hunter, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,401-JAC, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Cox finds that defendant was properly convicted of the second degree murder of his girlfriend. The state properly admitted the autopsy photos because they were not so gruesome as to inflame the jury. In this case, the state presented the minimum number of photos necessary to reflect the doctor's autopsy report, who opined that any of the twelve gunshot wounds could have been fatal. The photos demonstrated the identity of the victim, the different angles of the wounds, and showed the manner in which she died. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Cox, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 55,330-KA, Categories: Evidence, Murder
J. Firko finds that the trial court properly ruled against a church accused of allowing the sexual abuse of plaintiff, a then-minor, by her paternal grandfather, a church elder. A 1994 action sought damages for harm directly caused by the grandfather, and while the current action alleges the church allowed a known child abuser to serve as an elder, the Child Victims Act was intended to resurrect older claims. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Firko , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: A-1779-22, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence
J. Vyskocil denies the investment firm's motion for sanctions against the consultant firm's former counsel, Gibson Dunn, in a suit alleging the consultant was hired by the nation of Qatar to hack into the investment firm's principal's email servers to smear his reputation. The firm reasonably believed a partner's claim that she did not learn any confidential information regarding issues relevant to this action while serving as a Senior Assistant Special Counsel in Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's office. Therefore, it found no conflict of interest that would bar its representation of the consultant firm.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Vyskocil, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv11861, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Racketeering