219 results for 'filedAt:"2024-02-28"'.
J. Abramson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault and sexual indecency with a child. Defendant was arrested after fleeing officers who were investigating a report of a man sexually propositioning minor females with money. Though defendant says that other victim testimony regarding identical prior sex acts was improperly admitted as prejudicial, the testimony was correctly admitted under the pedophile exception. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abramson , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: CR-23-483, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Pitman finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to attempted sexual battery. In this case, defendant was properly informed of his rights at the guilty plea hearing and does not show that his plea was involuntary. Further, defendant received the significant benefits of pleading to the reduced charge of attempted sexual battery rather than third degree rape, and he had an unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling charge dismissed, which reduced his sentence exposure from 31 years to five years. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,467-KA, Categories: Sex Offender, Plea
J. Pitman finds that the district court properly granted a stepfather's motion to adopt his stepchild. The Fifth Circuit Judicial District Court had jurisdiction over the matter because when the stepfather filed his petition for adoption, there was no ongoing or pending litigation in the Fourth Circuit Judicial District Court that would have given it the exclusive authority to hear and adjudicate the petition for adoption. In this case, the biological father's consent was not required because he did not pay child support without just cause for a period exceeding six months, and did not visit, communicate or attempt to communicate with the child for a period of over six months. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,622-JAC, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Jurisdiction
J. Abramson finds the county court properly terminated the mother's parental rights to her child. The department filed a petition for emergency custody after treating physicians reported the mother's explanation for the child's broken femur and skull fracture was not plausible. The department also notes the mother suffers from delayed processing, and the putative father is bipolar and schizophrenic. After removal, the mother did not complete parenting or domestic-violence classes, and a caseworker testified she did not have the capacity to care for the child. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abramson , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: CV-23-643, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Guardianship
J. Hixson finds the county court improperly dismissed the homeowner's breach of contract claim. The customer alleges the painting company failed to complete work on her house in a professional and workmanlike manner, though the company denies it contracted to perform any work for her. Even though the company had filed a motion to dismiss prior to the homeowner's request for a dismissal without prejudice, her request for a nonsuit before submission of the case was absolute and should have been granted. Reversed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: CV-23-85, Categories: Due Process, Contract
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J. Stone finds that defendant was properly convicted of attempted aggravated rape. Testimony from the victim's sisters, which detailed defendant watching them while they undressed and bathed as children, smelling their dirty underwear, and having an erection while they sat on his lap, was properly admitted because it established defendant's lustful disposition towards children. Further, the evidence established that the victim and her sisters viewed defendant as a grandparent. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stone, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,468-KA, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Stone finds that defendant was properly convicted of attempted illegal possession of stolen firearms and attempted possession of a firearm by a person convicted of domestic abuse battery. In this case, defendant was the only occupant of a vehicle that contained a loaded gun next to a bag of chicken that defendant admitted to buying before the traffic stop. Further, the officer who performed the stop testified that defendant admitted that he gave the car owner money to buy a gun "off the street" once he told the defendant it was a stolen firearm. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stone, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,537-KA, Categories: Evidence, Firearms
J. Cox finds that the calculation of a defendant owner's share of funds related to the liquidation of the parties' company should be remanded. The plaintiff owner's petition claimed that the defendant owner was liable for any monetary damages due to his mismanagement of the company. However, under statute, the defendant owner can only be held liable for any improper distribution of funds for two years from the date of the filing of the suit, and the liquidator's report does not reflect this. Affirmed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Cox, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,428-CA, Categories: Business Practices, Contract
J. Cox finds that defendant was properly sentenced to simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. In this case, defendant was identified in a photo lineup by the victim as the person who knocked items off the bathroom window while trying to enter the house, and there was surveillance video showing defendant walking across the victim's driveway. Further, although defendant did not fully enter the house, his upper body crossed the threshold when he tried to enter through the window. Affirmed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Cox, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,579-KA, Categories: Burglary, Evidence
J. Stephens finds that the trial court properly found for an insurer on an insured's claim that the insurer did not make full payment to cover roof damages sustained during a hurricane. The record shows that the insurer properly compensated the insured for the damages to her home by providing the full replacement cost value, even though the repairs to her home are incomplete. Although the insured is unsatisfied with the contractor's work on the house, the insurer has fulfilled its obligations. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stephens, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,381-CA, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Stephens finds that defendant should not have been convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The state did not show that defendant's prior conviction for third offense domestic abuse battery could prohibit him from possessing a firearm because that offense is not enumerated as one of the “crimes of violence” under statute. Reversed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stephens, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,449-KA, Categories: Evidence, Firearms
J. Ellender finds that the trial court properly dismissed a father's medical malpractice claim against a neurosurgeon for alleged deficiencies in the treatment of his deceased son. In this case, the son's vagal nerve stimulator to treat his seizures did not have a dead battery when the son visited the neurosurgeon, as the father alleges, but the battery was at eight to eighteen percent power. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ellender, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,434-CA, Categories: Evidence, Medical Malpractice
J. Gravois finds that defendant was properly convicted of aggravated burglary. There was testimony from a witness that he drove defendant and his accomplices to the house that was burglarized and that they entered wearing knit caps and gloves and with guns. There was surveillance video showing defendant hiding under the carport after the burglary, and defendant's DNA was found on a discarded knit cap. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gravois, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 19-KA-77, Categories: Burglary, Evidence
J. Emas finds the trial court partially erred in granting summary judgment to the security firm in the lawsuit from the insurance companies over unpaid premiums. Although the affidavit, invoices and other evidence the firm introduced met its evidentiary burden as to the insurance companies' counts of open account and account stated, the firm's failure to attach the underlying insurance policies means it did not meet its burden as to the companies' breach of contract count, so the trial court's order is reversed as to that count and the case is remanded for more proceedings. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Emas, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 23-0594, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Christen finds that the district court improperly entered conviction for conspiring to possess a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting the same. The conviction could not stand under precedent of the Supreme Court in USA v. Davis. However, defendant was properly convicted for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. The matter involves a Syrian national's involvement in a conspiracy that targeted U.S. military personnel and property in Iraq. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Christen , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 18-10435, Categories: Conspiracy, Terrorism
J. Aoyagi finds the trial court properly sentenced defendant, convicted of a total of nine sex crimes against two children. “Defendant committed the acts when he was 16 years old but he was not charged until he was an adult…[and] he went directly into adult court, rather than being waived into adult court.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A178968, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Aoyagi finds the trial court properly dismissed complaints. The court “correctly construed HB 4212 as extending the statutes of limitations through December 31, 2021, and consequently did not err in dismissing the complaints.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A179835, Categories: Negligence, Covid-19
J. Aoyagi finds the juvenile court erred in asserting dependency jurisdiction over a father’s two children. “DHS failed to prove that the requirements for dependency jurisdiction were met.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A180870, Categories: Family Law
J. Joyce finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s demurrer, in which he argued that the indictment was deficient because it did not name the victim of the crime alleged. “The identity of the victim is not an essential element of the crime.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A178481, Categories: Weapons
J. Quattlebaum upholds the dismissal of two parents’ claims challenging the constitutionality of their county school board’s election process for choosing a high school student-member of the board. It does not violate the free exercise of religion because the county does not allow any sort of private school, religious or nonreligious, to participate in selecting the student member. It does not violate the equal protection clause because the process does not need to conform to the principle of “one person, one vote,” as prospective student members do not participate in a popular election but instead are appointed for what is essentially a civics laboratory. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 22-2294, Categories: Education, Elections, Equal Protection
J. Heytens upholds the lower court’s finding that the Maryland company that rented nine people a pontoon is not liable for their injuries in a boating accident when the boat motor failed, resulting in a collision with a bridge that capsized the vessel. The boaters couldn’t show how the accident resulted from the renter’s own negligence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1312, Categories: Negligence
J. Agee finds that the district court should not have granted habeas relief to defendant, who said his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary because he was not briefed on the nature and elements of the offenses he was charged with. The state court disagreed with him, and the federal district court should not have overridden the state court’s judgment, as a “highly deferential” standard was required. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 23-6179, Categories: Habeas, Plea
J. Strand grants Tyson Foods summary judgment in claims contending Tyson employees defamed a manager after an employee's tires had been found slashed a day following an altercation with the manager. Evidence indicated the manager had been the culprit, and a company email indicating he was no longer employed by Tyson did not constitute defamation.
Court: USDC Northern District of Iowa, Judge: Strand, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv2004, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Defamation
J. Brown partially grants the couple's motions to dismiss an action brought by the ex-girlfriend alleging that the couple violated the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act by showing people at a restaurant an intimate video of the ex-girlfriend without her consent. She sufficiently alleges that the couple's behavior in showing the video on a phone to other people at a public restaurant counts as "disclosing" it. Since a phone is an instrumentality of interstate commerce, the use of a phone to show the video satisfies the statutory requirements.
Court: USDC Northern District of Georgia, Judge: Brown, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3169, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Privacy
J. Epps recommends that the former teacher's civil rights and unfair credit reporting action against the investigator, deputy, county, company and other parties be dismissed. The action arose after the deputy filed a police report and the investigator obtained an arrest warrant for the teacher based on allegedly false identity fraud accusations made by the teacher's daughter. The teacher fails to properly state a conspiracy claim against anyone. The action fails to allege communications between any of the parties that resulted in an agreement to deny the teacher any constitutional right.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Epps, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv148, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process
J. Houston grants San Diego State University's anti-SLAPP motion to strike the student's state claims over disciplinary measures that were taken against him alleging that he participated in fraternity hazing. The negligence claims fail because the disciplinary charges were dropped with no negative remarks on his transcript and the student was able to graduate, so he did not suffer damages. His emotional distress claim fails because he provides only conclusory statements to support his allegations.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Houston, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv2131, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Anti-slapp, Negligence, Emotional Distress
[Consolidated.] J. Sumners finds that the trial court improperly subjected an out-of-state non-profit national youth organization to state court jurisdiction in underlying sexual abuse complaints because the organization did not avail itself of state benefits. That is not changed by the fact that specific youth groups had contact with the organization and paid membership dues. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Sumners , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A-3720-22, Categories: Negligence, Jurisdiction