3,444 results for 'cat:"Evidence"'.
J. Hixson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for the first-degree murder of his three-year-old son. Defendant's girlfriend testified that defendant punished the child by whipping him on his back with a belt and wooden spoon for peeing on himself and cussing, also saying that this instance was more violent than previous punishments. After leaving the room, the girlfriend returned when things got quiet to see the child lying motionless on the floor. The child died later that day after receiving medical attention. Sufficient evidence, including forensic/medical photographs, the belt, an extension cord, and the broken wooden spoon demonstrate that defendant knew his conduct of repeated blunt-force trauma to a three-year-old child’s head and torso was deadly. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CR-23-196, Categories: evidence, Murder, Child Victims
J. Thyer finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault. Defendant's charge of rape against his 9-year-old daughter was reduced to second-degree sexual assault on the victim's testimony that she was petting her dog after a bad dream when defendant entered the room, pulled her off the bed, and put his penis between her "butt cheeks." The mother witnessed the assault, and friends and other family were told about it before police were called. The testimony does not need to be corroborated and sufficient evidence supports the conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CR-23-410, Categories: evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Moore affirms the defendant's second-degree murder conviction, finding that while the district court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that a witness received threatening phone calls from an unknown caller, the defendant has not demonstrated that there was a reasonable possibility that this evidence significantly impacted the verdict. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Moore, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-0316, Categories: evidence, Murder, Witnesses
J. Abramson finds the county court properly quieted title to the property in favor of the residents. The property owner filed an unlawful-detainer complaint against the mobile home residents, alleging the residents had detained possession after he had attempted to gain possession by civil notice. The owner argues that the residents failed to establish that their curtilage is contiguous to their own property, conceding that the contested property and the resident's property are contiguous. This satisfies for adverse possession. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abramson , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CV-22-585, Categories: evidence, Property
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J. Miller finds the trial court properly convicted defendant of criminal mischief following a non-jury trial over a road rage incident. Defendant's challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction fail, as the record shows defendant intentionally swung a golf club at another motorist's car three times after the motorist retreated. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Miller, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 22-2140, Categories: evidence
C.J. Hudson partially affirms the defendant's convictions stemming from a 1993 cold-case murder. The district court did not err in finding that the defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in DNA found on a discarded napkin at a hockey game and that analysis of the DNA was therefore not a search. Any error in precluding the defendant from presenting evidence of an alternative perpetrator at trial was harmless, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding expert testimony as late discovery. Prosecutors' statements in closing arguments did not constitute error, circumstantial evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict that the defendant was guilty of first-degree murder, and the defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel. It was, however, error to convict the defendant of both first-degree felony murder and second-degree intentional murder, a lesser-included offense. Affirmed in part.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-1679, Categories: Dna, evidence, Murder
J. Anderson finds that while the district court did not err in concluding that the defendant had abandoned a privacy interest in genetic information extracted from semen he left at a crime scene and garbage he left in a bin, it abused its discretion in excluding evidence he proffered on the grounds that it did not have an "inherent tendency" to connect an alternative perpetrator to the murder at issue. The evidence proffered was admissible, the district court held the proffer to an unobtainable legal standard, and the error was not harmless. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Anderson, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-1823, Categories: evidence, Murder
J. Traum finds for an insurer on an insured's action seeking coverage for an offroad ATV accident on the presumption the ATV was covered under his homeowner's umbrella policy. Though the same agent handled the umbrella policy as well as the separate ATV policy, nothing in the record indicates the ATV is covered under the umbrella policy or that the insured party was told so.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Traum , Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv419, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: evidence, Insurance, Contract
J. Hardin-Tammons finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion for post-conviction relief alleging his counsel was ineffective for failing to call an independent DNA expert and an independent pharmacological expert. In light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilty, he cannot show he suffered any prejudice as a result of counsel's alleged failures. Further, defendant's proposed pharmacological testimony about the consequences of mixing Paxil and alcohol would not have provided defendant with a viable defense. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hardin-Tammons, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: ED111372, Categories: Dna, evidence, Sex Offender
J. Welch finds the trial court properly convicted defendant, a psychiatrist, for third-degree sexual assault. The victims - his patients - testified to inappropriate touching, groping and kissing, with certain testimony corroborating other testimony. Evidence in a presentence report is not subject to admissibility standards used at trial and the court’s review of the report would not make a reasonable person question the judge’s impartiality. The motion to recuse is without merit and counsel cannot be found ineffective for failing to make a meritless argument. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welch , Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: A-23-577, Categories: evidence, Judiciary, Sex Offender
J. Poissant finds that the trial court improperly granted no-evidence summary judgment in a dispute over ownership of title to a property. The land company's deeds and affidavits raised a fact issue as to whether it has superior title to the property. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Poissant, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00004-CV, Categories: evidence, Property
J. Decker finds a lower court did not err in convicting defendant of threatening to damage a building. Defendant raised a number of issues on appeal, including a challenge to the admissibility and sufficiency of the evidence against him, but regardless of defendant’s mental state at the time, the lower court did find that he had made a “true threat.” Affirmed.
Court: Virginia Court Of Appeals, Judge: Decker, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 1805-22-4, Categories: Constitution, evidence, Threats
J. Englander affirms the dismissal of the indictments of five defendants charged with violating a human trafficking statute when they fell for a sting operation. “The evidence before the grand jury did not establish probable cause that any of the defendants met the statutory requirement that they ‘recruit, entice . . . or obtain by any means’ another person.” Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Englander, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 23-P-268, Categories: evidence, Prostitution, Human Trafficking
J. Arterburn finds the county court properly entered the modified domestic abuse protection order. The wife filed a petition to obtain the protection order for her and her minor child, alleging several incidents involving property destruction and threats of physical violence. It is undisputed the husband threw drinks on the floor and at his wife, ripped her underwear off her body, shoved her and threatened to punch her. The husband presented no evidence to show cause why the protection order should not remain in effect. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn , Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: A-23-772, Categories: evidence, Restraining Order, Assault
J. Lobrano finds that the city court properly awarded damages to a shopper who suffered a slip and fall in a market. The market had constructive notice of the green pepper that the shopper slipped on because the video evidence shows that the pepper fell from another shopper’s basket and remained on the floor for over 15 minutes. The video also shows an employee looking at her smart watch and not being busy with customers directly before the fall happened. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Lobrano, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0587, Categories: evidence, Negligence
J. Hart finds misjoinder of criminal offenses is reviewed under "plain error" analysis and that, even if a trial court improperly allowed numerous charges to be tried at the same time, it is not a structural error that requires reversal of a defendant's convictions. In this case, while evidence of defendant's drug charges may have persuaded the jury he was inclined to commit crimes, the error was harmless as it pertained to his murder charge because of the overwhelming evidence in support of that charge, including that he went to his backpack to retrieve a gun before he shot the victim following a scuffle. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Supreme Court, Judge: Hart, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 2024CO26, Categories: Criminal Procedure, evidence, Murder
J. Palafox finds a lower court did not err in convicting defendant of assault with a deadly weapon against someone with whom he’d had a dating relationship. Defendant argued the court had not adequately considered his self-defense argument that the woman had tried to run him over with a car, but the jury was “free to disbelieve” this “conflicting” explanation.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 08-23-00238-CR, Categories: evidence, Assault
J. Byrne finds the lower court properly applied the "primary-assumption-of-risk" doctrine and granted the motions for summary judgment filed by the daycare and swimming pool. the risk of drowning at the pool was voluntarily assumed by the child and his parents when he swam during a trip with his daycare class. Although the daycare did not communicate its "swimmers" and "non-swimmers" wristband policy to lifeguards when its children arrived at the pool, this did nothing to increase the risk of drowning, especially considering the lifeguards could not see the child's wristband and he was in the proper, shallow end of the pool when he went underwater. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Byrne, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1726, Categories: evidence, Negligence
J. Powell finds the lower court properly granted permanent custody of the children to family services. Although one of the children expressed a desire to be reunited with his siblings, the father's incarceration and mother's abandonment of the children for a year during the custody case prevented them from providing a safe and stable home for the children. The mother also refused to complete large portions of her case plan and continued her relationship with the father, despite his social and mental health issues and continued abuse of cocaine. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Powell, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1732, Categories: evidence, Family Law
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to a shoreside employer and against its loader-operator on spud barges, rejecting the employee’s claims he is entitled to a seaman’s status and benefits after he was knocked into a canal while unloading limestone from a barge. The employee is not a seaman because he did not engage in sea-based or seagoing activity and did not sail with his employer’s vessels. The undisputed evidence shows that the employee nearly always worked on vessels that were only a gangplank away from shore.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv2570, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Employment, evidence, Maritime
J. Kellum finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant for manslaughter after he allegedly struck the victim with a car. Defendant has not shown that he is entitled to relief in connection with his requested jury instruction. Also, there was no abuse of discretion in the lower court’s handling of an unsolicited statement defendant made to a police officer during transport. Affirmed.
Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Kellum, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: CR-2023-0611, Categories: evidence, Manslaughter, Vehicle
J. Rawlinson finds that the district court improperly denied a habeas corpus petition challenging a first-degree murder conviction. The matter involves a "cold case" which ended with a conviction 35 years after the murder but was based entirely on circumstantial evidence after the trial judge excluded exculpatory evidence of another viable suspect who was the last person to see the victim alive. The decision was based on an unreasonable determination of facts. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Rawlinson, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 21-55038, Categories: evidence, Murder
[Consolidated.] J. Atkins finds that the trial court properly denied a mother's motion to relocate from Louisiana to Florida. In this case, the mother does not show that relocation was in the children's best interest because she provided no support for her claims that Jacksonville would be better for the parties' daughters and did not provide any evidence about how the daughters felt about the move. Further, the trial court properly found the mother in contempt for failing to bring the children for a visit from Jacksonville to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. The mother alleged that she could not bring them for financial reasons but also contended that the move to Jacksonville was beneficial due to her increased salary. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Atkins, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0463, Categories: evidence, Family Law
J. Garcia denies all parties' motions for summary judgment, ruling the bus drivers' cited evidence fails to establish all necessary elements for their retaliation and discrimination claims and, therefore, precludes judgment in their favor. Meanwhile, the drivers' claims regarding the employer's failure to properly sanitize buses or use hypoallergenic sanitizers in the wake of Covid-19 are not preempted by the National Transit Systems Security Act because the complaint filed with OSHA before this suit was filed was dismissed by the agency.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Garcia, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv217, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: evidence, Preemption, Employment Retaliation