664 results for 'cat:"Jury"'.
J. Davis finds the district court properly convicted the doctor for unlawful distribution of controlled substances based on sufficient evidence. After the health management company developed concerns about the doctor's inability to maintain patient and medication records, warning him several times, he was terminated and opened a private practice. The DEA launched an investigation into his prescriptions after receiving a tip from a confidential informant, and the ensuing sting operation led to the doctor's arrest. That the prescriptions lacked a legitimate medical purpose is established in that they were issued outside the usual course of professional practice. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Davis , Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 23-30191, Categories: Drug Offender, Fraud, jury Instructions
J. Bland finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in favor of homeowners who sued a contracting firm alleging that their work on a pipeline caused damages to their property. A jury ruled in favor of the homeowners, but two of the jurors did not join in the verdict. The contracting firm argues that because the verdict was not unanimous, the homeowners are not entitled to collect the damages. It was the homeowners' burden to secure and show that the verdict was unanimous; because that failed to happen, they cannot recover the split verdict on exemplary damages. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Bland, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 22-0889, Categories: Civil Procedure, jury, Damages
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed trademark infringement claims contending Thom Browne used product markings resembling sneaker giant adidas' three-stripe logo. Adidas contends the jury instructions did not sufficiently focus on consumer confusion before and after sales, rather than at the point of sale, but prejudicial error had not occurred since the court emphasized the affected periods multiple times. Furthermore, testimony from an adidas expert on branding was properly blocked because his methodology was deemed unreliable in surveying the opinions of "fashionistas on the web." Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 23-166, Categories: jury, Trademark, Experts
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that defendant was improperly convicted of kidnapping in the second degree because the lower court erroneously held that the merger doctrine did not apply, even if he had not been charged with the lesser offense of menacing. However, the court properly declined to instruct the jury on justification involving the use of ordinary physical force because evidence indicating that defendant applied force to the victim's neck to stop her from breathing could only support the conclusion that defendant used "deadly physical force."
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: KA 22-01350 , Categories: jury, Kidnapping, Menacing
J. Walter grants a pre-trial request by a maximum security inmate at a North Louisiana prison, barring authorities from using an old marijuana conviction and dismissed criminal drug charges against him to attack his credibility. The disallowed charges did not result in felony convictions. Both sides agree that the parish attorneys may use his guilty plea to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm as a defense against his disability discrimination claim. The inmate is suing the parish prison’s medical department for refusing to provide him with methadone and oxycodone for his sickle cell disease.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Walter, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv6144, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, jury, Prisoners' Rights
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J. Fox finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and assault. Defendant claims that the lower court improperly failed to instruct the jury on a mental illness defense, but defendant did not bring forward any real evidence that showed he met the criteria for such a defense. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Fox, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: S-23-0154, Categories: Murder, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Snauffer finds that the instructions given to the jury in defendant's sexual abuse case did not create a preferential credibility standard for the complaining witness. One instruction told the jury to be careful when fact-finding on the basis on one witness's testimony and the other told the jury that a conviction may legally be based on one witness's testimony. However, the trial court erred in convicting him for distinct acts of sexual abuse that occurred during the period for which he was also convicted of continuous sexual abuse. Vacated in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Snauffer, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: F085895, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Klappenbach finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, theft and firearm possession by a felon based on sufficient evidence. The victim testified defendant hit her, shoved the barrel of a gun into her mouth, transferred her to a different location, stole her ring, cell phone and money, all in an attempt to force her to hand over a friend's cremated ashes. The court impliedly granted defendant's request to sever offenses and bifurcate the trials for each count, though the same jury convicted on the offenses. Defendant's argument regarding the alleged denial of his opportunity to interview jurors is not preserved for appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CR-23-585, Categories: jury, Assault, Kidnapping
J. May finds that the lower court properly denied defendant a jury instruction on parental privilege in his trial for intimidation and battery because defendant's actions in threatening his child with a knife did not fall under parental privilege. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: May, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 23A-CR-1060, Categories: jury, Battery
J. Hellman finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s request for the less-satisfactory evidence jury instruction. Inconsistency in witness testimony “does not establish that a video existed or that it was reasonably available to the state.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Hellman, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: A177478, Categories: Evidence, jury Instructions
J. Peterson finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault for hitting the victim with his car after the two argued over whether the victim threw a golf ball at the vehicle. The trial court incorrectly denied defendant's request to instruct the jury on the defense of accident. There was at least some evidence to support the theory that there was no criminal scheme, including evidence that defendant did not intend to hit the victim and rendered immediate aid. The refusal to give the jury instruction could have contributed to the verdict. Defendant may be retried because the evidence was legally sufficient to support his convictions. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0036, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Ellington finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and cruelty to children. The trial court did not commit any error by allowing the state to repeatedly introduce evidence of the victim's previous head injuries without instructing the jury that the parties had agreed that defendant did not cause those injuries. The trial court correctly instructed the jury on prior difficulties between defendant and the 23-month-old victim. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Ellington, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0139, Categories: Murder, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Agee finds the lower court improperly rejected the inmate's request for a new trial on perjury charges. The inmate argued he deserved a new trial because his counsel was ineffective for failing to appeal erroneous jury instructions. The state agrees that counsel was ineffective on this issue and the inmate is entitled to a new trial. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-6272, Categories: Habeas, Ineffective Assistance, jury Instructions
J. Wadsworth finds a prosecutor improperly misrepresented blood and witness evidence during closing arguments against defendant, who was accused of the unprovoked stabbing of a teen girl. The prosecutor may have unduly influenced the jury by conflating defendant with a person seen washing blood off, as it was not established in testimony that the person seen was defendant. The prosecutor also alluded to stains on his shirt as being blood, though no evidence submitted indicated the stains were blood. However, evidence of the victim’s identification of the defendant as the person who stabbed her should not be suppressed, as nothing about her statements were influenced by police or compromised her ability to identify him. Vacated.
Court: Hawai'i Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wadsworth, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: CAAP-22-464, Categories: Prosecutorial Misconduct, Assault, jury Instructions
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly sentenced one of five defendants in an extended-family sex-trafficking organization convicted of smuggling young women from Mexico to the U.S., including minors, and forcing them into prostitution. Procedural error occurred in sentencing Abel Romero-Melendez in excess of the maximum allowed on a count charging illegal reentry, and remand is necessary for resentencing. For the others, sufficient evidence supported their convictions and their challenge to jury instructions lacked merit. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-333(L), Categories: jury, Sentencing, Prostitution
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court properly convicted defendant, the ex-sheriff of Clayton County, Georgia, of using his position to deprive pretrial detainees in his custody of their constitutional right to be free from excessive force. On six occasions, defendant had non-violent, compliant detainees handcuffed and confined to restraint chairs for hours without bathroom breaks. Defendant had fair warning that his conduct was unconstitutional. Restraint chair use qualifies as "force" and defendant's use of force was objectively excessive since the detainees were not actively resisting. There was sufficient evidence to allow the jury to find that defendant's conduct had no legitimate nonpunitive purpose and caused the detainees injuries including open wounds and scarring. The district court correctly questioned a juror after receiving reports that they refused to follow the law and properly issued two Allen charges during deliberations. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23-10934, Categories: Constitution, jury, Civil Rights
J. Rothschild finds that the trial court improperly gave a deadlocked jury additional guidance on implied malice, resulting in a unanimous decision to convict defendant for second degree murder. Implied malice requires a conscious disregard from human life, not merely a disregard for whether someone is hurt or killed. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Rothschild, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: B328209, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Yohalem finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to dismiss an entire jury panel during voir dire. Although statements about a criminal defendant's guilt made by a potential juror showed bias, they did not pertain to any specific facts about defendant, while the trial court also questioned the remaining jurors about whether the comments would impact their ability to remain impartial. Meanwhile, defendant's convictions for battery by strangulation and false imprisonment did not violate his double jeopardy rights. The victim was choked and restrained initially, before defendant took her phone for a 10-minute period and refused to allow her to leave the room; therefore, there was separate evidence to support each conviction. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge: Yohalem, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: A-1-CA-40425, Categories: jury, Double Jeopardy, Battery
J. Wollenberg finds the superior court properly determined that Alaska courts are not constitutionally required to instruct grand juries that they have discretion to decline to enforce the law in a particular case. No case law supports the notion that “the constitution requires the superior court to affirmatively instruct the grand jurors that they have this power—particularly where the grand jury instructions do not expressly foreclose the exercise of this kind of discretion.” Affirmed.
Court: Alaska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wollenberg, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: A-11759, Categories: jury Instructions
J. Boyle finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a mistrial after the jury was mistakenly given a flash drive not admitted into evidence. Not only did the drive not contain any evidence that defendant engaged in the conduct with which he was charged, but only a single juror looked at one document contained on the drive and he could not recall its contents. Meanwhile, the testimony of a forensic video specialist should have been excluded after he was not properly introduced as an expert witness by the prosecution, but because there was overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt - including eyewitness testimony that he was the shooter - the error was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1579, Categories: jury, Murder, Experts
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of capital murder. Defendant argues that errors in the abstract of the jury charge led to him being harmed, specifically the mention of "intentionality" in the course of determining whether someone has committed capital murder. While the abstract did contain errors, the rest of the abstract greatly outweighs any potential harm those errors could have had on defendant's case. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00044-CR, Categories: jury, Murder, Robbery
J. Jones finds the trial court properly granted the jury full access to the calls between the victim of sexual assault and the assailant. A criminal court may give a jury unrestricted access to recorded telephone calls between the victim and their assailant in which the assailant admits to criminal activity. The calls are not victim testimony, but are more similar to police interviews of a criminal defendant that are always available in full to a jury. Meanwhile, defendant's conviction and sentence for human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude did not violate his equal protection rights. Although he was convicted of lesser offenses at the same time, the conduct in his human trafficking charge was separate and more involved than that required for the lesser felonies. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Jones, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2024COA41, Categories: jury, Sex Offender, Equal Protection
J. Shanker upholds defendant's stalking conviction which was based, in part, on his repeated threatening emails and texts to a former coworker, and his sending of letters to his former employer and government agencies claiming the coworker had engaged in misconduct. Although he argues the trial court should have instructed the jury that his communications should be considered unprotected speech, he did not ask for the instruction and his rights were not violated. Affirmed.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Shanker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-CM-0963, Categories: Evidence, jury
J. Ortego finds that defendant was properly convicted for carjacking and adjudicated as a fourth habitual offender, resulting in a life sentence of hard labor without parole. There was plenty of evidence that defendant attacked the carjacking victim unprovoked, thus there was "violence" and all of the elements of the crime were established beyond a reasonable doubt. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ortego, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: KA-23-736, Categories: Robbery, Vehicle, jury Instructions
J. Pagan finds the trial court erred by giving a jury instruction on defense of premises regarding the alleged victim’s actions when defendant was claiming self-defense against someone who used force against him. “The parties disputed the facts that would have made defendant’s self-defense claim viable, and a jury instruction that highlighted the alleged victim’s state of mind” detracted from the jury’s consideration of defendant’s state of mind. Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Pagan, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A177313, Categories: Burglary, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Wilson finds that a mistrial should have been declared in defendant's trial for drug possession after a juror expressed fears that her car had been followed by defendant early on in the proceedings because the juror was "grossly unqualified" by bias and should have been dismissed. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 41, Categories: jury