196 results for 'filedAt:"2023-11-08"'.
J. Hutchison finds that the lower court partially erred in declaring that 54 firefighters were entitled to two years’ worth of compensation under a state law providing extra compensation for legal holidays. The city they sued incorrectly interpreted the law, which does create a fringe or wage benefit for firefighters that is protected by the Wage Payment and Collection Act, so the lower court needs to calculate how much they are owed over a five-year, not two-year, period. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hutchison, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 22-185, Categories: Employment, Municipal Law, Damages
J. Toro finds for the commissioner of internal revenue in this tax liability dispute since the company misinterpreted statute governing foreign tax deductions concerning its returns.
Court: U.S. Tax Court, Judge: Toro, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 161TC10, Categories: Tax
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit, in this interlocutory appeal, finds the district court improperly denied the county’s motion for summary judgment in the suit alleging violations of the Texas Wiretap Act brought by the county jail inmate. A non-lawyer employee of the county attorney’s office inadvertently listened to a call between the inmate and his attorney involving an investigation into inmate treatment. The county asserts governmental immunity, while the district court found the Act waives immunity. Though the word “person” as used in the Act in reference to waivers of immunity could be construed to apply to government entities, another section of the act disclaims this interpretation, so it should be understood to maintain immunity. Reversed and dismissed with prejudice.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 23-40078, Categories: Evidence, Government, Prisoners' Rights
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court properly convicted defendant for filing false liens against a federal judge in retaliation for his life sentence for drug trafficking. The clerk’s office received a document titled “Claim of Lien” via certified mail, which listed the judge as the debtor and defendant as the requestor. The “voluntary agreement” didn’t have the judge’s signature and stated that the lien arose from the judge’s “unlawful acts committed against the liberty interest of [defendant].” Defendant sought a total of $50 million for the alleged violations and attempted to file a notice of foreclosure on property owned by the judge. Mention of the warranty deed at trial and not in the indictment is not a constructive amendment to the element of mail fraud and did not allow conviction on a materially different theory or set of facts. Nothing suggested that a court issued the lien or a later “notice of default,” or that it arose from a judgment. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 21-40592, Categories: Fraud, Judiciary
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J. Neeley finds the trial court improperly dismissed claims brought by the son of an heir to his parents’ estates against the other heir, his sister, who had her mother, who was the trustee of the deceased husband’s estate, rewrite her will in the sister’s favor, effectively appointing her as trustee and executrix of both estates’ assets. The mother’s power of appointment was based on a provision in the father’s will stating that she does not intend to exercise them. Absent a specific reference to the contrary, the mother’s will lacks any “other indication” from which the appeals court may infer an intent to exercise the power of appointment created by the father’s will. The court properly ruled on the brother’s daughter’s allegations of fraudulent inducement regarding the brother’s signing of his assets to his sister at his death. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Neeley, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00066-CV, Categories: Fraud, Property, Wills / Probate
J. Hoyle finds the trial court properly granted the ex-wife’s special appearance, dismissing the ex-husband’s suit seeking amendment of the divorce’s maintenance agreement entered in Colorado which requires him to make monthly payments to the wife. The husband filed suit in Texas, where he resides. The husband did not follow procedure for continuing a special appearance and the court properly refused additional jurisdictional discovery. The wife’s jurisdictional status in Colorado is established by her property interest. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Hoyle, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00091-CV, Categories: Family Law, Property, Jurisdiction
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly convicted defendant by jury trial for assault on a peace officer. The state presented evidence that defendant, while under the influence of narcotics, bit the officer on the wrist as he tried to set defendant in an upright position. The jury was free to believe or disbelieve witness testimony, and circumstantial evidence can be sufficient to establish guilt. No evidence shows that a jury could reasonably believe that the bite was involuntary or resulted from a mental health episode. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00289-CR, Categories: Evidence, Jury, Assault
J. Neeley finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for possession of a controlled substance. The trial court was not required to suppress evidence, as the arresting officer's search of defendant's vehicle and her clothing were consensual and based on reasonable suspicion.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Neeley, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00103-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for burglary of a habitation. Defendant, the daughter of the homeowner, who had been civilly evicted by her parents for issues arising from drug addiction, was found in her parents' home without permission and had a container of Chinese food that did not belong to her. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00104-CR, Categories: Burglary, Evidence
J. Hoyle finds the trial court properly convicted defendant by guilty plea for theft and declined to give him credit for the full amount of presentence jail time. Defendant's jail-time credit for the theft conviction was properly calculated without including jail time served for a separate offense, as knowledge of his incarceration on a separate offense does not “change the basis for his confinement, nor ... alter his status.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Hoyle, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 12-23-00127-CR, Categories: Sentencing, Theft
J. Kunselman finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant to one year of probation for destroying a line of property survey stakes separating her land from her neighbors’. There is no evidence that the stakes and flags she removed from a shared driveway met the statutory definition of “survey monuments or markers,” which are intended to be permanent, under Pennsylvania law; thus, defendant’s conviction for destruction of a survey monument may not stand. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Kunselman, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: J-A18041-23, Categories: Trespass, Property Crimes, Property
J. Pellegrini finds that the lower court properly entered judgment against Domino’s after a jury found it vicariously liable for the negligence of a pizza delivery driver for one of its franchises, who collided with a motorcyclist while completing deliveries. The franchise agreement did not give Domino’s day-to-day control over the franchisee, so it is not liable under vicarious liability. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Pellegrini, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: J-A26040-22, Categories: Tort, Premises Liability, Contract
J. Sammartino dismisses in part the consumer's complaint alleging that the food manufacturer falsely advertised that its product contains a natural form of malic acid even though the label lists a form of DL malic acid that is an ingredient derived from "petrochemicals." The consumer's claims for equitable relief are dismissed because he has not pleaded that he lacks an adequate remedy at law. However, it is plausible to infer based on the consumer's complaint that all flavors of the company's product contain artificial DL malic acid, so the claims will not be dismissed on these grounds.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Sammartino, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv220, NOS: Contract Product Liability - Contract, Categories: Product Liability, Class Action, False Advertising
J. Barch-Kuchta grants preliminary approval of a settlement agreement in which a credit union has agreed to pay $2,500 to 48 non-citizens who were denied membership when they applied with a “work only” social security number. The settlement is fair, adequate and reasonable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Barch-Kuchta, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv657, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Settlements, Banking / Lending, Class Action
J. Lampkin finds that the hearing officer properly reversed the board's decision to dismiss a tenured professor after he failed to report to work for four days. The hearing officer correctly found the Board must bear the burden of proving that the professor intended to abandon his job. However, the facts don't support such a finding, as the professor testified he believed he could use his personal days during registration week to attend a funeral. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Lampkin, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 230285, Categories: Administrative Law, Education, Employment
J. Ahlers finds that a dissolution decree was properly modified to place the minor child in the father's care because the mother failed to communicate with the father regarding parenting issues and willfully interfered with his visitation rights. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ahlers, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 23-0592, Categories: Family Law
Per curiam, the Supreme Court of Ohio finds attorney Theodore Ferris Scribner will be suspended from the practice of law for two years for the mismanagement of client funds in at least nine cases, including cash withdrawals for personal expenses and failing to properly balance or document his client trust account. However, 18 months of his suspension will be stayed, as he had no previous disciplinary issues and made a good faith effort at restitution.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-4017, Categories: Sanctions, Attorney Discipline
J. Bell partially grants a consumer’s motion to stay his case against an insurance company, specifically to pause proceedings into early 2024 so that discovery can be completed. However, the consumer is denied a stay of unspecified length based on an unresolved underlying state court case as the company is not party to it. Also, for its part, the company also never took the opportunity to depose the consumer’s expert witnesses even though it had knowledge of them, which is another reason for the pause in proceedings.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv73, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Experts, Discovery
J. Greer finds that plaintiff and his wife were improperly granted summary judgment in a dispute over a race shed because plaintiff had not been promised payment for building the shed, and the lower court failed to consider his parents' unjust enrichment defense. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Greer, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 23-0133, Categories: Contract
J. Wood finds the circuit court properly distributed the decedent’s estate. The son, heir, and administrator of his father’s estate died 10 months after the father’s death and another son was appointed as administrator of the father’s estate. This son filed a petition for final distribution of the estate, claiming that the was the administrator of his brother’s estate as well. A sister was appointed administrator of the brother’s estate and filed a petition for amended distribution, saying that she was entitled to the deceased brother’s share of the father’s estate as the brother’s estate administrator, and accusing the other brother of fraud. The sister, who is the appointed administrator, is entitled to the deceased brother’s estate for the benefit of his heirs at law. This holds regardless of the wording of the father’s, will which expressly disinherits the brothers’ heirs. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wood, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: CV-22-551, Categories: Fraud, Wills / Probate