60 results for 'judge:"Harris"'.
J. Harris finds that the lower court properly awarded the woman $316,000 in damages after the man disseminated a sex tape, including her full name and her city and state, without her consent. Expert testimony is not required for a jury to find the woman was significantly affected by having a sexually explicit video of her posted online where it was viewed over 50,000 times. Further, punitive damages are warranted even if the video was recorded with the woman's consent, because the evidence shows the man acted willfully and in retaliation for the woman breaking off the relationship. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Harris, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 230585, Categories: Tort, Damages, Technology
J. Harris finds that the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss charges that he sexually abused a child 25 years earlier. The four-year statute of limitations that applied at the time of the alleged offenses began to run in 1998 when the alleged victim's friend reported to police that defendant had been "having sex" with the alleged victim. In the context of the friend's report, "having sex" meant vaginal intercourse and was sufficient to put police on notice of a crime that could be charged. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 20230228-CA, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sex Offender
J. Harris finds the lower court properly dismissed the investors' complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The investors accuse a family from Ghana living in Virginia of a sprawling scheme to defraud Ghanaian investors of millions of dollars. They claim the family would solicit funds from investors in Ghana and promise to distribute them as microfinance loans to small family businesses and individuals in Africa. In theory, the loans would stimulate African economies while also earning interest for the investors. But the investors claim In practice, they simply took the money. The injuries suffered were not in America but rather in Ghana. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 23-1309, Categories: Fraud, International Law, Banking / Lending
J. Harris finds that sufficient evidence supported defendant's possession conviction for methamphetamine found in the purse of the passenger in his car. His constructive possession was established by evidence he was driving her to score methamphetamine, he had used some of the methamphetamine, his suspended driver's license had been used to chop a chunk of methamphetamine, he drove evasively when he saw police, the methamphetamine was within his reach, and text messages showed he was going sell methamphetamine when they got home. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 20220390-CA, Categories: Drug Offender
J. Harris finds that, given State Farm's motion for rehearing, it is necessary to withdraw a previous opinion and replace it with this opinion in the insured's class action alleging State Farm was required to pay her interest on top of what it paid for her water damages claim. The trial court erred in dismissing the insured's contractual claim, as the relevant policy contains a standalone provision obligating State Farm to pay out interest which can create grounds for a cause of action not barred by statutory limitations. The case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-0243, Categories: Insurance, Contract
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J. Harris finds the trial court improperly sanctioned a father for failing to timely disclose a tax return before a child support modification trial. The trial court could have prohibited his use of the tax return in modification proceedings, but went too far in barring him from introducing other income evidence or a rebuttal to the mother's evidence. Vacated.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 20220534-CA, Categories: Family Law, Sanctions, Discovery
J. Harris finds the lower court properly denied the group of immigrant's motion to dismiss. The six non-citizens indicted for illegally reentering the U.S. following their prior removal moved to dismiss their indictments on the ground that the relevant provision is unconstitutional because it was enacted with a racially discriminatory purpose. The applicable provision includes the national-origin quota system, which initially gave preference to individuals from certain European countries. The revised provision eliminates racial discrimination by adjusting its formulas and adding preferences for family reunification and non-citizens with specified skills. It also sought to ensure that the new immigration system would be free of racial discrimination, in part by eliminating bars to naturalization based on race. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-4072, Categories: Immigration
[Consolidated.] J. Harris holds that the juvenile court properly ordered children removed from their parents based on finding that they were neglected, and their counsel was not ineffective during proceedings. However, the juvenile court must revisit its shelter hearing analysis to determine whether services are currently available to end removal.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 20230102-CA, Categories: Family Law
J. Harris finds that trial court improperly dismissed a developer's counterclaim seeking to relocate a utility's guy wires away from a parcel where it was building a home. Further proceedings are required to allow the developer's experts to opine on matters that had been fairly disclosed. Vacated in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 20210935-CA, Categories: Property, Immunity, Experts
J. Harris finds the trial court improperly denied defendant's motion to dismiss the information filed in her case charging her with a third-degree felony for passing a forged check. The detainer filed against defendant while she was incarcerated for an unrelated matter does not constitute proper process service under Florida law, as defendant correctly argues. Her appeal is treated as a petition for a writ of prohibition, the petition is granted, the order denying her motion is quashed and the case is remanded for further proceedings.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Harris, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 23-0697, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Forgery
J. Harris finds that the trial court properly awarded the family home to the husband in a divorce. The wife's challenge to the award was barred because she waited eight years to make it. But the trial court failed to make findings that her claims about the home were meritless, so it was error to award husband attorney fees. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 20221044-CA, Categories: Family Law, Attorney Fees
J. Harris finds the trial court properly admitted the testimony of an expert witness who testified the victims did not appear to have been coached on the stories they gave when they reported the sexual assault allegations against defendant. Although such testimony, which vouches for the truthfulness of the victims, is typically not allowed, defendant opened the door to the admission of the evidence when he advanced a defense based on the theory the victims had been coached by their grandmother, which included questions to potential jurors, statements during opening arguments and direct examination of the victims. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2024COA26, Categories: Sex Offender, Experts, Child Victims
[Consolidated.] J. Harris finds that the trial court properly terminated a mother and father's parental rights based on substantial evidence the father had continually emotionally abused his four children, two of whom regularly contemplated suicide to avoid his mistreatment. Their claims of state interference in their practice of religion failed because no statutory or constitutional right exists for a parent to abuse or neglect a child on religious grounds, and evidence showed that father's behavior was not compelled by the tenets of his religion. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 20220803-CA, Categories: Family Law
J. Harris finds the trial court erred in only dismissing some of the charges remaining against defendant after a jury found him not guilty of possessing a firearm as a felon, which he was charged with after running from police officers investigating an area where shots had been heard. The trial court properly dismissed two other firearms charges against defendant, but it should have also dismissed charges of cocaine possession and resisting an officer without violence because of their close relation to all of the other charges stemming from the same acts. The case is remanded for the trial court to dismiss defendant's remaining charges. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Harris, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 23-0221, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Resisting Arrest
J. Harris finds the trial court erred by granting the citizen's motion to block enforcement of a waiver she signed before entering a trampoline park where she suffered a permanent injury and denying the trampoline park owner's motion to compel mediation. The trial court overstepped its authority by determining the waiver was unenforceable, as that is the responsibility of an arbitrator. Since the citizen did not bring up any sufficient defense against the waiver's mediation clause, the trial court should have compelled mediation, which it is ordered to do on remand. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Harris, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1697, Categories: Mediation, Premises Liability
J. Harris finds the lower court improperly granted summary judgement to the police officer. There is still genuine dispute over whether the officer knew that the German shepherd he shot was actually tethered somewhat unconventionally to a 25-foot zip line connecting two trees in the yard. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 22-2120, Categories: Evidence, Police Misconduct
J. Harris finds the trial court improperly dismissed the insured's class action against State Farm over coverage for water damages her home sustained from an overflowing sink. The statutory limitation the trial court cited does not preclude the insured's claim for interest payments under her policy, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Harris, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 23-0243, Categories: Insurance, Class Action, Contract
J. Harris holds that the trial court must reassess whether a commercial tenant's breach of a settlement agreement was a material breach and, if it was, whether the landlord is entitled to damages or to have the settlement agreement rescinded. In the process, the trial court must determine whether the parties can be restored to their pre-settlement status and whether equitable concerns merit rescission instead of enforcement of the agreement's terms. After those issues are resolved, the trial court can re-evaluate the parties' requests for attorney fees and assess which party prevailed in each phase of litigation. Vacated.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 20220003-CA, Categories: Settlements, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Harris finds the lower court properly found that the debts at issue here are non-dischargeable. The debtor is not allowed to file for bankruptcy because his debt stems from a settlement agreement in which he is paying a woman he willfully physically assaulted. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 22-1762, Categories: Bankruptcy, Settlements, Assault
J. Harris finds the lower court improperly calculated its sentencing guidelines range when sentencing the defendant to 80 years in prison. The defendant was involved in a large-scale conspiracy to transport and sell drugs – primarily methamphetamine, but also heroin, cocaine, and crack – across Ohio and West Virginia. Police seized nearly three kilograms of meth from another drug trafficker who bought from the same seller as the defendant and attributed the amount to the defendant when calculating his sentence despite no evidence of the defendant and that drug trafficker being connected. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 21-4181, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Harris finds that the trial court prematurely dismissed claims that a debt collector was not properly registered and bonded when it filed lawsuits against debtors. The debtors are entitled to use discovery to challenge whether deception or an actual error prompted the debt collector to file a statement of correction clarifying its corporate status weeks after suing the debtors. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 20220841-CA, Categories: Debt Collection
J. Harris rejects a wife's challenge to the trial court's alimony award. At the time of the trial, it was unlikely that the husband would receive profit sharing payments, so they were properly excluded from his gross income. Changes in his income outlook do not warrant a new trial, but she may file a petition to modify. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 20220067-CA, Categories: Family Law
J. Harris finds the trial court improperly found the claimed owner of an option to buy certain property was legally assigned the option from the owner. Other entities claiming to the option say the assignment was an invalid, fraudulent transfer and they own the option after purchasing it in an execution sale from a previous owner. The trial court’s fraudulent transfer analysis contained legal errors and an erroneous subsidiary factual finding regarding the previous owner's intent to hinder, delay or defraud its creditor. Vacated.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris , Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 20220892-CA, Categories: Fraud, Property, Contract
J. Harris finds defendant's waiver of his right to an attorney was valid even though he made the choice to preserve his trial date and avoid a continuance. The choice between a continuance and pro se representation was not unconstitutional and, therefore, the waiver was entered knowingly and voluntarily. Meanwhile, the trial court was not required to sua sponte appoint an attorney when defendant proved ineffective as his own attorney because a knowing waiver of a defendant's right to counsel necessarily involves the risk of poor representation but does not allow a trial court to intervene. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 2023COA119, Categories: Constitution, Sex Offender, Self Representation
J. Harris finds the trial court properly found defendant guilty for five counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust as part of a pattern of abuse and one count of aggravated incest. Defendant's daughter and friends reported the abuse in their 20's, which led to defendant's arrest. Defendant sought substitution of counsel, and after admonishment, he requested to represent himself. The waiver is not invalidated merely because he had to choose between self-representation and maintaining a particular court date. Defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his right to counsel. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris , Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 2023COA119, Categories: Sex Offender, Self Representation, Child Victims
J. Harris finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for the object rape and forcible sexual abuse of his 14-year-old stepdaughter. Though he argues the victim's testimony was improbable and there was insufficient evidence supporting the penetration element of the object rape charge, the testimony was not improbable and all evidence supports the convictions. Furthermore, nothing in the record supports defendant's claims of deficient performance of counsel. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris , Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 20210403-CA, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Harris finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment despite him making a deal with the government to plead guilty. The defendant made his six adopted children perform sex acts together and with him, amounting to nine charges. The defendant made a deal to plead guilty to one count of aggravated sexual abuse in exchange for the other eight charges to be dropped. The defendant failed to meet the burden of showing a reasonable probability that, but for the error, he would not have entered the plea. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 21-4185, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Plea
J. Harris holds that the trial court properly found that a homeowner's backyard improvements did not interfere with a water district's easement for an underground pipeline. A bright-line rule barring any permanent construction within an easement is outweighed by the potential loss of otherwise reasonable uses of land under the rule of mutual reasonableness. Also, jury instructions about the law of easements and the mutual obligation not to unreasonably interfere with the other's use were accurate and complete. And testimony from the State Engineer properly addressed the reasonableness of both the homeowner's and the water district's existing and possible uses. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 20220025-CA, Categories: Property
J. Harris finds that the trial court was within its discretion to draw a reasonable inference that the store whose manager called police owned the parking lot where defendant was arrested for criminal trespass. Both direct testimony and circumstantial evidence indicated that the store owned the lot. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: 20220599-CA, Categories: Trespass
J. Harris finds the trial court properly denied a petition to reopen the estate of a deceased man which has been the subject of competing probate claims from two beneficiaries wielding wills from 1998 and 2007 and 2018, respectively. Because the appellant beneficiary charging that the appellee beneficiary citing the 2018 will committed fraud by not disclosing the existence of the 1998 will is not an interested person under the 1998 will, he lacks standing to reopen the estate and revoke probate of the 2018 will. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Harris, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 23-0608, Categories: Wills / Probate, Contract