17 results for 'judge:"Ripple"'.
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendants of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs. The government is not required to proceed to trial on all charges of the conspiracy named in the indictment, but may elect to proceed on a subset of the allegations in the indictment and prove a conspiracy smaller than the one originally alleged. Further, the court properly sentenced defendants to a substantial, though below-guidelines sentence, including firearms enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 22-2060, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the officer on false arrest claims stemming from a man's arrest on charges of being a hit-and-run driver. Three witnesses asserted that the man was the aggressor in the underlying incident, and the officer therefore had probable cause to arrest him based on that information. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 23-2574, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly upheld the SSA's determination that the disability applicant was not disabled before June 2009. The gaps in the applicant's treatment history, and intermitted independent-contractor work he performed during this time support the agency's decision. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 22-2694, Categories: Social Security
J. Ripple finds that the lower court improperly rejected the trade group's tortious interference claims alleging the unlawful manipulation of the price of ethanol because the Nebraska Supreme Court has not explicitly adopted the trade group's theory of damages. A district court is not required to choose the most restrictive interpretation of state law, even if the evidence indicates the state court would choose a less restrictive alternative. If the trade group amends its complaint, the lower court should reexamine its determination of the content of Nebraska law. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 23-1185, Categories: Tort, Choice Of Law, Business Practices
J. Ripple finds that the immigration board properly denied the Indian immigrant's application for asylum based on his alleged persecution due to his support of a minority political party that is predominantly Sikh. The medical reports following the immigrant's alleged attack by opposition party members do not support his claim that he suffered broken teeth and needed stitches due to the severity of the beating. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 23-1192, Categories: Immigration, Agency
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J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Evidence supports the finding that he acted as a middleman in a scheme to use fake online dating accounts to solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars from unwitting elderly people and send the money to co-conspirators in Nigeria. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 22-2573, Categories: Fraud, Money Laundering
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the state in a citizen suit challenging the state's restriction on absentee voting for people under age 65. The right to vote does not include the claimed right to receive absentee ballots, so Indiana's decision to permit only elderly votes to vote by mail does not abridge the right to vote of those under age 65. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 22-2835, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Elections
[Consolidated.] J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted five defendant of conspiring to defraud the Small Business Administration to obtain government-backed loans. All but one of the disputed loans were ineligible for any amount of SBA guarantee, and the one that did intentionally disguised the diversion of one-third of the loan proceeds from business uses, causing the loan to quickly default. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 21-3326, Categories: Fraud, Conspiracy
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of possession and attempted production of child pornography. The jury was properly instructed to consider defendant's motive in creating the images of nude minors, which showed the girls' bodies but not engaged in any "lascivious" conduct. Further, the evidence was sufficient to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: 21-2489, Categories: Jury, Sex Offender, Child Pornography
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of bank robbery and sentenced him to 180 days in prison. The court correctly classified him as a career offender based on his prior conviction for vehicular hijacking. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 22-1192, Categories: Robbery, Sentencing, Vehicle
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant by imposing a condition of supervised release allowing a probation officer to search defendant's person and property if he's suspected of violating a condition of his supervised release. The sentencing court properly articulated its reasons for imposing this condition, namely defendant's long criminal history and his past failure to register as a sex offender in multiple states over multiple years. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1325, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He cannot asset an innocent possession defense as there is no evidence defendant attempted to turn over the firearm to law enforcement directly or through a third party. Rather, he left the firearm on the bottom shelf of a Goodwill store full of children. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 22-1801, Categories: Firearms
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress incriminating statements he made to police that led to his heroin distribution conviction. Defendant's waiver of his Miranda rights while in a hospital bed was valid despite his drug overdose just two hours prior. Neither intoxication nor an impaired mental state necessarily renders a Miranda waiver invalid, and the court reasonably credited police officers' testimony that defendant was alert and coherent. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 22-1485, Categories: Drug Offender, Miranda, Self Incrimination
J. Ripple finds that the lower court improperly found for the pyrometric cone manufacturer, finding it owed no duty of care to a ceramicist who developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos contained in vermiculite packaging material of the manufacturer's cones, which are used to measure the temperature of kilns. The manufacturer should be held to an expert standard of knowledge with respect to the packaging that it used to ship its pyrometric cones and to which it exposed its customers. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1822, Categories: Tort, Asbestos
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's habeas petition claiming that a prosecutor improperly told the jury an acquittal would require them to find the witnesses were lying. Defendant argued this forced him to prove his innocence, making his trial unfair. On de novo review, "the prosecutor's comments might give us significant pause," but the federal court's review is deferential to the state court's decision, which was not an unreasonable application of federal law. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 21-2819, Categories: Fair Trial, Sex Offender, Witnesses
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the police supervisors in a suit accusing them of limiting a former officer's future employment prospects by designating him "not in good standing" upon his retirement. This designation limits his ability to carry a concealed weapon. Regardless of whether the designation is justified, the officer cannot show that the designation foreclosed his future job prospects. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: 22-1732, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly affirmed the SSA's denial of the woman's disability claim. The record supports the finding that the woman was not disabled at any time while she was seeking treatment for lower back pain. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 22-2381, Categories: Social Security