20 results for 'judge:"Wilkinson"'.
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant of various crimes related to drug trafficking, including two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. While executing a search warrant of the defendant's apartment, police found a noteworthy collection of drugs and drug paraphernalia: copious quantities of heroin, cocaine and marijuana, in addition to packaging supplies, cutting materials, scales, sifters and blending equipment to go along with six firearms. The defendant disputes a section of jury instructions on the firearm charges, claiming the instruction that he is guilty of using the gun in furtherance if the distribution of drugs and the common sense recognition that drug dealing is a dangerous and violent enterprise may support an inference that the defendant’s possession of a firearm was to facilitate drug dealing. There is no false legal premise in these instructions as the jurors were told that the dangerous and violent nature of drug dealing was “a common sense recognition.” But the jurors were then advised that the province of common sense was fully their own. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-4222, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Jury Instructions
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the agency. Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, a drug manufacturer that increases its prices faster than inflation rises must reimburse Medicaid for the difference. These reimbursements are paid via rebates. Primarily, each drug’s rebate amount is usually determined based on its own original price and inflation clock, but not always. Congress has instructed in the Medicaid statute that some “line extension” drugs can be on the hook not only for their own price increases but also for the price increases of the drugs they evolved from. The agency promulgated a regulation that set forth criteria for what constitutes a line-extension drug that the pharmaceutical company claims expanded the definition of a line extension beyond what the Medicaid statute permitted. Each departure of the regulatory text is patently superficial, with no discernable effect on the term’s reach. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1457, Categories: Government, Medicaid, Agency
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted the government summary judgment. The attorney sought to sue the FBI for violating the Freedom of Information Act when it refused to turn over documents related to the charging of his client with the production and possession of child pornography. The documents fall within the exception for records that could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings as they are part of ongoing investigations of third-party individuals. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 23-1821, Categories: Evidence, Child Pornography
J. Wilkinson finds the Board properly denied the Venezuelan's petition for relief from deportation. The Venezuelan argued his attempts to meet a 14-year-old for sex, which led to attempted sexual battery and electronic solicitation of minor convictions, are not crimes involving moral turpitude. He argued that attempted sexual battery was not a crime involving moral turpitude as the minimum conduct to sustain a conviction was insufficiently reprehensible. And he claimed that the electronic solicitation statute lacked the requisite culpable mens rea to be a crime involving moral turpitude. Statutes that limit convictions to defendants who knew or had reason to believe that their intentional sexual acts were directed at children categorically involve moral turpitude. Denied.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 23-1238, Categories: Immigration, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the county on all claims and dismissed the case. The police officer contends that the county transferred him to an inferior posting in retaliation for his filing a complaint alleging discrimination in departmental promotion practices. The office, tasked with training recruits at the academy, accused his employer of skipping over him for promotions for less qualified women. The chief had more than enough reason to transfer the officer, though, after a series of concerning events, including an accidental firearm discharge, allegations that a range instructor used a racial slur against black police officers, and a widespread failure to follow departmental policies, were reported from the academy. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 22-1287, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
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J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly found the free-choice-of-provider provision of the Medicaid Act creates enforceable individual rights. South Carolina argued a recent high court ruling compels the conclusion that individual Medicaid beneficiaries cannot enforce the free choice-of-provider provision, but the ruling did not change the law to an extent that would call previous determinations into question. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson , Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 21-1043, Categories: Government, Health Care, Medicaid
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly denied motions to suppress evidence stemming from a Facebook warrant. The six MS-13 gang members accused of trafficking a 13-year-old girl for prostitution failed to show that the warrant that sought communication regarding the minor didn't have sufficient nexus between the Facebook accounts to be searched and the crimes under investigation. Affirmed
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-4656, Categories: Prostitution, Gangs, Human Trafficking
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly affirmed the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services decision to deny residence to a citizen of the Czech Republic. The foreign citizen, who attempted twice to claim he was married to an American, was found to be lying about the first marriage, meaning for his second attempt, he didn't pass the marriage fraud bar, which prohibits the approval of petitions on behalf of any noncitizen who has previously been found to have entered into a fraudulent marriage to circumvent immigration laws. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 22-2285, Categories: Fraud, Immigration, Agency
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly dismissed the developer's claims that the city violated their equal protection rights when it denied their rezoning applications. The city council was right to be concerned as the area compounded flood risk and increased enrollment at already overpopulated schools. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1690, Categories: Construction, Zoning
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court improperly granted judgment to the property owners instead finding their policy violated the Fair Housing Act because it disproportionately ousted Latinos from the rental properties. The property owners began requiring proof of renters' legal status to renew leases, arguing they were protecting themselves against federal anti-harbouring laws. The anti-harbouring statute does not apply to landlords merely leasing to undocumented immigrants. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 22-1660, Categories: Immigration, Landlord Tenant, Housing
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly applied a sentence enhancement to defendant's assault conviction for causing severe bodily harm. The defendant's sister accused their roommate of sexually assaulting her, leading to the defendant firing a shot near the roommate's foot that sent small shrapnel into the roommate's forehead. The defendant claims the injury suffered was ordinary, but the culmination of the roommate's need to go to an emergency room where he received strong painkillers along with his testimony on the pain, give enough to believe it was serious. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 22-4442, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Assault
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted the investigator summary judgment regarding the teenager's First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment claims. A woman who had been raped and robbed called the police and identified the teenager as one of the two men responsible. DNA eventually showed that the teenager was likely not involved but the investigator had probable cause to interrogate him based on the victim's identification. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 22-1788, Categories: Burglary, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Sex Offender
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's motion for release from civil commitment under the Adam Walsh Act. The defendant, convicted of various crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors, was civilly committed at the end of his 20-year sentence because the government found him to be sexually dangerous. The defendant seeking to be released told a psychologist that he did not believe pubescent boys were children and that sex with a pubescent boy was not abuse. The defendant failed to provide evidence that he is no longer sexually dangerous. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 22-6118, Categories: Sex Offender, Commitment, Child Victims
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant to 120 months imprisonment and five years of supervised release for unlawful possession of a firearm and aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute at least 40 grams of fentanyl. The defendant had previously been convicted of 27 non-traffic offenses, including nighttime burglary, burglary, grand theft, contempt of court, and domestic battery. The defendant qualified for an upward variance in his sentencing despite pleading guilty due to the quantity of fentanyl the defendant possessed. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 21-4312, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly dismissed the gang member's motion to vacate his conviction of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity with a dangerous weapon remain a crime of violence despite the Supreme Court's ruling narrowing down what crimes count as crimes of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 21-7257, Categories: Firearms, Racketeering, Gangs
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly dismissed the drug dealer's motion for resentencing. The lower court erroneously included special conditions of supervised release that had not been pronounced as part of the dealer's oral sentence. Still, the dealer failed to appeal within the time limit. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: 22-4166, Categories: Fair Trial, Sentencing
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly sentenced the ISIS supporter for violating the terms of his supervised release. The supporter spent five years in federal prison after donating to ISIS via Bitcoin, recruiting new members, and sharing ISIS content. The ISIS supporter met with several known ISIS sympathizers online using a virtual private network to evade monitoring. The instructions were not vague regarding speaking with other extremists. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson , Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 23-4283, Categories: Parole, Sentencing, Terrorism
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly declined the judge's motion for summary judgment on judicial immunity grounds. During a legal dispute between an ex-married couple over the distribution of several sentimental items like photos and yearbooks, the judge, frustrated with the husband's failure to turn over items, entered his home despite objection from the husband, whom she threatened to arrest and supervised the seizure of items in the house. Taking it upon herself to conduct an unlawful search of his home falls outside of her judicial role. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 22-1757, Categories: Family Law, Judiciary, Immunity
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court improperly denied immunity to the Maryland Capitol police officer who arrested protesters who allegedly refused to move off a sidewalk. The police chief instructed the officer to evaluate the situation and relocate the picketers if necessary. A reasonable officer in the officer's position could have believed that the orders constituted lawful time, place, or manner restrictions on the picketers’ First Amendment rights. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 21-1608, Categories: First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly denied the truck driver's argument that the company's negligence led to the accident that injured him. The truck driver acted negligently when he opened the manway covered on the tanker without relieving all of the tank's pressure leading to an explosion that left him paraplegic. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 21-2368, Categories: Negligence, Workers' Compensation