J. Neeley finds the trial court properly convicted and sentenced defendant, by guilty plea, for aggravated robbery. Defendant served as the getaway driver for a group who, after committing a “purse snatch” tried to rob an elderly woman as she gardened in her front yard. Surveillance video from a church next door to the woman’s house captured every aspect of the robbery, including the violence committed against the woman. Punishment is assessed within guidelines and there is no Eighth Amendment violation. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Neeley, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00133-CR, Categories: Evidence, Robbery, Cruel And Unusual Punishment
J. Robinson finds that the trial court properly found for the defendant driver in a suit stemming from a car accident between two vehicles at an intersection controlled by traffic lights. The judge found the defendant driver's version of the events more credible when he testified that he came to a complete stop before moving into the intersection on a green arrow. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Robinson , Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 54,953-CA, Categories: Evidence, Negligence
J. Jones finds that the trial court improperly ruled against the Texas Education Agency, denying its jurisdictional plea in a suit filed against it by a special education provider. The provider was denied state funds for its operations. On appeal, the agency asserts it is shielded from suit by sovereign immunity. The education services provider did not properly establish an issue that would have waived the agency’s immunity. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Jones, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 03-22-00172-CV, Categories: Education, Government, Jurisdiction
J. Mooney finds the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision properly deferred petitioner’s parole consideration for 36 months. “The board’s job was to reach a conclusion about mental disorders and dangerousness as a “lay concept,” not entirely tethered to a psychological or medical diagnosis.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: A176059, Categories: Parole
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J. Buller finds that a minor child was properly adjudicated delinquent and placed in a residential treatment facility after she stole and totaled a car and because she had a history of running away and may have been a victim of human trafficking. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Buller, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 22-1873, Categories: Juvenile Law
J. Worthen finds the trial court properly adjudicated defendant a sexually violent predator, committing him for treatment and supervision. Defendant is currently serving 18 years for aggravated sexual assault of a child and was previously incarcerated for the same. The forensic psychologist testified that defendant is of a high likelihood to reoffend, suffering from abnormal paraphilic disorder, aroused by post-pubescent girls. Though defense objected to the state’s use of the phrase “reasonable degree of scientific certainty,” it was overruled, being that no authority has adjudicated the standard impermissible. The admission was not harmful considering the record evidence as a whole. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00282-CV, Categories: Sex Offender, Commitment, Child Victims
J. Windhorst finds that the trial court should not have denied the state's motion to introduce past crimes evidence against defendant, who was charged with domestic battery. The evidence was of another incident where defendant was accused of assaulting the victim, during an argument in which she was also gathering her belongings to leave the residence, while her mother was present. Although the victim recanted her prior statement to the police that the incident occurred, the evidence places the charged offense in context and is relevant to show the volatile nature of the relationship. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Windhorst, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 22-K-581, Categories: Evidence, Assault, Domestic Violence
J. Wicks enters judgment in favor of the defendant railroad freight carriers on a stone supplier’s breach of contract and Carmack Amendment claims alleging failure to deliver stone supplies and return empty railcars in a timely manner, which ultimately resulted in the supplier going out of business. The court finds its contract claims are preempted by the Carmack Amendment, and its Carmack Amendment claims are time-barred.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Wicks, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv2381, NOS: Commerce - Other Suits, Categories: Commerce, Contract
J. Powers finds the trial court properly imposed five years of post-prison supervision. The law “ bars appellate review of ‘any part of a sentence resulting from a stipulated sentencing agreement between the state and the defendant.’” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Powers, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: A176177, Categories: Sentencing
J. Cox vacates defendant's convictions for second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. In this case, there is no indication that either of defendant's convictions were unanimous. Vacated.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Cox, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 55,010-KA, Categories: Jury, Murder
J. Hixson finds on this interlocutory appeal, the circuit court properly struck the farm’s answers to the lender’s complaints alleging it had defaulted on five retail installment sale contracts and security agreements covering property including tractors and other farm equipment. When the farm responded, after delays, to interrogatories and requests for production, its response that “I hope I can get this information within the next 10 business days,” being evasive, is treated as a failure to respond according to rules of civil procedure. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: CV-22-367, Categories: Agriculture, Property, Banking / Lending
J. Komitee dismisses a law firm’s insurance contract action against its insurer which seeks to recover damages stemming from the insurer’s denial of coverage and to compel the insurer to defend and indemnify for an underlying negligence action. The law firm was sued by one of its clients alleging it mistakenly sent a $529,950 closing fee, which was intended for the purchase of a real estate property in Staten Island, to a fraudster who was accidently added to an email chain. Its claims are not covered by the policy because they arise from the conversion or misappropriation of funds.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Komitee, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv4904, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Property, Negligence
J. Bustamante finds a lower court ruled mostly correctly in a lawsuit between a citizen and New Mexico county officials over access to records. While one record in question, an email, was improperly classified as falling under attorney-client privilege and should have been produced, the court overall ruled correctly in declining to release the remaining records in question, including personnel documents.
Court: New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge: Bustamante, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: A-1-CA-39724, Categories: Government, Public Record, Privilege
J. Navarro grants the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s motion to intervene in the mortgage company pursuit of foreclosure on a property owned by the investment pool. The FHFA has a statutory right to intervene as Fannie Mae’s conservator in any action in which it is a party, according to rules of civil procedure. The FHFA meets the requirements for permissive intervention as regulator and conservator.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Navarro, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv626, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Housing, Agency, Foreclosure
J. Rubin grants the postmaster general his motion to dismiss allegations of race discrimination and retaliation brought by a former processing clerk. The clerk, a Black man, argues that coworkers and a supervisor harassed him multiple times, spitting in his coffee, punching his leg and saying things like “Donovan dick small.” He also claims he was fired after filing a claim with the EEOC. However, the clerk fails to indicate any racial bias in his claim for discrimination and was fired due to poor job performance during his probationary period.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Rubin, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1285, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Payne grants the consumers motion for summary judgment in a Second Amendment suit challenging the federal government's age restriction on purchasing handguns. The consumers, a class of people over 18 but under 21, sufficiently pled that laws barring them from purchasing handguns despite being law-abiding citizens violates the Second Amendment.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Payne, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv41, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Consumer Law, Agency
J. Cradle finds the lower court properly terminated the mother's parental rights. Her failure to address trauma-related violence made her a threat to the safety of her children, especially considering she refused to admit she ever threatened to harm the children or engage in any therapy. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cradle, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: AC45891, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Aycock grants a sheriff’s motion to dismiss claims of wrongful death, as they were filed after the statute of limitations, in regards to the murder of an individual held in prison for trespassing and murdered by a cell sharing inmate.
Court: USDC Northern District of Mississippi , Judge: Aycock, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv114, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Prisoners' Rights
J. Branch finds that the district court properly entered an order enforcing only part of an administrative subpoena issued by the commission against a car part manufacturer. The commission sought a subpoena for information on employees fired by the manufacturer for attendance-related infractions. The commission charged the manufacturer with discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act after an employee complained he was fired for taking protected FMLA absences. The district court correctly found that the commission's charge related only to the manufacturer's Northport facility in Alabama. The companywide data sought by the commission is irrelevant to that charge. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Branch, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 21-13799, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment Discrimination
J. Elrod finds the district court properly ordered a group of Mississippi legislators to produce a privilege log after it entered a lawsuit opposing a new law abolishing the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, replacing it with a regional authority for which not all commissioners are selected by Jackson city government. A privilege log is necessary to determine which documents and communications are protected by legislative privilege, though the court did err in broadly holding that legislative privilege was automatically waived for documents shared with third parties. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Elrod, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 21-60312, Categories: Administrative Law, Due Process, Discovery
J. Foster grants the pornographer's motions for leave to serve third-party subpoenas in 14 related cases alleging that unknown defendants unlawfully downloaded and distributed its copyrighted material. Expedited discovery is warranted since the defendants' identities are unknown, the discovery requests are specific in seeking only the defendants' names and addresses, there are no other ways to obtain the information, the case cannot proceed without it, and the pornographer's right to pursue its copyright claims outweighs the defendants' expectations of privacy.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Foster, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv1165, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Privacy, Discovery