J. Bennett affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court preliminary injunction limiting wolf trapping and snaring in certain parts of Montana to January 1, 2024 through February 15, 2024. Environmental groups alleged that Montana’s laws authorizing recreational wolf and coyote trapping and snaring, including regulations approved by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission, allowed the unlawful “take” of grizzly bears, a threatened species. The district court was correct in considering new arguments and new materials, submitted with the organizations' reply brief in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction, because the record showed that the State of Montana had an opportunity to respond to those submissions. However, the injunction was overbroad because it prevents Montana from trapping and snaring wolves for research purposes. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-3754, Categories: Environment
J. Self grants the product seller's motion to dismiss a trademark infringement action brought by the ammunition design company arising from the seller's alleged sale of a product infringing on the "Quik-Shok" mark. The company failed to present evidence supporting the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the Virginia-based seller and has not shown that the seller regularly conducts business in or derives substantial revenue from Georgia. Only two of the seller's 5,300 orders were sold to Georgia residents and neither order was for the allegedly infringing product. The company also failed to show that any transaction occurred between the seller and the manufacturer of the infringing product at a Georgia trade show.
Court: USDC Middle District of Georgia, Judge: Self, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv512, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Jurisdiction
J. Martin finds that the lower court properly declared the state board's decision to revoke the school's charter unlawful. The school has standing to pursue judicial review of the board's determination because 2012 amendments to the law did not signal legislative intent to prohibit judicial review pursuant to the Missouri Administrative Protection Act after revocation of a charter. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Martin, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: WD86457, Categories: Administrative Law, Education, Jurisdiction
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J. Young grants the insurance company's motion to dismiss an indemnification suit. The transport manager hired to haul construction equipment suffered an injury offloading when the site supervisor improperly used a Bobcat to take heavy amounts of rebar off a truck bed. The improper use, failing to lower the hydraulic lift cylinder to balance the weight of the load, caused the Bobcat to tip over, releasing the stack of rebar onto the manager. This caused a fractured left ankle, a fractured arm requiring surgery and permanent crush injuries to his left foot. The manager's insurance policy covered incidents from the insured tractor-trailer, not the Bobcat.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Young, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv67, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Construction, Insurance, Indemnification
J. Ledet finds that the trial court properly dismissed a borrower's reconventional demand against the lender on the lender's petition for executory process to foreclose on the mortgage loan. In this case, the borrower did not provide a written agreement to base her claims that the mortgage servicer advised her not to take action as the fraud investigation was ongoing. Further, the borrower did not properly state a cause of action under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act because the Act exempts federally insured financial institutions, their subsidiaries, and their affiliates from its jurisdiction. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ledet, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0747, Categories: Banking / Lending, Contract
J. Ebel finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sexual abuse against a minor. Defendant claims on appeal that the lower court improperly allowed a 50-minute video recording of a forensic interview with the child victim, which defendant says violated the rules regarding hearsay. The interview in question, however, was supported by "sufficient guarantees of trustworthiness" and had enough value to the proceedings to outweigh any evidence-related issues. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Ebel, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 22-7033, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Martin finds that the lower court properly granted defendant's motion to suppress statements he made during a police interrogation while he was being treated in the emergency room for a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The statements were subject to suppression because police did not advise defendant of his Miranda rights before questioning him. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Martin, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: WD86602, Categories: Firearms, Miranda
J. Singh finds that the lower court improperly found defendant does not suffer from a mental abnormality that predisposes him to commit sexual offenses by conflating legal standards in its assessments of the state's case. Further, the court improperly relied upon extra-record psychological research on several important issues, such as the effect of opioid use on sexual offending without notifying the parties. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Singh, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 02158, Categories: Sex Offender, Commitment
J. Rivera finds that the appellate division improperly held that changes to for-profit nursing homes' Medicaid rates could not be made retroactively because legislation authorizing the changes to help close a state budget gap specified an April 1 effective date, and new rates were not made retroactive when homes were notified months after federal approval. Meanwhile, the usual 60-day advance notice requirement was not applicable due to the urgency of the fiscal crisis. Reversed in part.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Rivera, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 31, Categories: Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Medicaid
[Consolidated.] J. Cannataro finds that the tax appeals tribunal properly denied corporate tax deductions to Walt Disney and IBM based on their foreign affiliates' royalty payments on licensed intellectual property. For a decade, New York allowed companies that paid franchise taxes to deduct income received as royalty payments if the affiliates already paid a state tax on the same income, as long as companies included the royalty payments when calculating their own taxable income. However, the affiliates operate overseas and thus are not subject to that provision, and royalty deductions do not apply. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cannataro, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 34, Categories: Corporations, Commerce, Tax
J. Campbell enters a default judgment against a transitional home staffing service in the amount of $90,000 for unpaid wages and overtime. The staffing service failed to respond to an employee's allegations that it misclassified her as an independent contractor and failed to pay her for overtime when she worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week as a sober home manager.
Court: USDC Arizona, Judge: Campbell, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1882, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Damages
J. Parker denies the appellants' motions for rehearing and en banc reconsideration, withdraws the court's prior opinion, and substitutes the current memorandum opinion, holding that the lower court properly denied their dismissal motion pursuant the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The court concludes that the claims at issue in this case, involving allegations of fraudulent transfer, are not based on the exercise of the right to petition. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Parker, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 07-23-00271-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Fraud
J. Pittman finds that a litigant of a previous divorce proceeding does not have standing to sue judges and attorneys involved in the divorce case because both are immune from such actions. Furthermore, the litigant has produced no evidence to support their RICO claims that involve a scheme between judges, attorneys and the litigant’s bank to launder money through attorney fees to pay for property purchases. The litigant’s case is dismissed.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Pittman, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv758, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Immunity, Jurisdiction, Racketeering
J. Rodriguez partially grants a subcontractor’s motion to dismiss after it was sued by a company that had contracted it for IT work, which said that the subcontractor did not have “the specialized knowledge to develop the IT system” as it claimed and had other irregularities in its work, including double billing and improper installation. While the hiring company can proceed with its lawsuit, it cannot bring claims under the Computer Fraud Abuse Act, as even under the suing company's version of events, the subcontractor “had at least some authorization to access the IT system at issue.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv1038, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Negligence, Contract, Technology
J. Yegan finds that defendant's bid for resentencing on a provocative act murder conviction failed because it is still a valid theory of murder. The legislature had the opportunity but chose not to eliminate provocative act murder when it eliminated the natural and probable consequences theory of murder. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Yegan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: B323640, Categories: Murder, Sentencing
J. Pirtle finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for assault, attempted possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Defendant admitted to assaulting the victim and stealing his vehicle and firearms after the two had been involved in a drunken altercation. Though defendant says the victim had shot at him and missed before he punched him and stomped on his head, sufficient evidence supports the convictions. The record is insufficient to review claims of ineffective assistance, containing no discussions between defendant and his attorney regarding claims of self-defense. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-1000, Categories: Assault, Weapons, Vehicle
J. Arterburn finds the district court improperly dismissed the swimming pool owner's breach of contract suit. The owner did not sign the third page of the pool remodel contract, which included the forum selection clause, and the court did not consider evidence relevant to whether an exception barred the clause's enforcement. Reversed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-572, Categories: Evidence, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Brennan denies the insurer's motion to compel discovery and the completion of an appraisal of reconstruction costs for the apartment building, ruling language in the parties' contract renders any appraisal signed by both parties final and binding. Therefore, the insurer cannot challenge any costs included in the appraisal, which was completed by an independent panel and signed by both parties.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv1032, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Discovery
J. Bruggink grants the U.S. dismissal of pro se patent infringement claims related to cellular phones because the claim is identical to multiple other claims that have already been considered and dismissed.
Court: Court of Federal Claims, Judge: Bruggink, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-811C, Categories: Patent