152 results for 'filedAt:"2024-02-06"'.
J. Bredar grants a former physician and his wife’s motion for leave to file a surreply and denies as moot the motion to strike a medical holdings company ripeness argument in this ERISA case. The physician retired after he was diagnosed with behavioral frontotemporal dementia and alleges the company has failed to provide the documentation of explanation of insurance benefits. The court concludes the company’s ripeness argument is meritless and could cause a hardship regarding the life insurance benefits. The claims for reformation, equitable estoppel and surcharge are dismissed, in part, in favor of the company. The physician can amend his claims for reformation and equitable estoppel.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Bredar, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1243, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa
J. Greenholtz finds the lower court properly denied defendant’s petition for post-conviction relief. Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to sell or deliver, with the length and manner of service to be determined by the court. Defendant received an 18-year sentence, and requested placement in a drug court program followed by community corrections, which the trial court considered; but when defendant was taken into custody, he was found to have heroin and opiates on his person and received new charges. Because of the new charges, defendant was no longer eligible for the drug court program and the trial court ordered him to serve his 18-year sentence. Defendant claims trial counsel was ineffective because he did not seek a competency evaluation due to mental illness, did not seek a continuance for his sentencing hearing, and alleges counsel knew he was not on his mental health medications and was using heroin at the time of the sentencing hearing. The post-conviction court found credibility in counsel’s testimony, and the instant court finds no deficiency in defendant’s representation. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Greenholtz, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: M2023-00048-CCA-R3-PC, Categories: Drug Offender, Ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. Myers and three additional judges grant the federal government’s motion to strike the jury trial demand brought by a group of military service members and their families in an ongoing dispute about allegedly contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The service members and families claim some of them developed cancer or died after exposure to toxic substances in the water when they lived at the military base. The government enacted a law allowing affected individuals to sue it under certain conditions, but nothing in the law requires a jury trial.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Myers, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv897, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Water, Military
J. Kearse finds that the district court improperly dismissed certain claims contending a doctor had been terminated for pretextual reasons upon the closing of a hospital infertility program. "Rational juror" principles were not applied to assess whether a connection might be inferred between termination and the doctor's recovery from a neurological impairment, or the red flags she raised on patient-care and billing errors by two colleagues.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Kearse, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 20-3894, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Rubin grants summary judgment in favor of a federal agent in this Electronic Communications Privacy Act claim by a CBS investigative reporter and her daughter alleging surveillance and hacking of their electronic devices. The reporter and her daughter failed to substantively respond to the motion and has no admissible evidence to demonstrate the agent violated the Act. A reasonable juror could not conclude the agent, or another person intercepted or disclosed the electronic devices or violated the Act in any way.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Rubin, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv68, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Communications, Evidence
Per curiam, the Georgia Supreme Court accepts attorney Coulter Clauzell Henry, Jr.'s petition for voluntary discipline following his admitted violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The attorney falsely told a client that his patent application had been filed, instead filing it more than three months later. The attorney showed remorse and refunded the client's legal fee. The attorney will receive a public reprimand.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S24Y0195, Categories: Judiciary, Attorney Discipline
J. Ellington finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Defendant failed to show that he suffered a constructive denial of his right to counsel based on his trial counsel's alleged failure to subject the state's case to meaningful adversarial testing. Defendant's counsel engaged in discovery, filed pre-trial motions, prepared defense witnesses and cross-examined most of the state's witnesses. Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's allegedly deficient performance. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Ellington, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S23A1024, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Walker grants the government's motion for summary judgment in a negligence suit. A sailor fought with a British sailor at a bar near the base, causing the sailor to suffer severe damage to his left eye. Despite repeated requests to be evacuated to the United States, the Navy said he was cleared to remain on duty. When he finally got back to the U.S. on leave, a doctor found a permanent injury that could have been prevented if he had surgery to repair the eye closer to the time of the incident. The claim is barred by sovereign immunity as it was the Navy doctors' judgment to clear him for work and deny his evacuation request.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Walker, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv527, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Immunity, Negligence, Military
J. Murray grants, in part, an insured’s motion to compel discovery request in this insurance suit of wrongful death claims for negligent or wanton failure to settle; bad faith failure to investigate, defend and settle; and tortious interference against the insurer. The insured is a non-medical home care assistance business and was sued after one of its customers died due to burns he received because he had been left in hot water by an employee. The court finds that the insurer will not be harmed by releasing certain unredacted versions of documents. The documents that are to be withheld are duplicate documents that were produced for in-camera review.
Court: USDC Southern District of Alabama, Judge: Murray, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv372, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Discovery, Privilege
J. Ebel finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant on firearm convictions. The lower court used a prior conviction to help calculate his sentence after finding that the prior conviction was a "crime of violence," but the lower court used the incorrect approach in finding if that conviction was based on "intentional rather than reckless conduct." Because his prior conviction was improperly labeled for sentencing purposes, defendant's sentence needs to be recalculated. Vacated.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Ebel, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 22-1203, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Baker finds that counsel was not deficient for deciding not to challenge questions the state asked defendant during his robbery trial. The prosecutor's "were they lying" questions were permissible because the credibility of the witnesses was a principal issue in determining his guilt. And in the context of his line of questioning, the prosecutor was not expressing a personal opinion when he asked, "You could just tell the truth, couldn't you?" Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0429, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Robbery
J. Cole grants the pharmaceutical company's motion for judgment on the podiatrist's junk fax claim, ruling unrebutted testimony from its owner that it sent faxes only to medical practices that requested them, alongside evidence the podiatrist had previously received samples and was in the pharmaceutical company's contact list, is sufficient to prove the podiatrist or someone in her office solicited the fax.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Cole, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 1:16cv945, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, Consumer Law
J. Pinson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction, including evidence that defendant threatened to kill the victim in the months before the murders. The trial court correctly admitted testimony about defendant's possession of a gun similar to the murder weapon. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient or that he was prejudiced by the alleged deficiencies. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S23A1034, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder
Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed a whistleblower-retaliation action brought by a Canadian citizen who alleged the claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts. The whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions in the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts do not apply outside the United States. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 22-15959, Categories: Whistleblowers, Employment Retaliation
J. Williams denies, in part, the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the employee's emotional distress claim must be decided by a jury because if the termination process began when she attempted to return from medical leave, the embarrassment and humiliation from being replaced could support such a claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Williams, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv821, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Emotional Distress, Employment Discrimination
J. Lange dismisses a matter without prejudice in which a company alleged a property developer violated the Clean Water Act of 1972 through their construction and design of a surface water runoff plan. The company failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In a hearing on the motion, argument largely centered on whether dismissal of the complaint should be with or without prejudice.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Lange, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv5016, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Water
J. Medina finds the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear the state's appeal of a magistrate's suppression of all prosecution witnesses during defendant's DUI case. The state filed the appeal before the magistrate court entered a decision on the merits of the motion. However, the district court was required to conduct an analysis of any possible speedy trial violations before it dismissed the charges refiled by the state, and so the case will be remanded. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge: Medina, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: A-1-CA-40849, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Speedy Trial, Jurisdiction
J. Pinson finds that the appeals court improperly overturned the trial court's ruling which reversed a final agency decision that held the hospital would have to obtain a new certificate of need to change from a long-term care hospital to a short-term care hospital. The decision arose out of an action brought by the hospital against the university and department. The appeals court incorrectly found that certificates of need confer only public rights and that the hospital's grandfathered right to operate as short-term hospital was not a vested right. A certificate of need's authorization to operate as a general acute care hospital confers private rights on the recipient. Vacated.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S22G1282, Categories: Property
J. Wolfson compels the release of documents in claims contending an administrator worked with pharmacy benefit managers to reclassify essential drugs as non-essential to maximize profits at the expense of insurers. The company has an obligation to search documents, even if some are privileged, since production can be withheld later on. Meanwhile, the parties should confer on a narrow set of search terms to determine if certain financial documents should be produced.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Wolfson , Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2632, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Insurance, Interference With Contract, Discovery
J. Colvin finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, cruelty to children and other offenses. Defendant was found guilty but mentally ill. The trial court correctly admitted an audio recording of defendant's interview with the state's psychiatrist. The trial court did not commit any error by failing to instruct the jury on a possible verdict of guilty but with intellectual disability. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Colvin, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S23A0936, Categories: Murder, Child Victims
J. Ecker finds the trial court erroneously determined the city was required to increase the retired firefighters' pension benefits after a retroactive wage increase. Although the firefighters were not retired on the retroactive application date, language in the union's pension and collective bargaining agreements was ambiguous as to whether such changes would apply to pension benefits. Only mandatory retirees are eligible for retroactive increases, according to the agreements, and so the forced retirees at issue in this case are necessarily excluded from the increase awarded by the arbitration panel. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: SC20803, Categories: Arbitration, Pensions, Labor / Unions
J. Pratter grants final approval of this class action settlement between the Democratic National Committee and its workers during the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections in this suit over underpayment of overtime wages. The $3.5 million settlement is fair and reasonable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Pratter, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 2:16cv5800, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action, Labor
J. Oberto grants $11,000 in attorney fees following a settlement of his Americans with Disabilities Act claims. Although the hourly rates are reasonable, the lodestar amount was reduced by 50 percent due, in part, to redundant and inefficient work performed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Oberto, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv319, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Attorney Fees