95 results for 'judge:"Peterson"'.
J. Peterson partially grants the insureds' motion for attorney fees after a jury found in their favor on on bad faith and Insurance Fair Conduct Act claims against the insurance company and awarded them $9,600. The insureds ask for $229,600 in attorney fees, but the jury found that one of the insureds did not exercise ordinary care to avoid or minimize his damages and the insureds record unproductive time and block billing. As such, the insureds receive $106,800 in attorney fees.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: January 19, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv159, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Attorney Fees
J. Peterson partially denies the elections commission and Wisconsin Legislature's motions to dismiss the voters' lawsuit claiming that Wisconsin law's absentee-voting witness requirement violates the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. In light of two state-court lawsuits dealing with substantially similar issues, the merits of the voters' claims will not be decided at this time, and a partial stay is enacted which will allow parties to continue briefing for summary judgment. The elections commission itself is dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds, but the commission's individual commissioners will remain as parties to both of the voters' claims.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv672, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Immunity
J. Peterson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, aggravated assault and firearm offenses. Any error the trial court committed by denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized from his phone was harmless in light of the strong evidence of defendant's guilt. The trial court correctly admitted testimony by a detective stating that defendant refused to submit to gunshot residue testing. The trial court also correctly resentenced defendant to life without parole under a recidivist statute. Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's allegedly deficient performance. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: S23A1159, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder, Sentencing
J. Peterson finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion for pretrial release on charges of threatening a public official. The evidence establishes that defendant was continuously aggressive with officers, repeatedly threatened to kill a female officer, and threatened to bring a pipe bomb to the police station. He was also on probation for aggravated assault of a peace officer at the time. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: 230568, Categories: Bail, Threats
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. Peterson finds that the lower court properly found for the village on a law firm's suit for breach of contract regarding its attempt to buy or continue to lease certain commercial real property that was allegedly thwarted by the village. The law firm failed to show the village knew the terms of its lease when it negotiated to purchase the subject property or that it took any action to persuade the landlord to breach the lease. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: 230083, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Interference With Contract, Contract
J. Peterson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and other offenses. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions, including defendant's admission that he was present when the victim was shot but made no attempt to seek medical aid. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to request a jury instruction on concealing the death of another or hindering the apprehension of a felon. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23A0894, Categories: Firearms, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Peterson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court did not commit any error in failing to instruct the jury on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter because the evidence did not support the charge. The admission of photos of two model guns that could have been used in the shooting and photos of defendant with the guns probably did not impact the verdict in light of the strong evidence of defendant's guilt. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23A1078, Categories: Firearms, Murder
J. Peterson partially grants the father's motion for attorney fees and costs in a lawsuit against his son and others involving a dispute between family over ownership of a company that runs multiple car dealerships. The father is awarded one-third of his total request for attorney fees, which will amount to $204,402, and he is also awarded $60,033 in costs, bringing his total award to $264,435.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv980, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Peterson grants summary judgment to the county, sheriff, jail administrator and others in a lawsuit from the parents of a woman who died by suicide while in custody at the county's jail. The parents concede that jail staff could not have known about their daughter's suicidal intentions at the time of her death, in part because she spent 18 days in general population denying feeling suicidal and showing no concerning behavior after spending two days on suicide watch, so there is no basis for an Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference claim. The parents' alternative arguments, including those blaming their daughter's death on unconstitutional excessive force and conditions of confinement, fail for a lack of evidence in the record, and their state-law claims are dismissed without prejudice.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv253, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Negligence
J. Peterson denies the city's motion to exclude the "tribal scenario" portion of the Monsanto's expert's opinion in the city's complaint accusing the agrochemical company of manufacturing polychlorinated biphenyls that contaminated the Lower Duwamish River. The city does not sufficiently argue how the tribal scenario's use of specific data from a 2000 fish consumption survey of the Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Indian Reservation in the Puget Sound Region, rather than data from the entire Puget Sound Region, makes it irrelevant to this lawsuit.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 2:16cv107, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Environment, Experts, Discovery
J. Peterson finds for the county, city and police officers in a lawsuit from the estate of a man one of the officers shot and killed after he and another officer tased him during a violent struggle upon finding the man naked and acting bizarrely subsequent to crashing his car into a snowbank. The officers actions can be reasonably justified given the circumstances, so the officers and municipalities are granted summary judgment on the estate's Fourth Amendment claims pertaining to the man's detention and the officers tasing and shooting him. The estate's claims referencing municipal liability and federal disability statutes also fail, as it has not shown the man's death was caused by any inadequate municipal policies for dealing with those in a mental health crisis or a failure to accommodate the man's disabilities, so the municipalities are granted summary judgment on those claims as well.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv102, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Peterson finds that the lower court properly dismissed a citizen's claim alleging voter disenfranchisement during the April 2021 election for Glendale Heights village president, but improperly dismissed his claim alleging deviations from the election code. While the verification affidavits were mistakenly not filed with the original petition, the petition was filed within the 30-day time period as required by law. Reversed in part.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 220446, Categories: Civil Procedure, Elections
J. Peterson finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of murder and incorrectly granted the state's motion to admit defendant's post-arrest statements to police into evidence. Defendant, who was 17 years old at the time, unequivocally invoked his Miranda rights by stating during the detention center booking process that he would not talk to law enforcement without an attorney. Defendant's statement was made after he was advised of his Miranda rights and after he was already subjected to some custodial interrogation on the way to the jail. A reasonable person in defendant's position would have believed an interrogation was imminent. Defendant's custodial statements to GBI agents the following day were therefore inadmissible and the state failed to show that the use of the statements as evidence was harmless. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: S23A0534, Categories: Miranda, Murder
J. Peterson grants the city's motion to exclude the proposed expert testimony of Dr. David L. Sunding from its lawsuit alleging that polychlorinated biphenyls from Monsanto's product, Aroclor, contaminated the Lower Duwamish River. Dr. Sunding's supplemental report is time barred because he submitted it nearly six months after the November 2023 expert report deadline, and on the last day of the parties' expert discovery period.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 2:16cv107, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Tort, Experts, Discovery
J. Peterson finds that the lower court improperly found for the hospital in a medical malpractice action stemming from a baby's severe brain injury due to lack of oxygen during the labor and delivery process. Due to the specific rules the hospital placed on the doctor regarding medical decision-making, the mother raised a genuine issue of fact as to whether the doctor was the hospital's implied agent. Reversed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 220008, Categories: Tort, Medical Malpractice
J. Peterson partially grants the health care system's motion to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit from two self-insured employers claiming the system violated federal antitrust law by using price fixing, unfair contracts and other anti-competitive practices to acquire a stranglehold on the market for inpatient and outpatient care in north-central Wisconsin at higher than average prices to consumers. Most of the employers' claims are stated and supported plausibly enough to avoid dismissal, but two claims alleging the system's exclusive dealing and conspiratorial efforts to influence competitors to reject reference-based pricing are dismissed.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv580, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Antitrust, Health Care, Class Action
J. Peterson finds in favor of the law firm in its lawsuit seeking payment from a former client of a roughly $96,000 bill for the firm's successful legal work on his behalf in a dispute with his employer. The client's claim of malpractice against the firm, supported only by his own "personal dissatisfaction" with his attorney's work, is not enough to overcome the fact that he has clearly breached his contract with the firm by refusing to pay his bill. Summary judgment is granted to the firm, and it is awarded its $96,952 unpaid bill in addition to damages and expenses for a total judgment of $149,180.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv66, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Peterson partially grants the debt collector's summary judgment motion in the consumer's lawsuit claiming it failed to properly handle her claim of identity theft after she informed it that a nearly $6,000 debt for unpaid rent at an apartment in Arizona did not belong to her, as she lives in Wisconsin. Disputed facts concerning whether the debt collector acted within the law in attempting to confirm proof of the consumer's address and otherwise investigate her claim need to go to a jury, but the consumer has adequately argued standing due to injuries she suffered in the form of denial of a student loan and lost time trying to fix her credit. Summary judgment is denied to both parties except for the consumer's claim for punitive damages, which is dismissed because she never responded to the debt collector's arguments about it in her brief.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv215, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law
J. Peterson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder predicated on possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. The trial court correctly charged the jury and instructed them that the state had to prove that defendant caused the victim's death either directly or as a party to the crime by shooting him with a gun. The jury's verdicts finding defendant guilty on one charge of murder based on marijuana possession but acquitting him on two charges related to murder based on aggravated assault are not repugnant. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: S23A0987, Categories: Murder, Jury Instructions
J. Peterson partially grants the consumers' motion to amend the scheduling order of their complaint that Amazon collected the consumers' biometric information from face scans for a video game without their knowledge or permission. An extension of time is appropriate because the consumers cannot move for class certification during pending third-party discovery, so jury trial will begin on Apr. 7, 2025 instead of on Jan. 22, 2024.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1473, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Jury, Discovery, Class Action
J. Peterson partially grants the beneficiary's motion for attorney fees in her lawsuit against the insurance company over the termination of her long-term disability benefits. Finding no basis to grant the beneficiary's "eye-popping" request for $180,774 in fees plus $2,984 in costs, she is awarded $69,725 in fees and no costs, as the fee calculations she proposes based on her attorneys' hourly work are excessive and unreasonable.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv420, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Insurance, Attorney Fees
J. Peterson denies the insurance company summary judgment regarding the insureds' bad faith claim that the insurance company did not act reasonably in the eight months it took to resolve the insureds' insurance coverage claim. Both parties present competing evidence that does not conclusively prove whether the insurance company made unreasonable delays when investigating the claim.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv159, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Peterson denies Enbridge's motion to reopen and intervene in a lawsuit between the property owners and the city over the city's desire to use a driveway on their private property as a public road, which ultimately ended in a settlement with the property owners granting the city a limited easement to use the driveway to access a neighboring property. Though Enbridge claims it needs full public access to the driveway in order to reroute an oil and natural gas pipeline over the neighboring property, it has not proven it has a right to intervene and force the lawsuit to be reopened because its knowledge of the underlying lawsuit and settlement makes its intervention untimely and the prejudice to the property owners and city in reopening the settled lawsuit outweighs any prejudice to Enbridge, and its state-law claims are better suited for a separate state-level action.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv409, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Property, Contract
J. Peterson grants class certification to the property owners in their complaint alleging that Wisconsin Secretary of Revenue Peter Barca took the owners' private property under the presumption that it was abandoned without compensating the property owners. Despite the differences in the alleged value of their properties, the claims of the property owners and other prospective class members are based on the contention that Wisconsin’s Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act does not follow the Seventh Circuit's decision that owners of unclaimed property should be compensated if the state uses that property.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv1109, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Property, Class Action
J. Peterson denies Monsanto's motion to exclude the expert testimony of Dr. Lisa Rodenburg from the city's lawsuit alleging that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the company's product, Aroclor, contaminated the Lower Duwamish River. Monsanto claims that Dr. Rodenburg's methodology was rigged "to ensure environmental sampling data would resemble Aroclor rather than byproduct PCB sources," but her academic remarks that several locations across the United States contained PCB congeners that can contribute to water pollution do not undermine her opinion that Aroclor is the primary source of PCB contamination in the river.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 2:16cv107, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Environment, Experts, Discovery