267 results for 'judge:"Smith "'.
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly denied the city's plea to the jurisdiction in a suit over its alleged mishandling of donations received after the death of a police corporal and other officers who were killed by a sniper during a demonstration in 2016. The city did not show that its actions in contracting with a charitable organization to process the mail and donations were "in the interest of the general public" or constituted a governmental function. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 10-23-00315-CV, Categories: Immunity, Conversion, Jurisdiction
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly terminated a mother's parental rights to her child because an independent fact finder would have similarly concluded that the mother endangered her child's well-being due to her use of and arrest for possessing illicit substances. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00707-CV, Categories: Family Law
J. Smith finds the lower court properly denied an estate administrator���s motion seeking judgment, costs, and interest against a nursing home and ambulance company in an associated wrongful death matter. The estate administrator argues that more than 30 days had passed since the settlement was approved, but the nursing home and ambulance company had yet to pay. The lower court found it necessary for the probate court to get involved and secure the distribution of the settlement so it could be accounted for, but the estate administrator argues that the probate requirement is a statutory misinterpretation by the lower court. The instant court finds the lower court���s interpretation to be correct, that the probate court���s involvement is necessary. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 230996, Categories: Settlements, Wills / Probate, Wrongful Death
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. Smith finds that the lower court improperly granted a no-evidence summary judgment to the appellee in this breach of contract and conversion case brought by his former employers. The lower court abused its discretion by "rejecting, and not considering, appellants' filing," which prevented them from properly presenting their evidence. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 05-23-00323-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Contract
J. Smith finds that the district court properly denied absolute and qualified immunity to two County of San Bernardino social workers in a matter in which the social workers allegedly violated individuals��� Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by failing to provide them with notice of a juvenile detention hearing in which the County���s Child and Family Services sought custody of a minor and provided false information to the Juvenile Court about why a mother was not noticed for the hearing. The social workers failed to show that they were entitled to absolute immunity for actions taken in their role as social workers. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 22-56054, Categories: Family Law, Immunity
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly granted the city's request for a temporary injunction in this suit regarding the appellants' business operations and the validity of the certificate of occupancy. Contrary to the appellants' argument, the city was "not required to raise the matter with the board of adjustment" prior to filing suit. Also, there was evidence that the "use of the property" had changed without a new certificate of occupancy. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 05-23-00496-CV, Categories: Municipal Law, Property, Real Estate
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly issued an injunction stalling an investigation that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is pursuing against a family based on gender-affirming care. However, the lower court improperly ruled against Gov. Abbott, as the family does not have standing to sue him. Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 03-22-00126-CV, Categories: Government, Jurisdiction, Lgbtq
J. Smith dismisses claims by a mother who says her daughter was wrongfully removed from her care by the Hawaii County police officers and the state���s human services department. The actions of each of the state agencies and the individual members of those agencies stemmed from reasonable belief that the child should be removed, and the mother could not provide evidence that showed otherwise.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv104, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Family Law, Agency, Police Misconduct
J. Smith finds a lower court properly denied a defendant's motion to suppress evidence located in his vehicle during a traffic stop for equipment violations. The defendant argued that authorities improperly obtained a warrant to search his residence, which resulted in the discovery of cash, cocaine, and a loaded firearm. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that police officers were entitled to enter his home after he called an associate from his cell phone while sitting in the back of a patrol car and directed him to hide his drugs, which was captured on a dash cam. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1412, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly terminated the mother and father's parental rights to their child based on sufficient evidence to support the best interest finding. The mother used illegal drugs during her pregnancy and while the termination suit was pending, and the father knew the mother was using drugs but left the child in her care when he went to prison. Also, the father had engaged in violent criminal conduct against his elderly father-in-law and was arrested for assault family violence against the mother. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 10-23-00296-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Smith denies the wastepaper company's motion to dismiss breach of contract claims. A wastepaper company acquired 50% ownership of a paper company with the stipulation that the wastepaper company would not import or export paper other than wastepaper. The wastepaper company started selling regular paper, claiming the restrictive covenant was too broad. It would be premature to dismiss it as the paper company has not been able to defend the stipulation's validity.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv512, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Jury, Fiduciary Duty, Contract
J. Smith finds that the trial court improperly mandated arbitration in claims contending a pain specialist was fired for reporting sexual harassment because the ambiguous arbitration agreement contained several clauses that rendered each other meaningless. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: A-1703-22, Categories: Arbitration, Employment
J. Smith partially denies summary judgment to a boat captain who slipped and fell on a whale watching tour boat. There is a genuine dispute of material fact if there was an unseaworthy, worn non-slip strip and fuel leak in the room where he slipped, or if this was an uncommon condition of the room. The tour company is granted partial summary judgment as to the injury to the captain���s left leg, but not to injury to his right knee. The tour company���s obligation to the health of his left leg has reached maximum medical cure, but questions remain as to whether the right knee���s condition is connected to the original injury.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv442, NOS: Marine - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Admiralty, Employment, Tort
J. Smith finds the district court improperly found for R.J. Reynolds on its claims the Food & Drug Administration's attempt at implementing the Tobacco Control Act���s warning-label requirement to require color graphics regarding health effects of smoking violates the First Amendment. The image warnings are both factual and uncontroversial, and the free speech test for factual commercial speech must be applied. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 23-40076, Categories: Commerce, Constitution, Health Care
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly terminated the mother and father's parental rights to their children. The foster parents had standing to intervene in the termination proceeding, and their petition was timely filed. Also, the father did not preserve his complaint regarding the sufficiency of the evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 10-23-00311-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly terminated the mother's parental rights to her children based on sufficient evidence to support the best-interest finding. There were multiple incidents of domestic violence between the mother and father that occurred in front of the children. Also, the mother did not use most of her available visitation with the children, missed prearranged visits and was "mostly unengaged" around them. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 10-23-00413-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Smith finds the district court properly convicted defendant for charges related to an armed robbery of a drug house, during which three people were non-fatally shot. Defendant says the court improperly accepted his plea, with the sentencing report cross-referencing attempted murder. The court properly accepted the plea and sufficiently explained its sentencing calculation. However, the attempted-murder cross-reference without considering questions of self-defense is clear error. Affirmed in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 23-30149, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the appellees on the appellant's claim for indemnification under a limited partnership agreement and certain articles of incorporation. The appellant, a former executive with the corporate appellees, failed to establish his right to indemnification. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 05-23-00125-CV, Categories: Business Practices, Indemnification
J. Smith finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for conspiracy to commit illegal remunerations. Defendant operated a distributor responsible for attracting Medicare referrals to the pharmacogenetic testing lab. All evidence involving illegal remuneration schemes supports the conviction. Defendant says a particular good faith instruction would allow the jury to consider the court's allegedly negligent submission of a certain report as proof of intention. But if the submission was negligent, it does not fall within a definition of ���intent to deceive," and nothing in the instruction can be read to allow negligence to substitute for the proper intention of willfulness. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-40617, Categories: Fraud, Jury Instructions
J. Smith dismisses the appeal for lack of its jurisdiction to review a denied, procedurally improper motion for declaratory judgment. The investment broker was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraudulently offering and selling life settlement interests. No change in law or facts call for the court to exercise its discretion to modify the decrees. A motion for declaratory judgment is not properly before the court as a motion, but as a separate action.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 23-10525, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Due Process
J. Smith finds that the Public Employment Relations Board properly upheld an administrative court's decision in favor of hospital employees seeking to enforce their collective bargaining rights. The hospital authority violated statute when it unilaterally declared that a memorandum of understanding bars group or class grievances. An employer subject to a collective bargaining agreement cannot adopt a new policy or apply an existing policy in a new way without providing the employees' union both notice and the opportunity to bargain. And the authority failed to show that the union had waived its right to bargain over new policies or new interpretations.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: F085586, Categories: Labor / Unions
J. Smith finds the trial court properly determined defendant was competent to enter a guilty plea despite not making its determination a part of the record. Defendant's attorney stipulated to the findings of the evaluator, while defendant was also questioned extensively by the court before she entered her guilty plea. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-924, Categories: Competence, Plea, Child Victims
J. Smith finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for leave to file an untimely petition for postconviction relief from his drug convictions. His discovery the police officer who initiated the traffic stop never issued him citations was not exculpatory evidence that would have altered the outcome of his case or required suppression of evidence obtained from a search of his vehicle. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-925, Categories: Drug Offender, Search