286 results for 'cat:"Judiciary"'.
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the Georgia Supreme Court disbars attorney Timothy Orman McCalep for his multiple violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The attorney abandoned six clients, made misrepresentations when questioned about his abandonment and refused to issue refunds.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S23Y0919, Categories: judiciary, Attorney Discipline
[Consolidated.] J. Waldick finds the trial court's participation in plea negotiations did not render defendant's pleas involuntary. Ohio law allows for some judiciary participation at the state court level. Furthermore, there is no evidence of coercion on the part of the court, which made sure defendant was satisfied with both negotiations and the final plea deals before they were accepted. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Waldick, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-392, Categories: judiciary, Plea
J. Wilkin finds the estate's failure to file an affidavit of prejudice with the Ohio Supreme Court to seek recusal of the trial court judge - the only avenue for such relief - prevents this court from reviewing its claim of bias, which must be dismissed. Meanwhile, the lower court properly dismissed the estate's claims against family services and its employees because allegations of an insufficient investigation into the decedent's death are not supported by any tort law or cause of action in the State of Ohio. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilkin, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-437, Categories: judiciary, Emotional Distress, Wrongful Death
J. Clark finds the trial court improperly granted the wife's request for attorney fees in connection with the husband's contract claim. Although the action was dismissed as barred by the statute of limitations, the court failed to make its own factual findings as to whether the husband acted in bad faith, while there was also no evidence in the record to establish he knew the action was meritless at the time he filed it. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Clark, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: AC45239, Categories: Family Law, judiciary, Attorney Fees
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J. Tow finds the trial court's decision to stream defendant's criminal trial and prevent any members of his family or the public to be physically inside the courtroom because of the Covid-19 pandemic constituted a partial closure unsupported by the record, but the potential violation of defendant's public trial rights does not rise to the level of a structural error that requires reversal of his convictions. Because the trial court made at least some analysis to support its decision, the appropriate remedy is a remand to allow for complete consideration of all required factors.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tow, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 2024COA9, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Fair Trial, judiciary
J. Suttell finds that the general magistrate properly and equitably distributed marital assets. The wife waived arguments regarding the general magistrate’s authority to preside over a contested divorce, and the magistrate properly determined the husband met his burden of establishing the value of his premarital asset. Meanwhile, the wife was properly denied alimony. Affirmed.
Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court, Judge: Suttell, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-219, Categories: Family Law, judiciary
J. Suarez finds the trial court erroneously relied on its own opinion that a dutiful son would allow his father to use his identity to obtain financing for a residential lease and held the son liable for unpaid rent and fees. Such an analysis disregarded the testimony of the son, who claimed he never gave his father permission to put his name on the lease and had no knowledge of the apartment. Although the court claimed it found the son credible, its decision to hold him liable is contrary to that conclusion and was impermissibly based on personal feelings. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Suarez, Filed On: January 19, 2024, Case #: AC45072, Categories: judiciary, Landlord Tenant
J. Conrad orders a pre-filing review system imposed on any documents filed by a man for his abuse of the court and entrance of frivolous filings, including the current ones against a host of judges, courts, lawyers and firms, banks and his former employer. Despite warnings, the man filed an omnibus motion against all the parties after having been asked to submit one page as to why he should not subject to the pre-filing review system.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Conrad, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv423, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, judiciary
Per curiam, the Supreme Court of Ohio finds the lower court properly denied the father's petition for a writ of prohibition against the common pleas court judge. Under Ohio law, a common pleas court has jurisdiction over custody and visitation rights involving juveniles, including the one filed by the maternal grandmother in this case. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-135, Categories: Family Law, judiciary, Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the Georgia Supreme Court accepts attorney Sharon L. Barksdale's petition for voluntary discipline and directs that the attorney receive a public reprimand for her admitted violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The attorney failed to tell her client that she did not prepare or submit a proposed order in a child custody modification case.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: S24Y0016, Categories: judiciary, Attorney Discipline
Per curiam, the supreme court finds that transferring the lawmaker's lawsuit over what he claims was his illegal expulsion from the Legislature of the Virgin Islands from the superior court to the supreme court is necessary. In part because the superior court erred in setting the matter for trial despite not ruling on immunity defenses that have been pending for more than a year and a half, the lawsuit has presented one of the "extraordinarily rare cases" warranting transfer. The case is transferred and all proceedings are stayed pending consideration of the outstanding immunity matters.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 6, Categories: judiciary, Immunity
Per curiam, the Georgia Supreme Court rejects the report from the review board saying that the special master's recommendation suspending attorney Christopher Ryan Breault for one month for his violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct be adopted. The attorney failed to timely withdraw from a personal injury matter after being fired by the client and disclosed confidential information in response to two motions to revoke his pro hac vice status. The special master failed to properly analyze the attorney's conduct under the American Bar Association's standards for imposing lawyer sanctions. The case is remanded back to the review board with instructions to remand to a special master.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: S23Y0807, Categories: judiciary, Attorney Discipline
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the Georgia Supreme Court disbars attorney Derric Crowther for his multiple violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The review board's recommendation of a four-year suspension is rejected. The attorney violated trust accounting rules and failed to resolve a dispute with a client over settlement funds. The attorney charged the client excessive fees and disbursed the settlement funds to himself or his law firm.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: S23Y1117, Categories: judiciary, Attorney Discipline
J. Bustamante finds the retired judge's pension was properly calculated by the benefits board when it refused to apply updated benefit calculations to his service time between 2005 and 2014. It was the intent of the legislature to limit the possibility of judges and justices being double-compensated, while the legislation that added a two-pronged calculation method was also used to increase pension funding for all participants. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge: Bustamante, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: A-1-CA-40561, Categories: judiciary, Pensions
Per curiam, the Texas Supreme Court finds that Justice John Devine will be eligible to run for reelection to the Texas Supreme Court if he can fix defects in his ballot application. Opponent Brian Walker, who currently sits on the 2nd Court of Appeals, argues that some of Devine's signatures on his application are invalid, but his challenge to the signature petition was "not brought promptly" and precedent requires that "the challenged candidate first be given an opportunity to cure a defect in his petition signatures" before having his application rejected.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 24-0016 , Categories: Elections, Government, judiciary
Per curiam, the Texas Supreme Court grants a civil court judge's petition for mandamus relief, finding that an error she made in her application to be on the 2024 ballot is not a means to disqualify her from being included in the election. The judge, who is running for reelection, failed to provide her bar number in her application for a judicial seat in Harris County and the county Democratic party chair denied her application because of the error. A party chair has the authority to reject applications that do not comply with statutory requirements, but they may not exclude candidates who meet all requirements but fail to comply with the specific section cited by the party chair in this case.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 24-0007, Categories: Elections, judiciary
J. Clark finds that the lower court improperly denied recusal in claims stemming from a car collision because defense counsel and his firm endorsed reelection of the judge and held a fundraiser for him. Meanwhile, the judge failed to apprise plaintiffs of counsel’s reelection work, and the opinion he sought from a judicial ethics panel supported recusal during his campaign. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Clark, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: CV-23-0280, Categories: judiciary
J. Markle finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of multiple drug-related offenses and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. A successor judge who had not presided over defendant's trial correctly denied his motion for a new trial. The successor judge had authority to rule on the motion. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Markle, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: A23A1215, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, judiciary
J. Kennedy finds Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Daniel Gaul will be suspended from the practice of law and his judicial office, without pay, for one year for coercing plea deals out of several defendants, improperly questioning numerous defendants during their trials, and making demeaning comments to various defendants. Although Gaul did not engage in the misconduct to further his own interests, he repeatedly refused to admit the wrongful nature of his conduct and has a prior disciplinary record, which requires the court to impose a suspension that will not be stayed in any way.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-4751, Categories: judiciary, Sanctions, Attorney Discipline