92 results for 'judge:"Gallagher"'.
J. Gallagher finds the trial court erroneously granted the employer's motion to dismiss and enforce a settlement agreement with its former employee. Conflicting entries in the record about whether a settlement had been reached required an evidentiary hearing to determine the status of the case. The parties have been unable to agree on what terms, if any, were agreed to during mediation, while the employee's insistence she never agreed to settle the case requires the trial court to reexamine the record before any decision can be made on the motion to dismiss. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2875, Categories: Employment, Settlements
J. Gallagher grants dismissal of a counter motion of misappropriation of trade secrets allegations brought by a landscaping company against a competitor. The counter movant claims its information was compromised when a former employee accessed a current employee’s email at the request of the competitor. However, the only breaches were a customer list and staff payment information, which do not amount to trade secrets.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv176, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Commerce, Trade Secrets, Business Practices
J. Gallagher partially denies a home loan firm its motion to dismiss allegations of race discrimination in its appraisal of a Black family’s home in application to refinance. The family was appalled at the low value the first appraiser gave. Prior to a second appraisal, the family “whitewashed” their home, putting away family photographs and other visual markers of their race and invited a white friend to stand in as homeowner. An appraiser from a different company valued the home at $750,000, a 60% increase from the first appraisal only seven month later. Also, when a company representative said the family could appeal the initial appraisal and the family filed requisite paperwork, the representative failed to act before the deadline in the appeal process. The family has adequately argued facts supporting race discrimination.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv2048, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Property, Housing
J. Gallagher finds the lower court erroneously denied the transit authority's motion to dismiss the employee's emotional distress claim. None of the exceptions to political subdivision immunity apply to the claim and, therefore, the authority was entitled to immunity. However, because there is a question of fact as to whether statements made by the supervisor and his ultimate refusal to allow the employee to return to work with accommodations were made maliciously, the lower court properly denied immunity to the transit authority on discrimination claims. Affirmed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2584, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Immunity
J. Gallagher finds the lower court properly denied defendant's petition for postconviction relief in the form of new DNA testing of bullet cartridges found at the scene of the crime. Even if the test results excluded his DNA from the bullets, it would not be outcome determinative, as the initial results were inconclusive and not used by the trial court to find him guilty in the original trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2588, Categories: Dna, Evidence, Murder
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J. Gallagher finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motions following his convictions for aggravated robbery, rape and kidnapping in 1998. Defendant did not file a direct appeal of his convictions and completed his 13-year prison term over a decade ago, meaning his appeal is barred under res judicata.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 112149, Categories: Robbery, Kidnapping
J. Gallagher finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of two separate theft offenses. Defendant was arrested with the handgun he used to paralyze one victim and murder the other. Whether defendant had additional or separate motives to rob the murder victim as he claims is irrelevant because the evidence establishes that defendant planned to steal a large amount of cash he knew the murder victim possessed, so this does not impact the aggravated murder conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 112051, Categories: Firearms, Murder, Theft
J. Gallagher finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of aggravated menacing arising from an incident where defendant opened his door and shot at the victim in his driveway before fleeing the scene. The victim's stepdaughter took video evidence of defendant's actions on that day, authorities recovered shotgun pellets from the end of the driveway, and a neighbor’s first-floor window was broken. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 112072, Categories: Evidence, Firearms
J. Gallagher grants a MacBook owner her motion to exclude testimony of Apple’s expert testimony after the MacBook’s batteries caught fire and damaged the owner’s apartment and surrounding apartments. Because the expert’s measure of loss does not use diminution in value and the value of the loss after the fire to determine what damages Apple should pay, but instead uses actual cash value of the property before the fire, the expert’s testimony is excluded.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv651, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Evidence, Product Liability, Experts
J. Gallagher finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a mistrial when a witness testified after being present in the courtroom for the testimony of other witnesses during defendant's trial on robbery and grand theft charges. Although the witness based part of her identification of defendant on previous witness testimony, the court did not allow the prosecution to redirect and issued a corrective instruction to the jury before its deliberations, which prevented any prejudicial effect. Meanwhile, the failure by defense counsel to request a separation of witnesses at the outset of the trial did not constitute ineffective assistance because numerous witnesses made identifications of defendant and there is no indication the outcome of the trial would have been different with a separation request. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2296, Categories: Fair Trial, Robbery, Identification
J. Gallagher denies a restaurant’s motion to dismiss allegations of race and age discrimination brought by a customer claiming the restaurant refused him service. While the customer, a white man over 50, and his friend waited at the bar for a pick up order, the customer complained the order was taking too long. An argument with staff ensued and a manager said, “You old white people act like you own everything! Get the fuck out of here!” and barred the customer and his friend from coming back. The customer has sufficiently pleaded his claim.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv3333, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Business Practices
J. Gallagher finds the lower court properly granted permanent custody of one of the mother's children to family services. Although the mother completed the drug rehab portion of her case plan and maintained her sobriety, the physical abuse that occurred at her home, including locking the child alone in a room for hours at a time and "whooping" the child with a belt, prevented reunification. Furthermore, the other children were properly placed in the custody of other family members because of the same type of physical abuse. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 22, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2067, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Gallagher finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a jury instruction on self-defense during his murder trial, as he was entirely at fault for creating the situation that led to the shooting. Defendant incessantly called and texted his ex-girlfriend for hours before showing up to her house with a loaded gun, then repeatedly told her and the victim to come outside, and shot the victim in the back as he ran away. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1970, Categories: Murder, Self Defense, Jury Instructions
J. Gallagher finds defendant's due process rights were not violated by the trial court's transferred intent instruction to the jury during his trial on murder, firearms, riot and assault charges. The instruction, which dealt with whether defendant intended to shoot one of the victims of his crime, applied only to his murder charges, of which he was found not guilty. Meanwhile, the trial court properly denied defendant's request for a lesser-included offense of reckless assault because his use of a gun during the commission of his crimes precluded the chance he acted recklessly. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1977, Categories: Murder, Jury Instructions
J. Gallagher denies an electronics company’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this lawsuit filed by a religious group over property damage caused by an allegedly defective laptop catching fire. Because this is the second motion to dismiss the company has filed, and it did not object to personal jurisdiction in the first, the motion must be denied.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv2600, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Property, Damages, Jurisdiction
J. Gallagher grants Baltimore County’s motion for summary judgment and denies a class of currently and formerly incarcerated people its cross-motion for judgment in its suit alleging Fair Labor Standards Act violations. The class’s work was to sort materials at a recycling center, also owned and run by the county, so the class cannot claim an “outside” employer in this case. Although the county paid those incarcerated $5 daily while paying employees doing the same job minimum wage, the county’s program has shown that it provided structure and job training to incarcerated people and was never meant to be employment for them. Therefore, the Act cannot cover the class in this case.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv34, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Labor, Prisoners' Rights
J. Gallagher finds the lower court properly refused to find for a city in an injury case in which a woman claims to have fallen through a utility cover in a sidewalk. Ambiguity in testimony from city employees and their work logs about when the cover was sectioned off with caution tape and cones creates an issue of fact. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1818, Categories: Government, Negligence
J. Gallagher finds out-of-court statements made by one of the passengers in defendant's vehicle do not render his convictions for vehicular homicide and assault against the weight of the evidence. The passenger's claim to have stabbed defendant in the neck and yanked the steering wheel immediately prior to the crash "defies common sense," was not supported by any motive, and would not have absolved defendant of blame for his intoxicated driving in the lead-up to the crash. Meanwhile, the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress medical records that both proved he drove intoxicated and disproved he was stabbed in the neck because the warrant was lawful and properly obtained pursuant to the charge of reckless driving. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1811, Categories: Search, Dui, Vehicular Homicide
J. Gallagher denies a brother’s motion for sanctions against his sister in this copyright and slander dispute around the commercialization and franchising of a hormone therapy company, “Infinity Health,” which uses methodologies the sister developed. Imposing sanctions could hamper the discovery of potential communications that would link the brother to an online post harassing the sister, accusing her of having sexual relations with a man at one of the company’s locations.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: May 19, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv2787, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Sanctions, Defamation