217 results for 'judge:"Brown"'.
J. Brown finds the circuit court properly entered the divorce decree, denying the husband's motion for a new trial. In the complaint, the wife indicated that she was seeking divorce based on general indignities. She stated that her husband “has severe anger issues which he takes out on [her] and the... children by yelling and screaming...,” that he had threatened physical harm to her family, and that she and the children were in danger. The husband has failed to develop his argument against this, which is limited to three sentences accompanied by citations. However, the court failed to dispose of his counterclaim in the order granting the wife's request for fees, and so the counterclaim is still pending. Affirmed in part.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: CV-21-618, Categories: Family Law, Attorney Fees
J. Brown finds that the trial court improperly ruled that an embryo created in preparation for in-vitro fertilization is marital property and awarded custody of the frozen embryo to the wife in the divorce. The trial court incorrectly applied a blended approach and Georgia's equitable division of property doctrine in making its decision instead of looking to the couple's enforceable agreement as to the disposition of the embryo. The couple intended to donate the embryos if they could not agree on disposition in the future, therefore that intention must be honored. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: A23A0896, Categories: Family Law, Contract
J. Brown finds that the trial court improperly denied the companies' motion to dismiss an assault, battery, conspiracy, negligent hiring, premises liability, emotional distress and invasion of privacy action brought by an individual arising from injuries he suffered in a trip-and-fall incident as he was escorted out of his former place of employment. The individual voluntarily dismissed his first action against one of the companies. The other companies are in privity with that company and were parties to the second voluntarily dismissed action or the instant action. The two-dismissal rule therefore applies. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: A23A0680, Categories: Negligence, Emotional Distress, Premises Liability
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[Consolidated.] J. Gooden Brown finds that the trial court properly barred an expert in child abuse from testifying that shaking alone can cause injuries associated with shaken baby syndrome. Other experts have limited using data to calculate the likelihood of injury, and experts disagree on patterns of hemorrhages in such cases. In one case, accepting the testimony would require the jury to infer defendant harmed the baby even though the state could not explain how defendant had done so. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gooden Brown , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: A-2069-21, Categories: Experts, Child Victims
J. Brown finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for felony possession of a firearm, sentencing him to 15 years of incarceration. Assisting with a probation and parole home visit, police found a loaded 9mm handgun and ammunition in defendant's home. Though others also lived at the residence, the firearm was found in plain view, and defendant was the only occupant when the firearm was discovered. In the light most favorable to the verdict, substantial evidence has been shown that defendant had constructive possession of the firearm. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: CR-23-29, Categories: Evidence, Firearms
J. Brown finds that the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the company in an action brought by the property purchaser seeking immediate possession of a billboard. The trial court incorrectly refused to find in favor of the purchaser on the issue of whether he took title to the property subject to a 2006 lease. The 2006 lease was not a renewal of a 1994 lease. The company and the previous property owner entered into a new lease. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: A23A1438, Categories: Property
J. Brown finds that the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the city in a breach of contract, inverse condemnation and injunctive relief action brought by the companies arising from the city's alleged refusal to issue right-of-way permits to the companies for access to fiber optic lines installed as part of a 25-mile fiber optic wide area network in the city of Warner Robins. The companies voluntarily dismissed their initial federal court action. The companies' mandamus claim is not barred by res judicata. The claims relating to the wrongful termination of a lease agreement as it pertains to 12 fiber lines did not arise until after the dismissal. However, the companies' claims related to 48 other fiber lines arise out of the same facts as those asserted in the federal action and are therefore barred. Reversed in part.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: A23A0779, Categories: Contract, Injunction
J. Brown finds that the trial court improperly sentenced defendant to seven years in prison for his burglary conviction. Defendant had prior felony convictions for entering an auto and was therefore subject to the recidivist sentencing provisions of the statute. The case is remanded with direction that the trial court impose the maximum sentence of 25 years. Vacated.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: A23A0792, Categories: Burglary, Sentencing
J. Gooden Brown finds that a restraining order was improperly entered against plaintiff's estranged wife, who released a video accusing him of improperly withholding a Jewish bill of divorce, because the video constitutes protected free speech. Meanwhile, the existence of a generalized history of members of the Jewish community acting violently to those who refuse to grant spouses "gittins" does not prove the video constituted a true threat. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gooden Brown , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: A-0305-21, Categories: Family Law, Restraining Order
J. Brown finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for the rape of his daughter. The 12-year-old reported to her school counsellor that she was having suicidal ideations, which led to a medical evaluation during which she reported abuse occurring from her father's insisting on helping her bathe. Videos found in defendant's possession, showing an older man coaxing a younger girl into showing off her body and then into sexual intercourse, and two minors engaged in multiple sexual acts with a much older man were properly introduced to show his proclivity toward younger females. All evidence supports conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: CR-22-286, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
[Consolidated.] J. Jolivette Brown denies summary judgment to a chartered fishing boat company, declining to dismiss contribution claims by owners of two vessels in an inland waterway that were towing a pipe that accidentally collided with the fishing boat, injuring a passenger. There is a genuine dispute of material fact as to the proportional fault of the charter boat owner and the two vessel owners. It is also too early to determine if the fishing boat charter underpaid its share of damages to its injured passenger, as proportional fault of the three vessel owners has not yet been decided.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4535, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Maritime, Tort, Indemnification
J. Brown finds that defendant was properly convicted of third degree rape. The victim was properly allowed to testify about her speculation that she had been drugged by defendant despite the results of her toxicology report showing that there were no date rape drugs in her system. The record shows that the jury was informed that the victim had no formal education in toxicology and that the basis of her knowledge was from television. Further, the jury was clearly aware that the toxicology results did not show the presence of a date rape drug. Also, an expert was properly allowed to testify as to how much alcohol the victim had in her system at the time the rape occurred because the expert was qualified as an expert in toxicological analysis, and there was sufficient evidence to support that there was a ten-hour window between the victim's last drink and the time she submitted to a forensic exam. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2023-KA-0040, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Brown tosses a self-represented litigant’s complaint brought against New York State and three state court judges stemming from a state mortgage foreclosure action and related eviction proceedings. The litigant alleges the defendants conspired to deprive him of his property without due process. The court had argued the defendants were all protected by judicial immunity, and his response to the court’s order to show cause largely fails to counter those arguments.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv3421, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Immunity, Due Process, Foreclosure
J. Brown finds that the trial court must revisit defendant's Racial Justice Act claim that police showed racial bias during a traffic stop and search that revealed he unlawfully possessed a gun. The trial court should have stuck to the prima facie standard, which focuses on a defendant's proffered facts, not contrary evidence from police. If the claim survives the prima facie stage, then a preliminary hearing can be held to consider the state's evidence and make credibility determinations.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: A167311, Categories: Firearms, Search, Civil Rights
J. Brown finds the circuit court properly entered a $300,000 bond forfeiture judgment after defendant, whose appearance on multiple drug, firearm and terrorism charges was secured by the bond failed to appear. The bondsman argues that since “law enforcement willfully [decided] that extradition would not be authorized if the individual [was] located in another state,” the state didn’t make every reasonable effort to apprehend defendant. The bondsman cites no authority for its assertion that listing defendant as nonextraditable constitutes an unreasonable effort to apprehend. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: CV-22-401, Categories: Drug Offender, Bail, Extradition
J. Brown finds that the district court should not have dismissed two of the three indictments against defendant and should not have quashed two of the indictments. This court previously determined that defendant, who was convicted of aggravated rape and other offenses, should not have been tried jointly with a co-defendant because the co-defendant was charged with a capital offense, which could only be tried before a jury, and defendant's non-capital offenses could be tried by a judge or jury. When defendant's convictions were reversed, it was based on whether he suffered prejudice in his trial regarding all three alleged victims for the potential Brady violations relating solely to the first victim. Under Boudreaux, the state raised the issue of all three convictions in its assignment of error, and both sides briefed the issue before the Supreme Court granted writs and before oral argument. Therefore, the issue was not abandoned. Vacated.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-0669, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sex Offender
[Consolidated.] J. Brown finds that the trial court improperly awarded excess tax sale funds in two interpleader actions brought by a sheriff to pay demolition liens filed by the city on the properties before the tax sale. The city's lien applies only to the real property and it does not have a right to the excess funds based on the statute governing excess tax funds. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: A23A1145, Categories: Property
J. Brown preserves a former assistant corporation counsel’s breach of contract claim brought against the City of Long Beach and several public officials in which he alleges he was a target of political retribution from a local political faction called the New Wave Democrats over separation compensation agreements for exempt employees. The court declines to abstain from exercising its jurisdiction after finding the litigant’s claims are sufficiently distinct from the defendants’ state court claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv7182, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Jurisdiction, Contract, First Amendment
J. Brown remands back to New York state courts a total of 43 Child Victims Act lawsuits filed against the Diocese of Rockville Center and various related entities, including the Boy Scouts of America. The cases, which are only a small portion of the total 224 related cases filed against the diocese, had been languishing in legal quagmire after the diocese filed for bankruptcy and subsequently sought to transfer the cases to federal court. The plaintiffs successfully argue the state courts are better prepared to timely resolve their cases.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv5029, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence, Venue
J. Brown finds that the trial court properly granted the insurers' joint motion to dismiss a breach of contract action brought by the insured arising from the insurers' refusal to provide coverage for property losses resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. A majority of courts have rejected similar claims for insurance coverage due to the pandemic. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: A23A0944, Categories: Insurance, Covid-19, Contract
J. Brown declines to grant declaratory relief to an insurer who seeks to be absolved from its duties to defend and indemnify its insureds for their underlying claim for losses stemming from a car crash that occurred on the edge of their front driveway, an incident which has expanded into three separate state court actions in at least two courts. The court finds that, due to a lack of detail provided in the insurer’s complaint, a state court action would be a better remedy for its claims and subsequently dismisses the action.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv6022, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Vehicle, Indemnification
J. Brown dismisses a former fire chief's First Amendment retaliation claims against a city and a city administrator arising from testimony he provided while in uniform after being subpoenaed in a criminal case against another employee. The First Amendment protection does not apply, as his speech occurred as part of his official duties, and the administrator is entitled to qualified immunity.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv2103, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Immunity, First Amendment