267 results for 'judge:"Smith "'.
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly convicted but improperly sentenced defendant for assault and violating a no-contact order. While evidence on the record supports his convictions, the sentence defendant received for the violation of the no-contact order is longer than statutorily allowed. Affirmed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 83738-9-I, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly ruled in a dispute over tribal taxation over cigarettes. The key question in the dispute stems from conflicting orders of what counts as "units sold," leaving the state to ask relief from the court on its enforcement obligations regarding that definition. But the relevant statute is clear that the definition of units sold is either "packs of cigarettes bearing an excise tax stamp of the state on which the state collects excise tax," or "roll-your-own��� tobacco containers from which the state collects excise tax, a definition with which the lower court properly concurred. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 84265-0-I, Categories: Tax
J. Fitzgerald Smith finds that the lower court properly ordered defendant, who has a history of mental illness, committed to a mental institution after he threw a brick at a 71-year-old woman, striking her in the back and fracturing her vertebrae. The law does not provide for good time credit to be applied to defendants found "not not guilty" and subject to involuntary commitment. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Fitzgerald Smith, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 220252, Categories: Sentencing, Commitment
J. Smith finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sex trafficking of a child. Defendant met the 16-year-old victim online and invited her to smoke marijuana. He checked her into an extended stay hotel after she complained of her home life, so he kept her drunk and high, had sex with her and ���pimped��� her out. She left the hotel and told her mother of being trafficked. Forensic evidence and evidence from a police lineup support the conviction. The jury did not need expert testimony to interpret electronically extracted evidence taken from defendant���s cell phone. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 22-10316, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Smith finds the district court improperly entered summary judgment in favor of the airline sued for civil rights violations after it canceled a flight because an attendant complained about ���Middle Eastern���-appearing passengers. The court found the airline immune under a federal law which allows it to remove a passenger it fears ���might be, inimical to safety.��� That all passengers had their flight canceled, and that certain behaviors of the American citizens such as handwaving were perceived as suspicious, raises issues of first impression as to whether the cancellation constitutes disparate treatment, whether the civil rights claim can exist without a breach of contract and whether immunity may be granted for allegedly discriminatory decisions. Reversed and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 22-10686, Categories: Admiralty, Civil Rights, Terrorism
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J. Smith finds the district court properly dismissed the removal and appropriations clause claims brought by the private shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The uncertain and speculative arguments in the shareholders��� amended complaint stating that ���but for the removal restriction��� the Trump Administration would have exited the conservatorships and returned the companies to private control cannot survive dismissal. Cited case law does not change the law with respect to the appropriations clause and cannot be an intervening change in law that justifies ignoring the mandate rule. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 22-20632, Categories: Government, Securities, Banking / Lending
J. Smith finds that the district court properly entered convictions and sentencing for attempted illegal entry and attempted illegal reentry. The lower court correctly denied an illegal immigrant's motion to suppress a statement he made to a Border Patrol agent about coming to the United States to find work. The immigrant claimed that the statement should be suppressed because he made it while detained and claims he was not Mirandized. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 21-50259, Categories: Immigration, Miranda, Sentencing
J. Smith finds that the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the city and its officials in a police officer's suit stemming from his termination for a crash that resulted from a high-speed chase, in which he had a civilian riding in his vehicle. There is an issue of fact as to whether the city council had the authority to fire the officer. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 10-22-00391-CV, Categories: Employment, Municipal Law, Jurisdiction
J. Fitzerald Smith finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being an armed habitual criminal and sentenced him to eight years in prison. The evidence was sufficient to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt of knowingly possessing a firearm. There is no merit to his claim that the Supreme Court's recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen renders the state's armed career criminal laws unconstitutional. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Fitzerald Smith, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 200435, Categories: Constitution, Firearms
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly sentenced defendant to two consecutive life sentences for two murders he committed as a juvenile. Defendant is eligible for parole after 25 years, which constitutes a "meaningful opportunity" to be considered for release during his natural life. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 2D22-866, Categories: Juvenile Law, Murder, Sentencing
J. Smith grants the U.S. dismissal of this post-award bid protest concerning a handheld "counter unmanned aerial surveillance" system because the product was within the scope described in the proposal.
Court: Court of Federal Claims, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 22-1582, Categories: Contract
J. Smith finds the district court properly dismissed constitutional claims brought by the family of the inmate who died in custody due to his severe breathing issues, for which the county's medical contractor failed to provide standard medical care and then falsified reports. Though the family has settled with the contractor and its involved nurses, a prison guard confirmed that the inmate had access to his inhaler and was within the bounds of his prescribed breathing treatments at the time of his request for help. No indifference is shown rising to the level of cited cases. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 22-50673, Categories: Civil Rights, Negligence, Prisoners' Rights
J. Smith finds that although the trial court erroneously admitted unauthenticated phone records into evidence at defendant's burglary trial, the error was harmless. Testimony from several of defendant's accomplices about his involvement in the burglaries and conversations about the crimes was sufficient to convict defendant even without the phone records. Furthermore, the failure by defendant's attorney to file a motion to dismiss did not constitute ineffective assistance. Although six years passed between the commission of the crimes and defendant's trial, he fails to provide specific examples of exculpatory evidence lost as a result of the delay. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3280, Categories: Burglary, Confrontation, Ineffective Assistance
J. Smith finds the lower court properly granted custody of the child to his maternal grandparents. Although the mother has made progress in her case plan since the removal of the child, it is in his best interests to remain with his grandparents, who also have custody of several of his siblings and with whom he has established a strong bond. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3299, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's constitutional motion seeking relief from his guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute meth. The district court acted within its discretion in finding that defendant failed to meet the standard allowing for discovery on defendant's particular constitutional claim. Defendant's arguments on his guidelines-advice claim are conclusory. His request for discovery was based on the assertion that the requested material ���will establish the validity of��� his constitutional claim. There is no indication that the discovery he seeks will produce a different result. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 21-10917, Categories: Constitution, Drug Offender, Discovery
J. Smith finds that the district court properly dismissed an Administrative Procedure Act action brought by an aeronautical company and an aerospace company against the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air National Guard alleging the improper use of the company's intellectual property concerning data relating to the Mobile Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS). The matter was properly dismissed by the lower court for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 21-56377, Categories: Property, Jurisdiction, Military
J. Smith denies the environmental advocacy group's petition for review of USACE's permit approval to the natural gas exporter seeking to build a pipeline on the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. Though USACE has departed from the default regulatory hierarchy regarding compensatory mitigation in granting the petition, the permit includes a special condition holding the exporter accountable for the ���successful completion and maintenance��� of the plan, including ���marsh re-establishment....��� The exporter will be responsible for any potential mitigation, which must occur ���[concurrently]��� with any ���facility related wetland impacts...��� for at least 20 years. USACE has adequately explained its decision to depart from the regulatory hierarchy.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 22-60397, Categories: Energy, Environment, Agency
J. Smith denies defendant's motion for habeas relief in a matter in which she was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Defendant claims that her habeas counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to raise various grounds for relief in her first motion. This claim could not have been adjudicated on the merits of her first motion, therefore it was not a second or successive motion. The matter is remanded to the district court to consider it in the first instance.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 23-48, Categories: Habeas, Identity Theft
J. Smith finds the sentencing court improperly sentenced defendant to 15 years in prison for leaving the scene of a crash involving death without rendering aid when he crossed a double yellow line while passing another vehicle and struck a seven-year-old child, who later died. The sentencing judge referenced uncharged conduct related to a shooting on the morning of the crash and the state failed to prove that the trial court did not rely upon that. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Smith, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 2D22-1458, Categories: Sentencing, Vehicle, Child Victims