669 results for 'cat:"Jury"'.
J. Thacker finds the lower court improperly granted judgment to the pipeline. The pipeline project acquired easements on properties along the pipeline’s route through condemnation actions pursuant to the Natural Gas Act. The property in question was encumbered by temporary and permanent easements on 8.37 acres. After the lower court granted the project immediate possession of the easements, the case proceeded to a jury trial to determine the amount of just compensation owed. After hearing from various appraisers, the jury rendered a $523,327 verdict. The lower court agreed with the project that the verdict resulted from the jury improperly mixing expert testimony. The jury’s $523,327 verdict can be supported by credited testimony without mixing different land use valuations, as the lower court assumed. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1532, Categories: Energy, jury, Property
[Consolidated.] J. Cobbs finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendants' for criminal drug conspiracy and must make an inquiry into allegations of juror misconduct based on a juror's allegations of racial bias during deliberations. The court abused its discretion in refusing to allow the defense to obtain juror 40's affidavit making credible allegations of racial bullying by another juror. However, the sentencing on the charge of running a criminal drug conspiracy was in error because the court cannot impose an extended sentence without the jury making a finding on the specific quantity of drugs forming the object of the conspiracy. Vacated in part.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Cobbs, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 181491, Categories: Drug Offender, jury, Sentencing
Per curiam, the Louisiana high court finds that the defense counsel did not object to the trial court's denial of twelve peremptory challenges during voir dire in defendant's trial for failure to register and notify as a sex offender. Therefore, defendant's conviction for failure to register and notify as a sex offender is reinstated. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2023-K-00501 , Categories: jury, Sex Offender
J. Standridge finds a lower court improperly denied a defendant's motion to testify in a criminal trial on charges of felony stalking, violation of stalking orders, and criminal trespass. The state argued that it was entitled to strike the defendant's testimony before the jury, and then directed it to consider evidence, witness statements, and exhibits only. However, the defendant presented sufficient evidence in court that he is entitled to a new trial based on the court's denial to allow him to testify on his own behalf in the proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Standridge, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 124303, Categories: Fair Trial, Trespass, jury Instructions
Per curiam, the Texas Supreme Court finds that the court of appeals improperly approved damages awarded to a woman who sued a truck driver and his employer after being injured in an accident. The truck driver moved for a mistrial after the woman's attorney said that the driver's suggestion of damages was lower because she was a woman and African-American, which the court denied. The accusation made by the woman's counsel created incurable harm to the jury, thus necessitating the case to be revisited. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 22-0521, Categories: jury, Vehicle
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[Consolidated.] J. Caldwell finds that the lower court improperly found for three police officers in whistleblower claims contending they suffered retaliation for reporting concerns about evidence theft because jury instructions failed to require a finding that the state police had subjected each officer to personnel actions or punishment. Reversed.
Court: Kentucky Court Of Appeals, Judge: Caldwell, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2022-CA-1028-MR, Categories: Employment, jury, Whistleblowers
J. McCallum finds that the court of appeal should not have granted the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict as to liability and damages in this three-car accident action. In this case, the court of appeal improperly reweighed the evidence and made credibility determinations as to the witness testimony. Based on the testimony, the jury could have reasonably determined that the middle driver impacted the first driver before being impacted from behind by the last driver, and that his negligence in colliding with the first driver created a hazard contributing to the last driver's inability to avoid the accident. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court, Judge: McCallum, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2023-C-01107, Categories: Evidence, jury
Per curiam, the Vermont Supreme Court finds the trial court properly convicted the defendant of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a jury trial. The defendant appeals the conviction alleging the state failed to give proper jury instruction to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he acted with the requisite intent. The evidence was sufficient to show the jury that the defendant did commit the crime on purpose and knowingly cause injury. Therefore, there was no error found in the jury instructions. Affirmed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-339, Categories: Assault, Weapons, jury Instructions
J. Humes finds that the trial court improperly granted the state's peremptory strike of a Black, female juror from defendant's trial for sexual abuse of a child. The strike was prima facie discriminatory but the state's reasons for the strike were facially race-neutral. However, the trial court failed to adequately probe the state's claims that it struck the prospective juror because she held a doctoral degree in a soft science, said she was concerned about implicit bias and demonstrated she might be too opinionated. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Humes, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: A164789, Categories: jury, Sex Offender
J. Beam finds the trial court properly included a jury instruction that stated the "initial aggressor" in a fight could not claim self-defense. Although it was an incomplete statement of Mississippi self-defense law, the victim in this case showed no intention of harming defendant, who had no justification to hit him with a metal baseball bat. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court, Judge: Beam, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-226, Categories: Assault, Self Defense, jury Instructions
J. Smith finds that while defendant's indictment did not include the word "killed" or "murdered," the language was sufficient to put him on notice that he was being charged for the death of the victim, which allowed him to put forth an adequate defense and allowed the jury to convict him of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter. However, because the jury instructions for defendant's aggravated assault charges included conflicting intent elements of "knowingly" and "recklessly," his due process rights were violated and those convictions must be vacated. Affirmed in part.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 2022-KA-705, Categories: Murder, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Beck finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant’s first petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act alleging his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call character witnesses in his support in a domestic violence suit over his beating of his pregnant wife. The counsel’s failure to call character witnesses undermined defendant’s ability to instill reasonable doubt in the jury’s minds. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Beck, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: J-S03044-24, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, jury, Sentencing
J. Guidry denies competing requests by a maritime employer and its employee to exclude testimony by one another’s expert in a personal injury case. The steersman, who allegedly suffered a back injury while performing deck work on a tug and barge fleet, has sufficiently established his expert’s testimony is based on his expertise and experience as a boat captain and that his testimony will be helpful to the jury. Likewise, testimony by the towing company’s expert, also an experienced riverboat captain, will be helpful to the jury because the case involves maritime matters that can assist a layperson.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv237, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, jury, Experts
J. Powers finds the trial court plainly erred by failing to instruct the jury of the requisite culpable mental state concerning the value of the property stolen. However, based on other evidence, it had “little likelihood of affecting the verdict.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Powers, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A177109, Categories: Theft, jury Instructions
J. Emfinger finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a jury instruction on self-defense or the accident doctrine because her testimony clearly established she knowingly struck the victim with her car as she drove in reverse. Defendant initially claimed she was trying to get away from the victim, but admitted at trial she saw her when she "revved" the engine and was going between 20 and 40 miles per hour when the impact occurred; therefore, defendant's statement she "acted in self-defense" was insufficient to warrant a jury instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Emfinger, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-52, Categories: Murder, Self Defense, jury Instructions
J. Doyle finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of aggravated child molestation, child molestation and incest. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to strike from the jury a juror employed as a corrections officer in the jail where defendant was held after his arrest. The juror had no arrest powers and no personal knowledge of defendant being an inmate when he served on the jury. Defendant failed to present evidence showing that the juror could not be impartial. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Doyle, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: A24A0217, Categories: jury, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Davis finds the district court properly convicted the doctor for unlawful distribution of controlled substances based on sufficient evidence. After the health management company developed concerns about the doctor's inability to maintain patient and medication records, warning him several times, he was terminated and opened a private practice. The DEA launched an investigation into his prescriptions after receiving a tip from a confidential informant, and the ensuing sting operation led to the doctor's arrest. That the prescriptions lacked a legitimate medical purpose is established in that they were issued outside the usual course of professional practice. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Davis , Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 23-30191, Categories: Drug Offender, Fraud, jury Instructions
J. Bland finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in favor of homeowners who sued a contracting firm alleging that their work on a pipeline caused damages to their property. A jury ruled in favor of the homeowners, but two of the jurors did not join in the verdict. The contracting firm argues that because the verdict was not unanimous, the homeowners are not entitled to collect the damages. It was the homeowners' burden to secure and show that the verdict was unanimous; because that failed to happen, they cannot recover the split verdict on exemplary damages. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Bland, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 22-0889, Categories: Civil Procedure, jury, Damages
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed trademark infringement claims contending Thom Browne used product markings resembling sneaker giant adidas' three-stripe logo. Adidas contends the jury instructions did not sufficiently focus on consumer confusion before and after sales, rather than at the point of sale, but prejudicial error had not occurred since the court emphasized the affected periods multiple times. Furthermore, testimony from an adidas expert on branding was properly blocked because his methodology was deemed unreliable in surveying the opinions of "fashionistas on the web." Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 23-166, Categories: jury, Trademark, Experts
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that defendant was improperly convicted of kidnapping in the second degree because the lower court erroneously held that the merger doctrine did not apply, even if he had not been charged with the lesser offense of menacing. However, the court properly declined to instruct the jury on justification involving the use of ordinary physical force because evidence indicating that defendant applied force to the victim's neck to stop her from breathing could only support the conclusion that defendant used "deadly physical force."
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: KA 22-01350 , Categories: jury, Kidnapping, Menacing
J. Walter grants a pre-trial request by a maximum security inmate at a North Louisiana prison, barring authorities from using an old marijuana conviction and dismissed criminal drug charges against him to attack his credibility. The disallowed charges did not result in felony convictions. Both sides agree that the parish attorneys may use his guilty plea to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm as a defense against his disability discrimination claim. The inmate is suing the parish prison’s medical department for refusing to provide him with methadone and oxycodone for his sickle cell disease.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Walter, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv6144, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, jury, Prisoners' Rights
J. Fox finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and assault. Defendant claims that the lower court improperly failed to instruct the jury on a mental illness defense, but defendant did not bring forward any real evidence that showed he met the criteria for such a defense. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Fox, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: S-23-0154, Categories: Murder, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Snauffer finds that the instructions given to the jury in defendant's sexual abuse case did not create a preferential credibility standard for the complaining witness. One instruction told the jury to be careful when fact-finding on the basis on one witness's testimony and the other told the jury that a conviction may legally be based on one witness's testimony. However, the trial court erred in convicting him for distinct acts of sexual abuse that occurred during the period for which he was also convicted of continuous sexual abuse. Vacated in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Snauffer, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: F085895, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Klappenbach finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, theft and firearm possession by a felon based on sufficient evidence. The victim testified defendant hit her, shoved the barrel of a gun into her mouth, transferred her to a different location, stole her ring, cell phone and money, all in an attempt to force her to hand over a friend's cremated ashes. The court impliedly granted defendant's request to sever offenses and bifurcate the trials for each count, though the same jury convicted on the offenses. Defendant's argument regarding the alleged denial of his opportunity to interview jurors is not preserved for appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CR-23-585, Categories: jury, Assault, Kidnapping
J. May finds that the lower court properly denied defendant a jury instruction on parental privilege in his trial for intimidation and battery because defendant's actions in threatening his child with a knife did not fall under parental privilege. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: May, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 23A-CR-1060, Categories: jury, Battery
J. Hellman finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s request for the less-satisfactory evidence jury instruction. Inconsistency in witness testimony “does not establish that a video existed or that it was reasonably available to the state.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Hellman, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: A177478, Categories: Evidence, jury Instructions
J. Peterson finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault for hitting the victim with his car after the two argued over whether the victim threw a golf ball at the vehicle. The trial court incorrectly denied defendant's request to instruct the jury on the defense of accident. There was at least some evidence to support the theory that there was no criminal scheme, including evidence that defendant did not intend to hit the victim and rendered immediate aid. The refusal to give the jury instruction could have contributed to the verdict. Defendant may be retried because the evidence was legally sufficient to support his convictions. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0036, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions