150 results for 'filedAt:"2023-05-25"'.
J. Bourliot finds that the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the seller of oil and gas wells in its suit against the purchaser for not performing its plugging and abandonment obligations. The court had jurisdiction to decide the dispute, and the evidence was sufficient to show the purchaser breached the agreement. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Bourliot, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 14-21-00315-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Energy, Contract
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J. Wilkins finds the district court improperly dismissed a former department vice president's claims against the nonprofit she worked for regarding its CEO's reference to her as toxic after she was fired in breach of the parties' severance agreement and non-disparagement clause. There is evidence the clause applies to the nonprofit and its officers, she has plausibly alleged the breach of contract was racially driven and that the comments were discriminatory. Reversed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Wilkins, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 22-7004 , Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Contract
[Consolidated.] J. Srinivasan grants, in part, Sierra Club's petition for review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project. The commission must prepare an environmental impact statement pertaining to potential erosion caused by the project or better explain why one is not needed, but the project can move forward during the interim, as it is almost complete and completion may solve the project's impact on the soil.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Srinivasan, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 20-1512 , Categories: Energy, Environment
Per curiam, the Massachusetts Supreme Court upholds a single justice's denial of an attorney's motion to stay an order temporarily suspending him pending further disciplinary proceedings pertaining to his alleged gambling problem and misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in client funds. Evidence supports the justice's decision that a temporary suspension is warranted. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-13370, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Wendlandt upholds defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and felony murder for strangling and smothering his girlfriend. The trial court thoroughly addressed defense counsel's concerns about defendant's ability to stand trial and found him competent, and also properly instructed the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-13158, Categories: Competence, Murder
J. Barrett finds that the circuit improperly ruled for an inmate in claims contending he had been attacked on orders from a correctional officer because the circuit misapplied the legal standard and operated under the wrongful belief that decisions denying summary judgment were not reviewable. Reversed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Barrett, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 22-210, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence
J. Deahl upholds the trial court's refusal to find for defendant on his claim the government failed to turn over ballistics evidence in his assault case, and that he received ineffective assistance due to his attorney's failure to pursue a third-party perpetrator defense. Defendant fails to show the government knew about the ballistics proof, and defense counsel's decision not to use the third-party defense was reasonable. Affirmed.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Deahl, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 19-CO-0745, Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Assault
J. Jensen finds that the circuit court properly issued a decree of separate maintenance but lacked authority to equitably divide the marital property as part of the decree in a divorce proceeding. The matter is remanded for an evidentiary hearing to divide the marital assets for the time the divorce decree was entered. Affirmed in part.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Jensen, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 2023 SD 24, Categories: Family Law
J. Diaz finds the lower court improperly dismissed the inmates' families' RICO charges. The families sufficiently pled injury in being overcharged for prison phone calls stemming from the providers' misrepresentation of prices to local governments. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 22-1472, Categories: Government, Consumer Law, Racketeering
[Consolidated.] J. Miller finds the trial court properly denied the video doorbell company, Ring’s motion to compel arbitration in this class action alleging that it did not inform the purchaser “at the time of purchase that the … recording, playback, and snapshot features … would only operate if … an additional fee” were paid. Guiding California Supreme Court case law holds that a pre-dispute arbitration agreement is invalid insofar as it purports to waive a party’s statutory right to seek public injunctive relief. Ring did not identify which of 10 versions of its terms of service it believed governed, citing different exhibits inconsistently. It was within the court’s discretion to reject the inconsistent arguments. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Miller, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: A165103, Categories: Arbitration, Class Action, Injunction
J. Hoffstadt finds that the probate court erred in refusing to probate a document as constituting a testator's will. The probate court was not limited to the four corners of the proffered document in its analysis of whether the drafter exhibited testamentary intent, as extrinsic evidence is key to determining a drafter's intent. There was clear and convincing evidence that the drafter intended an unwitnessed letter she wrote almost 20 years before her death to be testamentary. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: B321347, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. Pipkin finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of rape and simple battery. The trial court correctly admitted into evidence the audio from a recording of the crime made by the victim on her phone. Since only the audio portion of the recording was tendered into evidence, the case is governed by a different statute than the statute governing unlawful surveillance. The victim was allowed to record her conversation with defendant without his consent. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Pipkin, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: A23A0417, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Battery
J. Lynch finds that the workers' compensation board properly declined to review the denial of a claim in which an airline pilot contends he sustained brain damage from inhaling toxic fumes because the pilot failed to complete the application for review, and his subsequent request for reconsideration was properly denied. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 534443, Categories: Civil Procedure, Workers' Compensation
J. Natali finds that the trial court properly upheld the defendant's obligation under sex offender laws. Other jurisdictions have rejected due process challenges to lifetime registration requirements for certain violent offenders, and no legal authority states that all sex offenders who remain offense-free will eventually reach a point at which they are no longer a risk of committing sexual offenses. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Natali, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: A-1189-21, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Jabar finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault and other charges but improperly sentenced him to "five years in prison with all but twenty-four months suspended, followed by three years of probation." The court finds that two of the counts should be merged as being duplicative and the case remanded for resentencing based on the merged counts. Also, defendant argues that he was penalized during sentencing for going to trial, and the lower court's comments on the decision to stand trial were "at the very least, ambiguous," rendering the sentence invalid. Vacated in part.
Court: Maine Supreme Court, Judge: Jabar, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 2023ME32, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Palafox finds a lower court correctly terminated a mother’s parental rights. The mother argued there was not adequate evidence to determine she was an unfit mother or remove her parental rights, but child welfare workers provided evidence of the mother’s “ongoing drug use” and “lack of participation in court-ordered services.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00247-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Guardianship
J. Groves finds that while one of the victim's minor siblings admitted to "squishing" a 2-year-old prior to his death, defendant's murder conviction is supported based, in part, on the fact that none of the treating physicians or the state's expert witnesses believed the blunt force injuries that caused the victim's death could have been caused by the 6-year-old sibling. Meanwhile, the trial court properly admitted the investigating officers' testimony about out-of-court statements made by the victim's mother because the evidence was used to explain the police investigation and did not prejudice defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Groves, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1747, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Child Victims
J. Summerhays grants remand to the joint owners of a 35-acre tract in rural Church Point, Louisiana, transferring to state court their environmental property damage suit against Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), Chevron-owned companies and Hess Corp. The corporations unsuccessfully argued for federal jurisdiction on grounds that ARCO, a Texas citizen, was improperly added to the suit by the property owners, a Louisiana woman and a Texas corporation based in Louisiana. The landowners prevailed by showing that the terms of a 1953 operating agreement “explicitly” provide that the sued companies, including ARCO, are proportionately liable for damages to related to their oil and gas operations. The landowners have stated “a viable claim against ARCO, even if they do not ultimately prevail.”
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv6190, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Environment, Damages, Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly denied the city's motion to dismiss contract claims stemming from alleged breach of the parties' construction agreements except as to claims for delay damage that arose after issuance of the certificates of substantial completion. The contractors failed to seek timely review of the certificates within 30 days of the determination to issue them. Affirmed in part.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 02839, Categories: Construction, Contract
J. Longoria finds that the lower court improperly denied the appellants' motion to compel arbitration in this lawsuit asserting claims for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress in connection with the funeral services provided. There was a valid arbitration agreement, and the claims against the funeral home are "within the scope of the agreement." Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Longoria, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 13-21-00453-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Negligence, Contract