164 results for 'filedAt:"2024-03-14"'.
J. Vigil finds the trial court's use of the term "and/or" in its jury instructions at defendants' trial on reckless child abuse charges improperly confused or misled the jury and requires reversal of those convictions because it was used in the essential elements instruction and allowed the jury to convict defendants on a legally inadequate basis. Meanwhile, although the state stipulated to defendants' claim they did not intend to leave the victims inside a hot car when they returned to their daycare facility, there is still sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude defendants acted with "reckless disregard," and so a new trial will not violate defendants' double jeopardy rights. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Vigil, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-38818, Categories: Double Jeopardy, Child Victims, Jury Instructions
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J. Kennedy finds that the lower court properly denied the appellants' motion to compel arbitration in this lawsuit involving a multi-level marketing company and its directors. As to the corporate appellants, they "substantially invoked the judicial process to the detriment of appellees," while the individual appellants fail to show "the existence of an agreement to arbitrate." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 05-23-00661-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Employment, Fiduciary Duty
J. grants final approval to a $45 million settlement between consumers and Altria Group in a class action over the marketing and sales of JUUL products, which consist of electronic cigarettes and nicotine packs, to minors. This settlement follows a settlement with JUUL Labs for $255 million. Although attorney fees have not yet been decided, “the amounts requested do not undermine the court’s conclusions that the Altria class settlement is as a whole fair and reasonable.”
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Orrick, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 3:19md2913, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Settlements, Product Liability, Class Action
J. Anello declines to grant preliminary approval of a $350,000 settlement in a class action alleging that the healthcare company failed to take the necessary precautions to prevent a cyberattack and thereby protect the patients' personal health information. The amount in controversy does not exceed the $5 million threshold for federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act and the parties fail to show that minimal diversity exists. Additionally, here is no federal question at issue in this case, so the court lacks jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Anello, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv570, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Privacy, Jurisdiction, Class Action
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly reversed the English custom tailor's motion to dismiss a shareholder's request for an accounting on the grounds of forum non conveniens. Although the shareholder is a resident of New York, the tailor and all witnesses are located in the United Kingdom. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 01344, Categories: Corporations, Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly ordered the staffing agency to post an undertaking of $1 million, a sum far exceeding the amount requested by the minority shareholder, who claims the majority shareholder fraudulently set him up to incur significant tax penalties. The order is modified to set the amount of the undertaking at $210,000. Reversed in part.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 01343, Categories: Damages, Business Practices
J. Manzanet-Daniels finds that the lower court properly dismissed a businessman's complaint against his former partner in a dispute over the partner's failure to cash out his investment, worth $11 million. The original exit opportunity agreement is unenforceable because it was superseded by an amendment to the company's limited liability agreement. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Manzanet-Daniels, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 01337, Categories: Business Practices, Contract
J. Deters finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to represent himself during his trial on two murder charges because the request was made nearly two years after the case had been placed on the court's docket and was clearly a delay tactic, given the trial was set to begin in a week and defendant claimed to need several more months to examine all the evidence. Furthermore, although the prosecutor's comments during closing arguments that defendant was unreliable and the manipulation of several individuals showed defendant's poor character were inappropriate, they did not deprive him of a fair trial. The death sentences are appropriate based, in part, on the brutal nature of the crimes, including multiple stab wounds to the victims and his dismemberment of the bodies. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Deters, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-902, Categories: Death Penalty, Murder, Self Representation
J. Clay finds the lower court erroneously granted the board of elections' motion to dismiss for lack of standing. It and the Secretary of State's definitive statements that posting "ballot selfies" online is against Ohio election laws demonstrate a credible threat of enforcement that gives the voter standing to challenge the laws on First Amendment grounds. Although the board claims it has not monitored social media for such posts since 2019, it has continuously told voters publishing images of ballots is a criminal offense, while a 2019 order by the board to an online poster to remove an image also chills protected speech and allows the suit to proceed. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Clay, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 23-3330, Categories: Elections, First Amendment
J. Haight grants the assistant superintendent's motion for judgment on the pleadings, ruling the parents' failure to cite any specific actions taken by the official as an individual that infringed or may have infringed on their constitutional rights is fatal to all of their constitutional claims related to the alleged discrimination their children suffered.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Haight, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1130, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, First Amendment
J. Gallagher finds the trial court properly terminated the mother's parental rights and granted permanent custody of the child to family services. She failed to take any steps to complete her case plan for nearly five months after the child was removed from her care and was also evicted from her home, which prevented her from providing a safe environment for the child. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-950, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Ceresia finds that the workers' compensation board properly held that a maintenance supervisor made material misrepresentations during evaluations to assess the permanency of his work-related injury to hands, wrists and shoulders due to repetitive use. Surveillance video by his employer, along with testimony and reports that included an independent medical examination, supported the finding. Furthermore, disqualifying him from future wage-replacement benefits also was proper. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Ceresia, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: CV-22-2032, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Reynolds Fitzgerald finds that the lower court properly found for an insurer sued by a policyholder for not covering all lost business income after a fire destroyed one building in an 11-building, 200-unit apartment complex and caused some tenants to vacate due to attendant inconveniences. The policy was unambiguous in stating that only losses caused directly by physical damage or destruction to the property qualified for lost business coverage. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Reynolds Fitzgerald, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: CV-22-2347, Categories: Insurance
J. Fisher finds that a former nursing home resident was properly deemed ineligible for Medicaid benefits during certain periods. The evidence offered by the home and her family failed to rebut the presumption that some asset transfers made during the statutory five-year "lookback" period were made to qualify for assistance. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Fisher, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: CV-23-0858, Categories: Medicaid
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that attorney Hanna Mary Renna, suspended last year for 90 days in Florida and then reciprocally in Michigan, should be censured. Renna admitted to altering a photo pack presented to a child witness in a criminal case, which led to misidentification. Since that was impermissible under Florida case law and would also establish misconduct under New York attorney rules, censure is appropriate.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: PM-43-24, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Clark denies the car buyer's motion to certify a class of buyer's allegedly misled by the insurer about damages to their cars. The insurer obtained a clean title for the car after it had been involved in an accident and sold for salvage. It was then resold to the buyer, who was unaware of its accident history. However, purchase of a mistitled vehicle does not, by itself, prove reliance. Therefore, individual questions of reliance predominate because they rely upon the circumstantial evidence of each purchase.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Missouri, Judge: Clark, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv385, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Emas finds defendant's habeas corpus petition in his case alleging two offenses of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor under the age of 12 must be granted. In part because the child victim did not testify in person at defendant's adversary preliminary hearing, the child's two out-of-court statements prosecutors submitted at the hearing were improperly allowed as evidence by the trial court, as they qualify as inadmissible hearsay given the circumstances. No other evidence was brought to establish probable cause, so defendant must be released on recognizance.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Emas, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 24-0331, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Bradley finds the labor appeals agency properly concluded that the Catholic charities group and its four sub-entities must contribute unemployment taxes to the state unemployment insurance system. State law requires an examination of both an organization's motivations and activities to determine if it is "operated primarily for religious purposes," and such an examination of the group and its sub-entities shows they are not operated primarily for religious purposes and are therefore not exempt from unemployment taxes. The group and its sub-entities have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the relevant statute as applied to them violates the First Amendment or the Wisconsin Constitution. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court, Judge: Bradley, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2020AP002007, Categories: Administrative Law, Constitution, Tax
J. VanMeter finds that Kentucky properly exercised jurisdiction over a minor child in a custody dispute because statute stipulates emergency custody on grounds that the mother now resided with the child in the commonwealth, and since the parents had moved frequently prior to the dispute, which deprived any other state of jurisdiction. Affirmed.
Court: Kentucky Supreme Court, Judge: VanMeter, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2023-SC-0251-MR, Categories: Family Law, Jurisdiction
J. Petersen finds that the trial court properly conducted a pretrial justification hearing at which defendant made a prima facie showing that he fired seven shots in self defense after a snowplow repeatedly rammed his SUV. He showed both a subjective and an objective belief that the snowplow was turning to strike his vehicle again and endanger him and his passenger.
Court: Utah Supreme Court, Judge: Petersen, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 20220325, Categories: Firearms, Self Defense
J. Huffaker grants, in part, a trucking company’s motion for summary judgment in this wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a motorist who died in a vehicle collision involving the company’s tractor-trailer, which was parked for 12 hours on the shoulder of an interstate’s travel lanes. The family alleges Alabama Wrongful Death Act and many negligence claims because the trucker had been parked on top of the rumble strip within inches of the fog line when it broke down. The trucking company argues that the decedent driver was at fault when he drifted out of his lane, and the truck driver did not create a safety concern. The estate’s negligence and wantonness claims concerning the tractor-trailer being parked in the place and for the amount of time it was there, and the decedent driver’s actions constitute as contributory negligence is denied. All other claims are granted along with the estate’s motion to file a sur-reply. The trucking company’s motion in limine is denied but may be refiled in advance of the jury trial.
Court: USDC Middle District of Alabama, Judge: Huffaker, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv85, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Vehicle, Wrongful Death
J. Danner finds that the trial court improperly dismissed a murder charge on double jeopardy grounds. A 1996 dismissal was entered in the furtherance of justice following two mistrials and was not the result of an application of the substantial evidence standard. The minute order cited "insufficient evidence," but the written order more fully explained the interest of justice factors that show it was not an acquittal after a finding of insufficient evidence that would entitle defendant to double jeopardy protection. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Danner, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: H051311, Categories: Dna, Murder, Double Jeopardy