121 results for 'filedAt:"2024-04-12"'.
J. Swiney finds the lower court improperly dismissed this matter concerning damages on grounds that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Shareholders of a boating company sued a dealership for intentional misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and promissory fraud, and a jury awarded them $900,000 in damages. The dealership argues the shareholders lack standing as they are not the owners of the real property, rather the boating company is. The instant court finds that the issues of subject matter jurisdiction and standing were not raised by the dealership until a hearing for post-trial motions, therefore they are waived. Reversed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals, Judge: Swiney, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: E2023-00324-COA-R3-CV, Categories: Fraud, Damages, Jurisdiction
J. Jackson grants a request by a Texas-based electrical contractor, finding its Louisiana competitor in civil contempt of a nearly two-year-old court order barring its use of allegedly stolen trade secrets obtained from the litigant’s former employees. The competitor claims it was “blindsided” by its employee’s deposition testimony that he used tools and programs from his ex-employers to build materials for his new bosses. The competitor “may not rely on its supposed ignorance” of its employees' activities to avoid a finding of contempt. The competitor must immediately cease using all replicas of the litigant-contractor's protected information.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv267, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Employment, Sanctions, Trade Secrets
J. Van Cleef affirms the trial court’s defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentence of 99 years in prison. The trial court properly allowed defendant to impeach a witness - the mother of the child victim -- who had a prior conviction for receiving stolen property from more than 10 years ago. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 06-23-105, Categories: Witnesses, Child Victims
J. Stevens affirms the trial court’s defendant's guilty plea conviction for murder and jury-imposed life sentence. The trial judge properly denied defendant’s request for a change of venue. He unsuccessfully argued he could not get a fair trial in the small county, citing comments by 95 people on earlier Facebook posts by the parents of the victim. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 06-23-142, Categories: Jury, Murder, Sentencing
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J. Sotomayor finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in securities claims alleging "failure to disclose," which cannot support a private claim since a pure omission is not actionable. Reversed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Sotomayor, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-1165, Categories: Securities
J. Barrett finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in illegal takings claims brought after the county imposed a traffic impact fee as part of a residential building permit because the takings clause can be applied to fees imposed by legislatures. Reversed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Barrett, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-1074, Categories: Property
J. Duncan finds the district court properly convicted defendant for possessing an unregistered destructive device. Defendant was arrested after his sister reported he assaulted her boyfriend, also telling police he had a pipe bomb in his closet. Though an explosives expert determined it was a bomb, improvised with material harvested from fireworks, defendant says the government did not prove it was designed as a weapon. The affirmative defense, according to certain case law and code exception, is not an element of the crime. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Duncan, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-40098, Categories: Evidence, Weapons
J. Devine finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled against a private developer in a contract case it filed against the City of San Antonio water system. Based on a contract it formed with the city, the developer alleged that the city was obligated to reserve sewer capacity for a housing development project. The court of appeals granted the city's motion to dismiss the case, citing governmental immunity, and finding that the city had no contractual right to reserve the capacity. However, the contract entered into by the developer and the city waived the city's immunity because it effectively outlined the terms of the project, forming an agreement between the parties. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Devine, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-0481, Categories: Government, Water, Immunity
J. Roberts finds that the court of appeals improperly held that bakery employees who worked as truck drivers were not exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act in underlying wage claims based on the erroneous conclusion that employees must be in the transportation industry to be exempt.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Roberts, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-51, Categories: Arbitration, Employment
J. Docherty grants the insurers' motions to compel discovery and a deposition and denies the driver's motion to compel a deposition in the driver's suit arguing that he was improperly denied a policy for a classic car because he does not own a daily-use car. The driver failed to comply with meet-and-confer requirements and has not fully responded to discovery requests, and the insurers' requests seek relevant information, and are proportional to the needs of the case.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Docherty, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv525, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Insurance, Discovery
J. Nelson grants Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su's motion that the court take notice that Su filed pending motions against the United States Postal Service, as Su is also accusing USPS of firing an employee after she reported her workplace injury in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Su filed five other cases against USPS that also relate to allegations that USPS filed its employees under dubious circumstances, such as firing one probationary employee 14 days after they reported an injury.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1454, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Employment, Labor
J. Lin grants Amazon default judgment on all claims but the false advertising claim in its complaint alleging that the sellers sold counterfeit Amazon Fire TV remotes on Amazon's online marketplace. Amazon proves that the sellers violated its trademark by selling counterfeit Amazon Fire TV remotes bearing Amazon's Smile trademark, which is likely to cause confusion among consumers.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1060, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark
J. Bacharach answers a question in the negative regarding how to judge products that claim to be "American-made" for advertising purposes. The question comes from a dispute between two construction equipment providers in which one accused the other of lying for using that phrase, with the core of the question being if it is considered a false statement to call something "American-made" if that product was made using parts from other countries. The claim "American-made" is inherently ambiguous. Terms like "make" or "made" can refer to several elements of a product, including where it was physically assembled and where it originally came from, and as a result, it would be unreasonable to hold one of the construction equipment makers liable for statements such as those.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Bacharach, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-5046, Categories: Copyright, False Advertising
J. Wallis finds the trial court improperly entered two nonfinal orders in part requiring monthly alimony and child support payments totaling $1,748 from the ex-husband to the ex-wife. The trial court violated the ex-husband's due process rights by ordering him to pay arrears when the ex-wife did not seek that relief, and the orders generally were not supported by substantial and competent evidence. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Wallis, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-2800, Categories: Family Law
J. Pratt finds the trial court properly denied the trucking company's motion to stay and compel arbitration in a dispute between the property owner and multiple trucking companies in which the owner accuses the companies of litter and trespass for digging "an enormous pit" and dumping "construction debris and sludge" on its property. The trucking company cannot get the relief it seeks because it is not a party to the arbitration agreement it wants enforced. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Pratt, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-2094, Categories: Arbitration, Contract
J. Graber dismisses in part an immigrant's appeal from the 41-month prison sentence imposed following his guilty plea for attempted reentry by a removed noncitizen. The immigrant challenged the validity of his waiver of a grand jury indictment, but he waived the right to appeal that issue by pleading guilty unconditionally. The lower court correctly decided all other issues stemming from the matter. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Graber, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-705, Categories: Immigration
J. Sacks finds that a board of health’s order to the owner of an asphalt plant to cease and desist its operation is valid and reverses a judgment nulling the order. While the prior judge determined that the order was arbitrary and capricious because the board failed to provide evidence that the odor produced by the plant is injurious to the public health, the board has the authority to treat the plant as a public nuisance after residents in proximity to the plant complained of the intense odor, dizziness and eyes burning and watering. Reversed.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sacks, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-P-629, Categories: Environment, Municipal Law, Zoning
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a search of his motel room found bullets that went along with a gun he dropped while fleeing from police. Defendant was on parole at the time he was found in possession of a weapon, and so he did not have an expectation of privacy in his motel room, so the bullets were properly admitted into evidence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-2097, Categories: Firearms, Parole, Search
J. Hiraoka finds an environmental court properly determined that the conservation group was not entitled to a contested case hearing over the renewal of permits to divert water from a Maui river. The group did not have a constitutionally protected property interest in the permits based on rights to a clean and healthful environment. The permits do comply with environmental regulations and governmental interest in the providing water to its communities overweighs the need for a contested case hearing. However, when the permits were continued, the environmental court should not have modified the conditions to limit stream diversions as the board should have authority over modifications. Affirmed.
Court: Hawai'i Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hiraoka, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: CAAP-22-516, Categories: Environment, Government, Water
J. Liman tosses a legal challenge against the U.S. Eastern District Court’s rule of automatically assigning related cases filed by self-represented litigants to the same judge. In this case the litigant, a father, filed several suits related to his state child custody hearings, each of which were assigned to the same judge, who promptly dismissed the cases for various reasons. The court rules the system does not violate pro se litigants’ equal protection or due process rights.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Liman, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv4330, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Due Process, Equal Protection
J. McDonald suspends attorney Reuben Neff for 60 days for violating an ethical rule prohibiting sexual harassment because he made at least nine inappropriate sexual comments at work about defendants and judges in criminal cases.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-0572, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Doherty finds that the lower court properly denied defendant pretrial release on domestic violence charges. The state presented evidence of defendant's past violent misconduct while on probation in support of its position that no set of conditions could make it safe for the victim to allow defendant's release on bail. The court was not required to address defendant's recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder when making its decision. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Doherty, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 240103, Categories: Bail, Domestic Violence
J. White grants the cleaning company's motion to dismiss overtime claims brought by two housekeepers alleging the company has a practice of arbitrarily reducing employees' wages, sometimes as a way to discipline its workers. The employees' hourly rate was $19 per hour, well above minimum wage, so even if their rate was reduced, it was still legal. Further, the complaint fails to allege the number of hours the employees' worked in a particular workweek.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Missouri, Judge: White, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv1479, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment
J. Reznik denies the county's request to claw back certain inadvertently disclosed documents. The county failed to object to the use of the documents as an exhibit during a deposition, allowing a witness to answer questions about them, so it waived its right to object to the disclosure.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Reznik, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 7:21cv10644, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Discovery, Privilege
J. Birzer grants a patient's motion to leave to file an amended complaint concerning strict products liability claims against a pharmaceutical company. The patient, who suffers from alopecia after taking a breast cancer chemotherapy drug, sufficiently showed in court that the manufacturer created an "informational tear sheet" distributed to chemotherapy nursing staff, falsely claiming that hair loss was temporary.
Court: USDC Kansas, Judge: Birzer, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 6:23cv1228, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Negligence, Product Liability
J. Gibbons finds the district court properly awarded primary custody of the divorced parties' child to the father. Though the mother says the summons was sent to a previous address and that she did not receive proper service, she did not seek dismissal. Seeking adjudication on the merits, she effectively consented to the court's jurisdiction and waived dismissal based upon a failure to effectuate service. The record supports the court's denial of the mother's request for child support arrears. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge: Gibbons , Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 87208-COA, Categories: Family Law, Due Process, Guardianship