116 results for 'judge:"Baker "'.
J. Baker finds that the trial court improperly ruled in a dispute over a non-compete agreement by failing to consider the disservice that would be done to the public by enforcing the agreement on a doctor, which would deprive him from serving patients. The hospital does not possess other doctors practicing the same specialty, and thus the restrictive agreement does nothing but prevent the doctor from practicing in a specific area. Reversed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23A-PL-2111, Categories: Employment, Contract
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of capital murder. Defendant argues that errors in the abstract of the jury charge led to him being harmed, specifically the mention of "intentionality" in the course of determining whether someone has committed capital murder. While the abstract did contain errors, the rest of the abstract greatly outweighs any potential harm those errors could have had on defendant's case. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00044-CR, Categories: Jury, Murder, Robbery
J. Baker finds that the trial court improperly ruled against an interior design firm that a design communications company sued for breach of a promissory note. The design firm argues that genuine fact issues remain on their counterclaims, specifically, an affidavit purporting to challenge the notion that there was a joint venture between the entities, entitling the communications company to a promissory note from the design firm. The trial court did indeed err in excluding the affidavit. Furthermore, the company is not entitled to summary judgment on the firm's breach of fiduciary duty claims while these fact issues exist. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 03-22-00451-CV, Categories: Corporations, Evidence, Fiduciary Duty
J. Baker finds that the county court properly ruled against a homeowner in a debt case filed by a repairman who was not paid after working on the homeowner's septic system. The homeowner refused to pay for the services, alleging that the repairman did not complete the work and caused more damage to her septic system. The repairman's testimony that he completed the repairs is more credible than the homeowner's counter assertions. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 03-22-00492-CV, Categories: Tort, Contract
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J. Baker finds the circuit court improperly dismissed the inmate's request for additional DNA testing following his conviction in the "Memphis 3" murder. The circuit court misinterpreted the plain language of the relevant statute, consistent with other law, that ���any person...who has alleged actual innocence��� is entitled to petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court erroneously dismissed the petition on the grounds defendant was not in state custody at the time it was filed. Reversed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Baker , Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: CR-22-670, Categories: Dna, Habeas, Murder
J. Baker finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. Defendant was taken into custody after having been identified as a suspect. She was found with the murder weapon, Mirandized and admitted she had been in an argument with the victim because he had allegedly struck her 14-year-old son. Sufficient evidence, including surveillance video and clothing worn by the assailant in the video found at defendant's home, support the conviction. Though it was later found a juror's sister worked for the defense attorney, no evidence shows the juror and attorney knew each other. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Baker , Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: CR-23-602, Categories: Evidence, Jury, Murder
J. Baker holds that defendant is entitled to a new trial because cumulative errors led to his conviction for deliberate homicide. The state implicitly suggested to the jury that defendant and his girlfriend were drug dealers. The state also failed to disclose that defendant's home was burglarized by associates of the homicide victim on the night of the homicide, and it failed to attempt to unlock the victim's phone, which may have shown a broader conspiracy against defendant. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0290, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Baker recommends granting default judgment to a photographer and awarding him $15,000 in damages on his copyright claim against a night club that unlawfully used his photo of an Army captain in doctor���s clothes to advertise its ���Medic Strippers��� event. The club failed to timely respond to the action and the photographer makes sufficient allegations to support his claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv565, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Evidence
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly allowed an investment fund to first plead its affirmative defense of judicial estoppel on an investor's malicious prosecution claim after the pretrial deadline. However, it was error to grant the fund's motion for summary judgment since the investor's claim did not accrue until an underlying federal bankruptcy suit was dismissed and the claim was assigned to the investor. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0246, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Malicious Prosecution
J. Baker finds the circuit court improperly found for a Ford dealership. A financial audit revealed tax payment discrepancies, as well as incorrect usage of license tags. Though it is true ���a vehicle may be involved in many transactions... [triggering] sales tax liability,��� the dealer's allowing certain vehicles for business use by individuals, not being a transaction, and thus not triggering tax liability, is incorrect. The court applied the wrong standard of review. Reversed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Baker , Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: CV-23-450, Categories: Licensing, Tax, Business Practices
J. Baker grants the waste collection and disposal services���s company���s motion for summary judgment on employment discrimination claims brought by a female employee, finding she failed to support sufficient evidence that she suffered sexual harassment constituting an actionable hostile work environment, or that the company discriminated against her based on her age, or retaliated against her.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv156, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly ruled in part in the corporation's lawsuit seeking to establish an easement for it to construct and maintain a boat dock on the trust's property. The trial court reasonably limited the scope of the corporation's access, barring it from constructing a dock. However, the trial court did err in only awarding the trust contingent attorney fees. Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 03-22-00422-CV, Categories: Construction, Property, Attorney Fees
J. Baker finds that the juvenile court properly assumed dependency jurisdiction over several children based on the risks they faced by their mother's failure to protect them from their father's alcohol abuse and drunk driving. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Baker, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: B326320, Categories: Family Law
J. Baker finds the circuit court improperly reduced the restored building owner's tax obligation to $0. The Department of Arkansas Heritage issued a $125,000 state income tax credit to the owner, who used a portion to pay certain taxes, then sought review of the assessor's adjustment. The circuit court concluded that certain statutes regarding the limits of a rehabilitation credit conflict and ordered the tax obligation reduced to $0, allowing the owner to carry forward the unused portion of the credit for five years. The court incorrectly determined the credit must be applied after apportionment and erroneously determined the statutes conflict. Reversed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Baker , Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: CV-23-412, Categories: Administrative Law, Construction, Tax
J. Baker vacates the trial court���s order appointing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and a mother as joint managing conservators over the care of the mother���s child. On appeal, the department argues that the court erred in appointing it as one of the child���s conservators when it chose to drop the suit. The trial court abused its discretion in appointing the department despite its nonsuit. Vacated.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00612-CV, Categories: Family Law
J. Baker finds that the district court improperly revoked a permit to build and operate a copper mine next to a tributary of the Smith River. The Department of Environmental Quality satisfied both the Metal Mining Reclamation Act and the Environmental Policy act in approving the mine operator's proposed cemented tailings facility. The department also conducted a rational evaluation of the impact of nitrogen discharges into the tributary. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0406, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, Property
J. Baker grants the relators' petition for writ of mandamus allowing them to designate the apartment builder's engineers, real estate attorneys and contractors as responsible third parties in underlying litigation from a sale of real property. The trial court did not have the discretion to deny a timely filed motion to designate.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00307-CV, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Baker finds the trial court properly granted partial summary judgment to a doctor and denied a patient���s motion for a new trial in this medical malpractice case. The patient alleges the doctor negligently performed a thighplasty on her, instead of doing a lower body lift for her desired results. The jury found the doctor not negligent in the standard of care on sequencing. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0600, Categories: Medical Malpractice
J. Baker finds that the trial court should have taken judicial notice of an injured pedestrian's low blood alcohol content after admitting into evidence that he had been drinking before he was struck by a vehicle while walking in a crosswalk. Judicial notice does not require the introduction of evidence as proof of a fact. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0134, Categories: Evidence, Negligence
J. Baker finds the circuit court properly granted the department of correction's motion for summary judgment. The inmate, convicted in 1980 for capital murder and rape, sought a declaration he was eligible for parole and asked the court to compel parole. Parole eligibility is based on the number of times a defendant has been convicted for felonies. Because defendant committed attempted first-degree murder and first-degree battery while incarcerated, and after a cited statute had been enacted, he became ineligible for parole after committing the last of the four felonies. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Baker , Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: CV-23-282, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Prisoners' Rights