31 results for 'judge:"Higginson"'.
J. Higginson finds the district court properly convicted defendant for wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy. Defendant committed extensive fraud in connection with student loan applications submitted on behalf of real and fictional students. He concealed his identity as a paid application preparer, also falsely representing student eligibility, qualifications and academic history, and paying people to impersonate students. Though post-trial counsel suggested defendant was delusional, and without the ability to understand the proceedings, the district court conducted a careful evaluation of his lack of history of irrational behavior, his demeanor and behavior at trial, and medical records and opinions regarding his competency. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-30069, Categories: Competence, Fraud, Conspiracy
J. Higginson finds the district court properly found the owner of the unpowered drillship to be liable for the ship's moorage breakaway during Hurrican Harvey. Maritime negligence law, rather than a "towage law," was appropriately applied in the court's holding the force majeure contract defense was not available to the ship owner in relation to the tugboat owner hired to tend to the ship during the storm. The tugboat owner also had expressly refused to agree to the terms of the agreement for provision of services. Because the tugboat owner had supplied another vessel to monitor the ship after the breakaway, and that tug failed to stop the vessel’s allision with a University of Texas pier, the court correctly found both owners were equally liable for damages suffered by the school. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-40209, Categories: Maritime, Damages, Negligence
J. Higginson finds the district court properly found for the county on an estate's claim it failed to protect a pretrial detainee from a fatal attack by his cellmate. Though the estate's expert identified jail procedures that purportedly led to the death, the expert was designated on the day of the new discovery deadline, and the order extending the deadline had not extended that for expert designation. Therefore, the expert designation was untimely. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23-60310, Categories: Constitution, Wrongful Death, Prisoners' Rights
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly ruled against the insurer in this declaratory judgment action, in which it seeks to invalidate certain indemnification and additional insured provisions for fire-suppression and electrical work in its policies with salt mining companies. The insurer says the Louisiana Oilfield Indemnity Act applies because the mine uses a drill-and-blast method, yet the court found that because no well is involved the Act does not apply. However, the Act does not contain a universal well requirement. The court must decide whether the contracts pertain to drilling for minerals. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 23-30076, Categories: Energy, Environment, Insurance
J. Higginson finds the district court properly convicted defendant for assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury. The shooting occurred on the Choctaw reservation after a long night of drinking, when an argument ensued over where and how to get more alcohol, and it is undisputed defendant shot the victim four times. All evidence supports the conviction, and no error is found in the court's denial of defendant's pretrial motion to recuse the lead prosecutor for having previously represented him while employed as a public defender in the tribal court. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 23-60040, Categories: Assault, Weapons, Due Process
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J. Higginson finds the trial court improperly sentenced defendant for his guilty plea conviction on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth. Though defendant completed pretrial drug treatment, he also tested positive for drugs and was arrested for possession. The government breached the plea agreement clause promising to recommend a reduction for acceptance of responsibility as a penalty for his breach of the pretrial release conditions. Though the sentence was within guidelines, the government has failed to rebut the presumption that its breach affected the fairness and integrity of the proceedings. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 22-50872, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Due Process
J. Higginson finds the district court properly found for a university on a black administrative coordinator's sexual harassment and retaliation suit. The record demonstrates the university took prompt remedial action after an investigation supported her claim that a veterinarian had slapped her on the buttocks. Furthermore, she fails to show the university's reasons for relocating her were pretextual. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 22-30699, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Higginson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm and attempted obstruction of a federal proceeding. The government presented sufficient evidence to support the convictions. However, the judge did not have the authority to order that the sentence run concurrently with a previous revocation sentence, as a retraction of the order resulted in 27 months greater time. Affirmed in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 22-30442, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Obstruction
[Consolidated] J. Higginson finds the district court properly convicted and sentenced defendant for aggravated identity theft. Defendant, a police dog trainer, used the identities of trainers in his application for Texas Veterans Commission certification who had not served as trainers for him or given their permission. The evidence in this case supports the trial court’s findings that defendant used identification belonging to the trainers during and in relation to wire fraud in every instance. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 21-50380, Categories: Fraud, Sentencing, Identity Theft
J. Higginson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for three counts of juvenile molestation. Defendant’s adult daughters, who were molested by him as juveniles, contacted the Department of Children and Family Services and law enforcement when they discovered that their father had remarried and was living in a house with young children. Interviews with the children revealed that they had been molested. The evidence presented is sufficient for conviction. Defendant’s explanations for his behaviors as intended to help the children go the restroom do not concur with the facts and are properly rejected. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 21-30638, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Higginson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for conspiracy to obstruct commerce by robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, causing death, in relation to a failed armored truck robbery. Five defendants were charged and the government did not identify which of three shooters fired the fatal shot. Certain defendants’ testimony did identify defendant as one of the shooters and partial DNA evidence placed him at the scene. Expert testimony on statistics involving the partial DNA match were not objected to, and the Fifth Circuit finds no reversible plain error. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 22-30421, Categories: Dna, Firearms, Robbery
J. Higginson denies a corporate advocacy group’s petition for review of the SEC’s approval of a rule that would require companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange to disclose information about board members, as well to give certain companies access to a board recruiting service. The group identifies no requirement of the Securities Exchange Act to which questions regarding the list of board-ready diverse candidates and availability of services are important or relevant. The group has shown no evidence that the approval order violates any acts or policies.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 21-60626, Categories: Evidence, Securities, Agency
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly found the city violated the takings clause when it refused to compensate the homeowner for damage to her property caused by police officers use of armored vehicles, explosives and toxic-gas grenades to resolve a hostage situation. History and precedent affirm that the takings clause does not require compensation for damaged property when the destruction was objectively necessary to prevent imminent harm to persons in an active emergency. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 22-40644, Categories: Property, Tort, Police Misconduct
J. Higginson finds the bankruptcy court properly denied the law firm’s motion to dismiss the adversary proceeding seeking to recover a transfer of the $1 million insurance policy proceeds already received by the firm and its client. The family of one of two individuals killed in a collision with a tractor owned by the debtor filed suit against the debtor, with the other family making a successful Stowers demand, through the law firm, for the $1 million limit of the policy. The debtor’s equitable interest in the insurance proceeds, allowed in “limited circumstances” such that the proceeds can be classified as property, are unaffected by the pre-petition transfer. A transfer of the debtor’s property has been properly alleged. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 23-40125, Categories: Bankruptcy, Insurance, Property
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly granted class certification to the insured parties whose totaled vehicles’ actual cash values were appraised by the insurer using a valuation report other than the National Automobile Dealers Association or Kelley Blue Book. The insureds fail to show injury, and so fail to establish the insurer’s liability on a class-wide basis, failing to demonstrate entitlement to the NADA values. Reversed and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 22-30351, Categories: Insurance, Vehicle, Class Action
J. Higginson finds that the trial court properly found defendant guilty of transporting an alien who has entered or remains in the United States in violation of law. The Border Patrol Agent testified that defendant explained that the passenger in his truck was his wife and a U.S. citizen. When the agent asked the passenger in Spanish about her citizenship, she said that she was from Honduras and that she was not legally present in the United States. Though the passenger testified that she was in the country against her will, a rational jury could infer that she had illegally entered or remained here from testimony confirming that she was illegally present. The verdict was based on sufficient evidence. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 21-40565, Categories: Evidence, Immigration
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly denied the landlord's request to have the magistrate referral vacated after a judgment of over $200 million was rendered in favor of the commercial tenant in a longstanding dispute regarding the potential development of an export grain terminal on the tenant's lot. The landlord learned that the judge was longtime family friends with the tenant's lead trial lawyer after the judgment was entered. Both parties consented to the referral, but the asserted facts regarding who knew what and when raise serious doubts about the validity of the harbor's constitutionally essential consent to have its case tried by this judge. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 22-30398, Categories: Constitution, Judiciary, Property
J. Higginson finds the district court properly dismissed this case with prejudice. The delivery driver brought suit against his employer on claims of defamation, false arrest, malicious prosecution and infliction of emotional distress after he was terminated and arrested for theft of product. The company has provided ample evidence supporting their position that they reported their findings with the honest and reasonable belief that the driver was stealing. The driver provides no evidence to dispute this. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 22-30245, Categories: Civil Rights, Malicious Prosecution, Defamation
J. Higginson finds the district court properly imposed the “standard” conditions of supervised release for defendant’s sentencing on his conviction for participating in a racketeering enterprise. The court satisfied the oral pronouncement requirement and there was no conflict with the written judgment. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 22-20163, Categories: Sentencing, Racketeering
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly dismissed the false arrest claims brought against the former chief of police by the former patrol sergeant in this suit alleging that the chief conspired to have the sergeant fired and arrested on bogus charges for supporting his subordinate officer's arrest of a friend of the mayor who requested that the charges be dropped. Reading glasses left by a terminated officer in a patrol unit were used by the chief as “evidence” that the sergeant had stolen them. Basic facts in the probable cause affidavits were “generated” and the court erred in granting the sergeant's motion regarding records access. The city and others were properly dismissed from the action. Reversed in part. Affirmed in part and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 22-40196, Categories: Employment, Employment Retaliation, Police Misconduct
J. Higginson finds the district court properly granted Whirlpool’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the sale of allegedly infringing “stand mixers” from being marketed online by the electrical technology company pending the outcome of its suit alleging trademark infringement and dilution, trade dress infringement, and unfair competition. Certain questions as to similarity of visual design and conspicuousness of branding regarding the likelihood of confusion are not enough to find clear error in the court’s decision. Arguments as to the threat of irreparable injury, the balance of harms and the public interest all weigh in Whirlpool’s favor. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 22-40376, Categories: Trademark, Business Practices, Injunction
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly denied qualified immunity to the Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens, accused of civil rights violations when investigating allegations of the property lessee’s illegal hunting leasing and title forgery. The lessee did not have permission from property owners to sell hunting opportunities, nor did he have a hunting lease license. He alleges that the wardens did not have probable cause, but does not argue the wardens knowingly withheld information, so he has not shown the independent intermediary’s deliberations or decisions were tainted. Independent-intermediary doctrine defeats his allegations that there was no probable cause to prosecute him. Reversed and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 21-51105, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Immunity
J. Higginson finds the trial court properly entered an order of forfeiture of funds and property as part of defendant’s criminal sentence for his drug and money laundering conspiracy convictions by guilty plea. On a previous appeal, the Fifth Circuit found that the district court failed at sentencing to orally pronounce the forfeiture and vacated and remanded for resentencing. Because of this, defendant’s claim for ineffective assistance was declared moot. Although defendant sought recission of the forfeiture stipulation, the district court does not have authority to rewrite his plea agreement. Defendant is bound by the plea agreement. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 22-30369, Categories: Drug Offender, Forfeiture, Money Laundering
J. Higginson finds the trial court properly entered judgment in favor of Liberty Mutual in this insurance dispute brought by the car-auction company alleging that Liberty must defend it in a South Carolina lawsuit. That lawsuit alleges that vehicle storage has damaged adjacent properties. That certain of the property owners’ alleged damages are caused by pollutants is clear, and an unambiguous policy “pollution exclusion” applies. If evidence shows that “cloudy water” was caused only by sand and sediment, then the pollution exclusion may not apply and Liberty may still be obligated to indemnify. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 21-10938, Categories: Insurance, Property, Tort
J. Higginson finds that the district court properly found in favor of the employer as to this Americans with Disabilities Act suit brought by a former employee who was fired due to scheduling conflicts arising from his need to attend court-ordered substance abuse classes as a probation term for his third DWI citation. A supervisor stated that the employer would have accommodated him if he had requested time off as vacation. He also explained that if the company's Employee Assistance Program had recommended the classes, the shifts would have been covered. The employee did not request a reasonable accommodation for his disability. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 22-50064, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination
J. Higginson finds the district court properly affirmed the bankruptcy court’s granting of summary judgment to the prevailing party granted a multi-million-dollar arbitration award against his former lawyer and son-in-law. The lawyer filed for bankruptcy, seeking to dismiss the award. The father-in-law objected under code governing “exceptions to discharge” with the bankruptcy court granting him summary judgment based on the award’s being entitled to preclusive effect based on collateral estoppel. A disclaimer, as argued by the lawyer, specifies the award as “reasoned” and not “formal findings of fact and law.” But the disclaimer is not dispositive and the arbitrator’s substantial document of award, emerging from an 11-day hearing involving more than 300 exhibits and testimony from 16 witnesses, satisfies the requirements for collateral estoppel. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 22-50788, Categories: Arbitration, Bankruptcy
J. Higginson finds the district court properly dismissed this case brought by the work visa petitioner who was denied a “national-interest waiver,” which can be used by holders of advanced degrees to obtain a visa without a current job offer. Review of an agency decision or action is precluded if the “authority for” the decision or action “is specified … to be in the discretion of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security.” Review by the district court is jurisdictionally barred. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 22-20419, Categories: Immigration, Jurisdiction
J. Higginson finds the trial court properly dismissed the auto product distributor’s fraud and contract breach claims against the manufacturer alleging that it implemented rules preventing it from cultivating its own platforms, selling on Amazon and other websites, which the manufacturer originally promised would always be allowed. Facts the distributor has alleged do not allow for inference that the manufacturer had “no intention” of adhering to its promise. No evidence has been brought showing that the agreement contained a written quantity or exclusivity term to survive summary judgment. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 22-50769, Categories: Fraud, Business Expectancy, Contract
J. Higginson finds the lower court improperly dismissed a mother’s Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act claims brought against the school district. The district court says the mother lacked standing to bring the claims on her own behalf and — who is not a licensed attorney — could not proceed pro se on behalf of her children. An absolute bar on pro se parent representation is inconsistent with the relevant federal law, which allows a pro se parent to proceed on behalf of her child in federal court when the child’s case is the parent’s “own.” Vacated and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson, Filed On: June 2, 2023, Case #: 21-11180, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Due Process