29 results for 'judge:"McDonald"'.
J. McDonald finds that an employee was improperly denied second injury fund benefits in workers' compensation claims brought after she injured her lower right leg while working for Nordstrom. The employee, who had suffered a lower leg injury 33 years before, required knee surgery for the recent injury, and the resultant lymphedema in her lower right leg and foot constituted an injury to her body as a whole. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-0182, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. McDonald finds that the district court should be held responsible for costs of hiring a technology vendor to help review information contained in a police chief's emails in criminal public corruption claims because the district court took responsibility for conducting the initial privilege review in a search warrant. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 22-1703, Categories: Civil Procedure
J. McDonald finds that the lower court properly allowed a foundation to continue claims concerning the ownership of property and historical artifacts displayed in the official residence of the Iowa governor because the state waived immunity upon voluntarily creating legal relationships with private citizens and the foundation. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 22/1995, Categories: Property, Immunity
J. McDonald finds the lower court properly upheld the utilities commission's denial of the apartment complex owner's request to use ratio utility billing, which apportions a certain amount to each tenant from a "master" meter at the property, to charge tenants for utility costs. Connecticut law prohibits billing tenants for utilities they did not use exclusively. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: SC20769, Categories: Energy, Landlord Tenant
J. McDonald finds that claims seeking punitive damages concerning the administration of drainage districts were properly dismissed since plaintiffs conceded the county did not owe a fiduciary duty in administering the districts or providing engineering services, and punitive damages could not be sought in stand-alone claims. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 23-0866, Categories: Municipal Law, Damages
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
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. McDonald finds that defendant was improperly convicted of vehicular homicide by OWI. Defendant claimed he blacked out while driving due to a medical condition rather than because he was under the influence of controlled substances. An employee of a healthcare vendor subcontracted to provide services to the county jail provided impermissible hearsay testimony regarding statements contained in a post-accident medical records when those records were not admitted into evidence. Defendant's medical condition "was a critical piece of evidence" and the hearsay testimony "was not cumulative of other evidence," so it prejudiced defendant's case. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 21-1319, Categories: Evidence, Fair Trial, Vehicular Homicide
J. McDonald finds that defendant was properly required to register as a sex offender. His crime was sexually motivated since he posted a video of a sexual encounter with his ex-girlfriend without her consent in order to "get back at her" following a difficult break-up. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 22-0903, Categories: Sex Offender
J. McDonald finds the energy authority properly recalculated and reduced the operating cost recovered by the peak energy generation facility. The reduction was based on credible evidence the facility had misstated its debt-to-equity ratio and would recover excessive amounts from consumers if changes were not made. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: SC20716, Categories: Energy, Government, Consumer Law
J. McDonald finds that a welder was properly awarded permanent partial disability benefits and reimbursement of expenses for an independent medical examination for a shoulder injury because the injury caused a new permanent partial disability unrelated to a previous shoulder injury he settled while working for the same company. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1421, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. McDonald finds that the lower court improperly suppressed evidence of a chemical breath test obtained via search warrant after defendant was pulled over. The deputy did not invoke an implied consent procedure, so no due process right was implicated when defendant was asked to blow into a breathalyzer machine. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1530, Categories: Search, Dui, Due Process
J. McDonald finds that an employee was improperly denied his petition for judicial review of an agency decision denying his claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The employee did not seek compensation for a preexisting disability, but rather sought compensation only for a new permanent partial disability unrelated to his first injury incident. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1894, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. McDonald finds that the district court improperly suppressed the results of a blood test after defendant was arrested for DUI. Iowa Code Chapter 808 authorizes law enforcement officers to apply for, obtain, and execute search warrants for bodily specimens, and the deputy had good cause to apply for the warrant since defendant had been in a hit-and-run incident and appeared to be intoxicated. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1531, Categories: Search, Dui
J. McDonald finds that state universities were properly required to pay assessments as members of a statutorily created health benefit reinsurance association because Iowa Code 504.301(2) does not limit the association's exercise of statutory power to assess late payment fees after being awarded damages for unpaid assessments. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 22-1213, Categories: Health Care
J. McDonald finds the lower court properly convicted defendant for attempted murder, possession of cocaine and possession of methamphetamine. Defendant was sentenced to 30 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with 20 years to serve and 10 years of supervised post-release probation, and three years to serve for each of the drug possession convictions with all to run consecutively. Defendant argues the lower court erroneously admitted evidence of prior bad acts and prejudiced the outcome of the trial, but no evidence of his prior bad acts was entered, only that he had been previously arrested. The instant court finds defendant did not show that he had been prejudiced by the information. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-01042-COA, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Murder
J. McDonald finds that the court of appeals improperly overturned defendant's murder conviction on grounds that a verdict-urging instruction had been given multiple times during jury deadlock. While one juror seemed unwilling to change his mind, other jurors had not demonstrated hostility or placed undue pressure upon him.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: 22-0089, Categories: Jury, Murder, Jury Instructions
J. McDonald finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of armed robbery for robbing a gas station with a gun, sentencing him to 33 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Defendant argues that evidence of his interrogation should not have been allowed into evidence as it constitutes evidence of other bad acts and prejudiced him, but the lower court found his statements to be voluntary and therefore admissible. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-00607-COA, Categories: Evidence, Robbery
J. McDonald finds the appeals court properly determined the trial court lost jurisdiction over defendant's case when it dismissed the criminal charges against him and, therefore, it could not reinstate charges when the state brought forth new evidence the day after the dismissal. Although Connecticut law includes a four-month rule in civil cases that allows courts to retain jurisdiction after a notice of judgment, this rule does not apply to criminal matters. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: SC20702, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Jurisdiction
J. McDonald concurs with the lower court’s decision that a city’s insurer cannot apply a last injurious exposure rule to avoid its liability after a police officer made a workers’ compensation claim for hearing loss. The officer was employed in three different Maryland governments (town, city and county) over 25 years and developed hearing loss in both ears as a result. Workers’ compensation law makes it the responsibility of the last employer chronologically to compensate the employee even if it is found they developed a condition over their time at more than one work place. However, this rule does not extend to insurance, so all providers over the worker’s career are liable.
Court: The Appellate Court of Maryland, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: CAL21-07018, Categories: Employment, Insurance, Workers' Compensation
J. McDonald finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of armed robbery with an elderly victim enhancement. Defendant followed a 74-year-old jogger to his home, where he held him at gunpoint and demanded the jogger’s money. The instant court finds the lower court properly applied the sentencing enhancement, sentencing him to ten years in custody, with five years suspended and five years to serve. The lower court did not abuse its discretion by refusing defendant’s request for jury instructions for a lesser-included offense of simple assault as it found no reasonable jury would find him guilty of the lesser charge and not armed robbery. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-00573-COA, Categories: Robbery, Sentencing, Jury Instructions
J. McDonald finds that the trial court abused its discretion when it granted the lender's motion for a protective order to prevent discovery because the documents requested by the borrower would have included relevant and critical information regarding whether he was delinquent on his mortgage and whether the lender had improperly deducted insurance premiums. Therefore, the judgment in favor of the lender will be vacated and the case will be remanded for proper discovery and a new trial. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: SC20715, Categories: Discovery, Banking / Lending
J. McDonald finds the appeals court erroneously determined the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the foreclosure case. The consumer protection notice provision requirement did not abrogate common law procedures and is not necessary to establish jurisdiction. However, because the bank failed to send the required notice when it filed its second foreclosure action and instead relied on the notice sent by the previous owner of the note, it failed to follow procedural guidelines and its lawsuit must be dismissed. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: SC20648, Categories: Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction, Banking / Lending
J. McDonald finds against the debtor's claim that there is an implicit debt carve-out in P.A. 21-161 for debts before its Oct. 1, 2021 effective date, which arises from the debtor filing a bankruptcy petition under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code's homestead exemption in November 2021. The parties disagree as to whether P.A. 21-161 was a procedural or substantive amendment for purposes of § 55-3, but it is moot because the increased homestead exemption in P.A. 21-161 does not constitute retroactive legislation, and the debtor's bankruptcy proceeding happened after the act's effective date.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: SC20746 , Categories: Bankruptcy
J. McDonald finds the trial court properly rejected the energy providers' claim that geographical restrictions on voluntary renewable offers sold to customers violated the dormant Commerce Clause. Although generators of the renewable energy from outside the restricted area are treated differently, the Connecticut regulatory authority has a legitimate interest in promoting the production of renewable energy in the New England area. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: SC20643, Categories: Civil Procedure, Commerce, Energy
J. McDonald finds the lower court properly determined in a mayoral election case that state election laws do not require a municipal court clerk to personally retrieve all mail-in ballots from drop boxes. The relevant statute, when interpreted alongside other election laws, contemplates a clerk will necessarily delegate certain responsibilities to other employees and government actors. Therefore, the lower court properly denied the mayoral candidate's request for mandamus relief. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: SC20737, Categories: Elections, Government
J. McDonald finds that the city properly collected automated traffic citation fines not reduced to judgment in municipal infraction proceedings. The fines did not constitute illegal property taxes since the generation of revenue did not negate the city’s stated purpose of promoting safety. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 21-1015, Categories: Municipal Law, Property, Tax
J. McDonald finds that the city properly collected automated traffic citation fines not reduced to judgment in municipal infraction proceedings. The fines did not constitute illegal property taxes since the generation of revenue did not negate the city’s stated purpose of promoting safety. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 22-0536, Categories: Municipal Law, Property, Tax
J. McDonald finds that although defendant was acquitted of assault, the trial court properly used evidence supporting the charge in its sentencing calculations for other convictions. Supreme Court precedent establishes such conduct, so long as it is supported by a preponderance of the evidence, can be used during sentencing. Additionally, the trial court heard all the evidence presented at trial, could judge the reliability of all witnesses, and did not use the conduct from the assault charge to enhance defendant's sentence or extend it beyond the required guidelines. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: SC20734, Categories: Sentencing, Assault, Due Process