30 results for 'judge:"Rovner"'.
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 120 months in prison for possession of a firearm as a felon after rejecting a binding plea agreement providing for a 96-month sentence. Defendant was fully aware that the acceptance of defendant's guilty plea did not ensure the acceptance of the binding plea agreement, and there is no merit to the claim that the court improperly inserted itself into the plea negotiation process. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-2364, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Plea
[Consolidated.] J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly ordered defendant to pay $1.2 million in restitution for her role in a scheme to file hundreds of fraudulent tax returns. The evidence supports the calculation of the restitution figure and does not support characterizing some of the false returns as part of a separate scheme. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 22-1360, Categories: Fraud, Restitution, Tax
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly rejected defendant's habeas petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant has proven that his counsel was ineffective for failing to consult a toxicologist, who would have revealed that the government could not prove that the heroin defendant supplied was the cause of the drug user's death. However, defendant was not prejudiced by this failure because he would have faced a mandatory life term based on his prior felony drug conviction and the fact that two individuals suffered serious bodily injuries when they overdosed on heroin that he supplied. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-2666, Categories: Drug Offender, Ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
J. Rovner finds that the defendant's appeal must be dismissed as moot because he has completed his 70-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm and has suffered no injury that can be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 23-2196, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Parole
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly denied the prisoner's habeas petition alleging actual innocence and prosecutorial misconduct. Evidence that an interrogating detective coerced confessions in other cases is not enough to show the prisoner's actual innocence, because it is possible for the detective to be abusive and a liar and for the prisoner to still be guilty of murder. Further, the prisoner cannot show that the prosecutors had any reason, at the time, to disbelieve a witness's lineup identification despite the witness's later denial that he ever identified anyone in a lineup. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 21-1375, Categories: Constitution, Habeas, Prisoners' Rights
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J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. When considered as a whole, the jury instructions accurately summarized the law. Further, even if there were an error, the evidence against defendant was so overwhelming that it did not prejudice his case. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1542, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims, Jury Instructions
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly imposed a sentencing enhancement based on defendant's knowledge that he was selling a weapon to a felon. The plea agreement is ambiguous as to the timing of defendant's knowledge, so defendant cannot rely upon that plea agreement to establish a timeline. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 22-2538, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Plea
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly dismissed all the prisoners' constitutional claims against prison staff members stemming from his conviction for a prison gang assault. There is no evidence that the prison staff knew the prisoner was actually innocent of any involvement in the assault, so his First Amendment claim fails. Further, the evidence does not support a finding that a white prisoner involved in the assault was treated more favorably. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 21-1730, Categories: Prisoners' Rights
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court reasonably failed to hold a hearing on whether defendant knowingly waived certain rights when entering into a proffer agreement with the government, and allowed a witness to testify about the course of the investigation that led to defendant's arrest. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 21-3248, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Firearms, Witnesses
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the prison officials on civil rights claims stemming from a prisoner's attack on another prisoner. Despite repeatedly asking to be moved away from the attacking prisoner, the prisoner suffered an attack with a key that left him blind in one eye. However, prison officials had no warning that the attacker posed a risk of physical violence beyond his reputation for "mouthing off." Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1929, Categories: Civil Rights, Prisoners' Rights
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the Defense Department on an employee's disability discrimination claims. The employee's position as a teacher at an Army base in Europe requires her to show up to work in-person, and her need to miss up to two hours each morning due to migraines shows she cannot perform this essential function of her job. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: November 20, 2023, Case #: 22-2566, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination
J. Rovner finds that the lower court improperly denied the police officer qualified immunity on wrongful death claims stemming from his fatal shooting of a suspect following a high-speed chase. The evidence shows that the officer exited his car, and placed himself within a few car-lengths of the suspect's car, who began to move his vehicle forward when the officer fired one shot. The officer reasonably fears for his own safety and that of the public if the suspect resumed his reckless flight. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 22-2211, Categories: Immunity, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly dismissed defendant's habeas petition as untimely. Defendant failed to heed his postconviction lawyer's advice as to the timing of his habeas petition, without good cause. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 22-1780, Categories: Habeas
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 65 months in prison for money laundering related to drug transactions. An error in the pre-sentencing report did not prejudice defendant, and the court reasonably denied his request for a minor role downward adjustment on his offense level. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 22-2349, Categories: Sentencing, Money Laundering
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the Board on the former special agent's challenge to his termination. The Board reasonably decided to fire him after the officer was found guilty of attacking another driver in an off-duty incident of road rage. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 22-1213, Categories: Administrative Law, Employment
J. Rovner finds that the immigration board properly ordered the immigrants deported to their home countries, finding their allegations of domestic abuse are not credible. The board took full account of the corroborating evidence in these cases, but still found the women's' stories unpersuasive. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 22-3124, Categories: Immigration
J. Gunter finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of conspiracy to distribute meth after his trial for crimes committed in 2019 was delayed until 2021. The delays in defendant's case were primarily due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unexpected death of his counsel, neither of which unfairly prejudiced his defense. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 22-1546, Categories: Drug Offender, Speedy Trial
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of possessing a firearm as a felon after officers spotted him on surveillance footage with a gun, then went to the scene, frisked him, and found the weapon. The officers had probable cause to search defendant without a warrant even if they didn't know he was a felon because they saw him openly carry a firearm in violation of Illinois concealed carry laws. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 22-2802, Categories: Firearms, Search
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly revoked defendant's supervision and sentenced him to an additional term of imprisonment followed by supervised release. Defendant was properly ordered to undergo psychosexual evaluations, which may involve use of a polygraph, as part of his supervision, in addition to being required to disclose his financial information to his probation officer. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 22-1358, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the employer in an employment discrimination suit alleging that the prison paid a Laotian prison warden less than similarly-situated employees. The employee failed to identify similarly-situated non-Asians who received higher salaries or pay raises. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 21-3021, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Rovner finds that the lower court improperly granted summary judgment to the village on a couple's claims that police shot and killed their dog when responding to their request for help. The video from a body camera does not conclusively show that the dog posed a threat to the responding officer, who is mostly running away through the video so the camera is facing away from the dog. It remains for a jury to decide whom to believe about how the dog was behaving. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 22-1239, Categories: Evidence, Tort
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of conspiring to distribute meth and to launder money. The evidence adequately supports the sentencing judge's finding that defendant's role was on average with other conspiracy members, and he did not qualify for a minor-role reduction. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 22-2814, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the government employer on due process claims stemming from an employee's termination. The employee was given both notice and the opportunity to respond to the charges against her before the decision was made to fire her. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 22-1848, Categories: Employment, Due Process
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant on drug trafficking charges, including an enhancement for obstruction of justice due to his failure to turn himself in for 42 months following his indictment. The sentencing judge specifically explained that she would have imposed the same sentence even without the contested enhancement, due to the severity of defendant's crime and his leadership role in the conspiracy. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: July 18, 2023, Case #: 22-2146, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Rovner finds that the SSA properly denied the woman's application for disability benefits, finding that she could still perform work in the economy despite her bipolar disorder, chronic panic attacks, back pain, asthma, and more. The administrative judge's opinion meticulously discussed each of the 17 medical provider's who offered opinions on the woman's condition and abilities, and appeals court must give great deference to the administrative judge's findings. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: 22-3097, Categories: Social Security
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the barge company in a lawsuit brought by an skid steer operator injured when his machine caught on a part of the barge's metal floor that had peeled up. There is no evidence the company was aware of the defect in the barge prior to the accident, and the operator cannot show that the company's routine inspection schedule was inadequate. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: 22-1303, Categories: Tort, Negligence
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly found for the insured in a business insurance coverage dispute related to an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act lawsuit against the insured. The language of a catch-all exclusion in the policy is ambiguous on its face, and therefore must be resolved in favor of the insured. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 22-2313, Categories: Insurance, Contract, Technology
J. Rovner finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suit alleging that a debt servicer improperly sent her misleading notices of a debt she owed to a different entity. The servicer's letter led the debtor to unnecessarily expend additional time and money to re-validate her debt, to ensure that it was accurate and valid. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 21-2792, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly dismissed a woman's race discrimination claims against the hospital. Chicago Public Schools was the woman's employer, and although she performed work in the hospital setting, the complaint does not adequately allege that the hospital exercised any control or supervision over her teaching activities. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 22-1290, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of drug trafficking and firearms offenses based on evidence found during a home detention compliance check. Defendant had a minimal expectation of privacy while serving a sentence of home confinement, and as part of the agreement, he signed an absolute waiver of his Fourth Amendment rights. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: May 19, 2023, Case #: 21-3379, Categories: Drug Offender, Search