12 results for 'judge:"Tjoflat"'.
[Consolidated.] J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly ruled in favor of the timeshare company in two actions brought by consumers alleging that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by inaccurately reporting that they owed debts. The consumers' claims are not actionable because they cannot identify inaccurate or incomplete information provided by the company to the consumer reporting agencies. The inaccuracies alleged by the consumers stem from a contractual dispute over whether the debt was due and collectible. The information in dispute is therefore not "objectively and readily verifiable." Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-11014, Categories: Consumer Law
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly sentenced defendant to 94 months in prison for attempted smuggling, failure to notify a common carrier and submitting false or misleading export information. Defendant falsely declared that a shipment to Iraq containing guns was just auto parts. Defendant's convictions did not violate the double jeopardy clause because the three statutes under which he was convicted each penalize different elements. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions and the prosecutor's misstatements or failure to correct testimony about the caliber of the guns did not violate defendant's due process rights. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-12852, Categories: Double Jeopardy, Smuggling, Due Process
J. Tjoflat vacates the original panel opinion and substitutes the instant opinion finding that the district court improperly denied the sheriff's deputy's motion to dismiss a civil rights action brought by the vehicle passenger. The action arose from the passenger's arrest for resisting an officer without violence after he refused to give the deputy his ID when the vehicle was pulled over. The district court incorrectly found that the deputy lacked a valid basis to require the passenger to provide ID. The deputy is entitled to qualified immunity because it was not clearly established law that an officer cannot ask a passenger to identify himself unless the officer has reasonable suspicion to believe the passenger poses a risk to his safety. Reversed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 21-10670, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly upheld the Social Security Administrator's denial of the individual's claim for disability insurance benefits. Although an administrative law judge was not constitutionally appointed when the first opinion in the individual's case was issued, that decision was vacated on the merits by the district court and the second decision was issued by a properly appointed judge. There is therefore no live Appointments Clause violation at issue. There was good cause to discount a medical opinion from the individual's treating physician because it was inconsistent with medical records. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 22-11103, Categories: Social Security
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly convicted defendants of drug offenses including possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The district court correctly denied defendants' motions to dismiss the indictment for lack of jurisdiction. Cameroon validly waived jurisdiction over defendants' prosecutions. The district court also correctly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence including evidence of cocaine found on board the vessel and defendant's statement after arriving in the United States. There was reasonable suspicion that the vessel was engaged in illegal activity. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 21-12702, Categories: Drug Offender, Search, Jurisdiction
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J. Tjoflat finds the trial court erred by denying the police officer's motion to dismiss Fourth Amendment claims from a citizen who was arrested for resisting after he refused to identify himself to the officer when the car in which he was a passenger was pulled over because a trailer it was hauling had an obscured tag. Given the tilt of U.S. Supreme Court precedent balancing officer safety and investigative authority with intrusions on drivers’ and passengers’ personal liberty, as well as the scope of the Fourth Amendment, the officer was entitled to qualified immunity and dismissal of the citizen's claims, as the citizen had no established right to refuse to show his ID even though there was a lack of reasonable suspicion he had committed a crime. Reversed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 20-10670, Categories: Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly upheld the bankruptcy court's order denying a motion by the debtor's creditors to disqualify the special litigation counsel and finding that the special litigation counsel's omissions with regard to pre-petition connections with the debtors or creditors did not warrant sanctions. Counsel was not disqualified from representing the trustee due to its pre-petition representation of the real estate investment trust or other entities. Counsel's representation of the investment trust did not create a dispute between the bankruptcy estate and the investment trust or create a circumstance that could be considered a bias against the bankruptcy estate.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 21-10587, Categories: Bankruptcy, Sanctions
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of tampering with a witness. Defendant threatened to kill his girlfriend if she cooperated with police to perform a controlled drug buy from a dealer who once sold her fentanyl-laced heroin which killed her previous boyfriend. The district court correctly denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal. The government presented sufficient evidence showing defendant's intent to influence official proceedings related to the police investigation by threatening his girlfriend after she told him she was talking to a federal prosecutor about being a witness. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 21-11342, Categories: Threats, Witnesses
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court improperly granted class certification in a negligence and unfair business practices action brought by customers against the owner of Chili's restaurants arising from a cyberattack in which customer credit and debit cards were compromised. Two of the three named customers visited the restaurant outside the at-risk timeframe and therefore fail to allege that their injuries were traceable to the owner's action. Vacated in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 21-13146, Categories: Negligence, Business Practices, Class Action
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly ruled in favor of the insured in a declaratory judgment action brought by the insurer alleging that a policy did not cover the loss of the insured's yacht, which was destroyed during Hurricane Irma. The insurer failed to disclose an expert to testify and therefore lacks admissible evidence raising a genuine issue of fact as to whether the lack of a full-time captain or crew played a material role in causing the yacht to sink. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 21-14509, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly dismissed the estate's civil rights, excessive force and disability discrimination action against the sheriff and correctly found in favor of the officers and the medical services employee. The action arose from the decedent's death due to cardiovascular collapse in jail custody after officers restrained, hit and tasered him. The sheriff is entitled to immunity because he acted as an arm of the state with respect to force policy and training officers as well as providing medical care. The officers' use of force was not clearly unreasonable. However, the district court improperly found in favor of the jail medical services provider on the estate's medical malpractice claim. Affirmed in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 22-10441, Categories: Civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Medical Malpractice
J. Tjoflat finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of Hobbs Act robbery and firearm offenses for nine robberies of spas, massage parlors and other Atlanta-area businesses. The district court did not commit any error by failing to hold a formal hearing before admitting testimony from the government's fingerprint expert based on defendant's suggestion that fingerprint comparison is unreliable science. The jury was made aware of the potential limitations of fingerprint evidence. The district court also did not abuse its discretion in allowing two FBI agents to testify about defendant's identity because they had first-hand knowledge of his appearance outside the courtroom. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Tjoflat, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 21-10539, Categories: Firearms, Robbery