8 results for 'judge:"Torres"'.
J. Torres denies a former Customs and Border Patrol employee’s motion for appointment of counsel after she sued the agency on her own behalf for discrimination. Not only is the employee unlikely to succeed in her case, but she has demonstrated “sufficient financial resources to continue her search for counsel,” including because she has savings and paid an initial filing fee.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Torres, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv139, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination
J. Torres finds the lower court did not properly convicted defendant in the murder of a friend who was attacked by her boyfriend. The court properly convicted defendant of reckless indifference murder, as there was evidence she had been involved in an altercation and witness testified to her erratic and fearful behavior afterwards. After being convicted of murder, she should not have also been convicted of aggravated assault, which overlaps the murder charge. There was not evidence, however, to find her guilty of use of a deadly weapon, the scissors used in the murder. Affirmed and vacated in part.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: CRA22-12, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Assault
J. Torres finds the lower court properly convicted defendant, accused of submitting false documents to obtain pandemic employment assistance, of tampering with public records, but not of a unsworn falsification charge. By knowingly presenting a fake business license to the Department of Labor, defendant intended for it to be taken as true, and documents purporting to be public record make them so. An unsworn falsification conviction is reversed, as his intent in the submission of the fake document was not to mislead Labor Department employees about his unemployment benefit eligibility, since he was actually eligible and the government did not show any proof that he was ineligible. Affirmed in part.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: CRA21-11, Categories: Evidence, Fraud, Intent
J. Torres finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of a manslaughter shooting. The jury was not tainted by introduction of evidence indicating the victim’s use of the castle doctrine; their instruction deliberately avoided mention and evidence of the victim threatening defendant with a knife could have led the jury to infer a conclusion other than self-defense. Further, despite alterations to normal courtroom procedures due to Covid-19 safety measures that meant the trial was livestreamed and voir dire was conducted privately, a new trial is not warranted since the court considered all alternatives and had even paused the trial to address technical issues. Affirmed.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: CRA22-2, Categories: Jury, Manslaughter, Due Process
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J. Torres declares a 1990 law banning abortion in Guam invalid because it has been implicitly repealed by the Guam Legislature since its passing; it no longer has any force or effect. More recent statutes conflict with such a ban and have since allowed and regulated abortion procedures in the territory.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: CRQ23-1, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Health Care
J. Torres finds the lower court properly refused to dismiss a doctor from a suit stemming from previous litigation between him and a North Carolina hospital that was removed by the medical practice to Guam following an auction of the doctor’s shares of the practice. The doctor’s constant appeals to different courts are noncompliant with court rules and the court had proper jurisdiction to deny the motion even while those other appeals remained pending. Affirmed.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: CVA22-3, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Jurisdiction