8 results for 'judge:"Wardlaw"'.
J. Wardlaw finds that the district court improperly denied defendant's motion claiming actual innocence in a matter in which he was convicted of aggravated identity theft. The panel, on remand from the Supreme Court, held that a petitioner who was convicted at trial under a divisible statute only needed to show innocence as to “possession,” because the offense for which defendant was actually tried and convicted of was unlawful possession of another’s means of identification. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: September 3, 2024, Case #: 21-55515, Categories: Identity Theft
J. Wardlaw finds that a tax court properly sustained a notice of federal tax lien after a taxpayer requested a collection due process hearing concerning a tax lien on his property for unpaid taxes. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: August 29, 2024, Case #: 23-70009, Categories: Tax
J. Wardlaw finds that the district court improperly dismissed a habeas petition after defendant was convicted in Montana state court of deliberate homicide and evidence tampering based solely on circumstantial evidence. The district court misapplied the standard of a rule for summary dismissal of a habeas petition. Reversed.
Court: North Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: August 16, 2024, Case #: 22-35877, Categories: Evidence, Habeas, Murder
J. Wardlaw finds that the district court properly dismissed a matter for failure to state a claim in a lawsuit brought by Election Integrity Project California and 10 former political candidates challenging the California Secretary of State’s certification of the results of the November 2020 general election and seeking to declare unconstitutional California’s vote-by-mail election system. A vote dilution claim requires a showing of disproportionate voting power for some voters over others, which the group and former candidates have not made. The group and former candidates' claim that alleged irregularities in California’s elections from 2020 through the present violate their due process rights was also dismissed. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: August 15, 2024, Case #: 23-55726, Categories: Elections
J. Wardlaw finds that the district court properly dismissed a claim against an elementary school and school district, alleging that the school violated the federal and state civil rights of a mother's children. The district court correctly dismissed the action because of a long-established rule, dubbed the “counsel mandate,” that precludes an individual from representing her children pro se. The matter stems from alleged bullying by schoolmates who told the children that “black people are trash” and placed a “for sale” sign around the neck of one of the children. Dismissed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: August 7, 2024, Case #: 21-55956, Categories: Education
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J. Wardlaw finds that the district court improperly entered summary judgment in favor of the government in a sex discrimination action, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The matter involves a staff psychologist in a federal prison who alleged that that the Bureau of Prisons failed to take adequate measures to address a hostile work environment. The lower court only considered some of the evidence and applied incorrect legal standards that circumscribed the law concerning hostile work environment claims. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: July 25, 2024, Case #: 23-55404, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Employment Discrimination
J. Wardlaw denies a petition for panel rehearing concerning an individual's claim that his confession in his criminal case was coerced in violation of his Fifth Amendment Rights. The matter is on remand from the United States Supreme Court in which the panel reversed the district court’s judgment on a jury verdict for the county and remanded for a new trial. The matter stems from the alleged assault of an individual at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 18-56414 , Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution
J. Wardlaw finds that the district court properly denied defendant's habeas corpus petition challenging her California conviction and death sentence for attempted murder and first-degree murder. Defendant alleges prosecutorial misconduct during penalty-phase closing arguments by referencing Biblical verses to persuade the jury to impose a death sentence. The district court’s denial of that claim was proper because the state court habeas decision was not contrary to “clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States.” Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 17-99005, Categories: Death Penalty, Habeas, Prosecutorial Misconduct