Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Short Form: 3/17

Balance of summaries TK.  - MB

First Circuit:

US v. Gray  -- Amended opinion. [cf. https://youtu.be/EBHLcBxQZiM ]

United States v. Brigham and Women's Hospital  -- FRCP: JMOL 50(b) motion can only restate those grounds raised in a 50(a) motion (failure to argue insufficient evidence at the wrap-up of the other side's case means that you can't argue insufficient evidence after the case is decided); sufficient evidence for finder of fact to rule for deft, even when deft calls no expert witnesses; In ruling on a Motion for a New Trial, court need not individually re-weigh evidence, but need only conclude that the finder of fact could reasonably decided as they did; No abuse of discretion in case (without written explanation) not being reassigned on remand, despite standing court rule to the contrary; Hard data underlying expert witnesses' findings can be inadmissible hearsay; No abuse of discretion in allowing Relator to be questioned as to his financial motives for bringing the FCA suit; No reversible error in jury instructions or special verdict form that divided liability findings between the defts.

US v. Rossignol  Sentencing: No procedural error in within-guidelines drug conspiracy sentence not reduced due to deft being senior, upstanding member of the community where court says that it is increasing the sentence due to the fact that the deft was a senior, upstanding member of the community.

Second Circuit:

Fischer v. Smith -- AEDPA: State Court still entitled to double deference on Ineffective Assistance claim resolved briefly and in the alternative. 

Fourth Circuit:

Roman Zak v. Chelsea Therapeutics International  -- Securities; FRCP:  Sufficient context-intensive strong inference of scienter in pleadings, given that the drug company left out a few hurdles to drug approval when talking to investors; Error in allowing court to take judicial notice of internal SEC documents showing that the defts did not transact the stock during the period in question was not harmless.

US v. Jorge Cornell  -- RICO, Sufficient Evidence.

Oteria Moses v. Cashcall, Inc -- Bankruptcy, Arbitration -  Court did no err in retaining piece of Bankruptcy action in face of compelled arbitration.

Fifth Circuit:

USA v. Kendrick Fulton -- Prisoner litigation - petition was second/successive.

Sixth Circuit:

Brenda Colosi v. Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc.   Discovery/Fees: Where one party delivers actual computer in response to demand for computer files, the court does not err in listing the required technical services as costs that can be potentially shifted against the party if otherwise prompted.

Eighth Circuit: (Summaries from Circuit website)


133252P.pdf  03/17/2015  Argonaut Great Central Ins.  v.  Audrain County Joint
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:   13-3252
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - Hannibal   
   [PUBLISHED] [Bye, Author, with Colloton and Gruender, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Torts. The court had jurisdiction in this interlocutory 
   appeal over the question of whether defendant's purchase of insurance 
   waived the common law sovereign immunity it might otherwise have under Mo. 
   Rev. Stat. Sec. 537.600; the court lacked jurisdiction to address the 
   question of whether defendant's purchase of insurance also waived any 
   statutory immunity it might have under Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 190.307 as a 
   911 call center, as that statute does not extend to defendant a 
   substantive right to be free from the burdens of litigation; the district 
   court did not err in determining that defendant did not present sufficient 
   evidence that it and its insurer had a pre-existing agreement to attach a 
   sovereign immunity endorsement to the insurance policy and made a mutual 
   mistake when they failed to do so; the district court did not err, 
   therefore in determining defendant waived the common law sovereign 
   immunity provided by Sec. 537.600 through the purchase of insurance. 
  
141659P.pdf  03/17/2015  United States  v.  Anthony Bearden
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:   14-1659
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield   
   [PUBLISHED] [Kelly, Author, with Bye and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. Defendant lacked standing to 
   challenge police officers' entry onto another individual's property and 
   the resulting seizure of evidence from that property; officers had a 
   reasonable, articulable suspicion that defendant was engaged in criminal 
   activity and his detention was justified; defendant consented to a search 
   of his home; the district court did not err in classifying defendant as a 
   career offender under Guidelines Sec. 4B1.1 as his Missouri conviction for 
   second-degree burglary qualified as crime of violence. 
  
142772P.pdf  03/17/2015  United States  v.  Bobby Clark, Jr.
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:   14-2772
   U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska - Lincoln   
   [PUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Loken, Smith and Colloton, Circuit 
   Judges] 
   Criminal case - Sentencing. No error in imposing enhancements under both 
   Guidelines Sections 2G2.1(b)(2)(A) and 2G2.1(b)(4) as application of both 
   enhancements is not impermissible double counting; alternatively, the 
   court clearly stated it would impose the same sentence with or without the 
   enhancements, and any error in imposing them would be harmless. 
Ninth Circuit:
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN USD V. EDU-CA -- (Statutory) Standing: School Districts do not have implied right of action under IDEA.

Federal Circuit:

MOBILEMEDIA IDEAS LLC v. APPLE INC. -- Patent.
Compiled by D.E. Frydrychowski, who is, not incidentally, not giving you legal advice.

Category tags above are sporadically maintained Do not rely. Do not rely. Do not rely.

Author's SSRN page here.