Recent Precedential Slip Opinions from the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Monday, January 07, 2013
Update
As the vast team of minions and dogsbodies here at MB Central continue to put things back together again, we will have reduced service for most of the coming week. Our target is to have a link to each opinion posted within 24 hours. By the end of the week, we will return to posting summaries, but we may add an intermediate step of one-line descriptions to help our tired masses of readers separate the wheat from the chaff, opinions-wise.
Full speed ahead,
MB
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Tenth Circuit -- Diverse and unknown cases
Unknown whether these are published or not - they dropped when the blog was down:
01/03/2013
12-1079 Wehrley vs. American Family Mutual Ins.
12-6121 United States vs. Van Tuyl
12-1151 Grady vs. Garcia
12-5053 United States vs. Montgomery
12-5037 United States vs. Montgomery
We'll post the Eleventh, Federal, and DC Circuits at the beginning of next week. Normal service shall be restored shortly.
MB
01/03/2013
12-1079 Wehrley vs. American Family Mutual Ins. 12-6121 United States vs. Van Tuyl 12-1151 Grady vs. Garcia 12-5053 United States vs. Montgomery 12-5037 United States vs. MontgomeryWe'll post the Eleventh, Federal, and DC Circuits at the beginning of next week. Normal service shall be restored shortly.
MB
Friday, January 04, 2013
Hiatus
MB reluctantly reports that due to an unfortunate, somewhat Newtonian, encounter between his bicycle and a taxicab door, the blog will likely be inactive until Monday. A day later, the only lingering effects seem to be damage to the knitted gloves and the electronics that were in the bag, but the loss of the latter is proving somewhat problematic.
People of the legal blogosphere, I shall return.
Yr. Obt. Svt.,
MB
People of the legal blogosphere, I shall return.
Yr. Obt. Svt.,
MB
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Nnth Circuit -- USA V. CHARLES YI
As deft commented on the likelihood of the dangerous compound being in the building the first time that he walked through it, no error in the court's willful blindness instruction.
No error in willful blindness instruction referencing simple carelessness.
No error in imposing sentencing bump for risk of harm to unprotected workmen.
As deft directed the renovations, and wasn't just the check signer, no error in imposition of leader sentencing bump.
USA V. CHARLES YI
Ninth Circuit -- ERIC PETZSCHKE V. CENTURY ALUMINUM COMPANY
Tracing of shares to specific issue doesn't state a claim where aftermarket shares were purchased from a company in a de facto joint venture with the issuing entity -- the company might have had other holdings of the stock.
Traceability speaks to statutory standing under S11, not Article III standing.
ERIC PETZSCHKE V. CENTURY ALUMINUM COMPANY
Traceability speaks to statutory standing under S11, not Article III standing.
ERIC PETZSCHKE V. CENTURY ALUMINUM COMPANY
Ninth Circuit -- FREEMAN INVESTMENTS, L.P. V. PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Exlcusive federal jurisdiction over securities fraud class-actions does not bar state suit where the plaintiff is arguing a point of contract interpretation and good faith/fair dealing, and not scienter for fraud.
Claim was in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, as the insurer used the income from policyholders to purchase securities.
Dismissal of class action with prejudice was error if individual claims were viable.
FREEMAN INVESTMENTS, L.P. V. PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Claim was in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, as the insurer used the income from policyholders to purchase securities.
Dismissal of class action with prejudice was error if individual claims were viable.
FREEMAN INVESTMENTS, L.P. V. PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Ninth Circuit -- USA V. ROBERT PLEASANT
As Petitioner was sentenced under the Career Offender provisions of the drug law subsequently amended by the Fair Sentencing Act, the sentence was based on the amended provision despite a reference in the plea agreement to a non-amended portion of the Act.
The reference to the non-amended provision, however, establishes it as the applicable range as distinct from the agreed-upon range, foreclosing any revisiting of the sentence, as the applicable range wasn't amended.
USA V. ROBERT PLEASANT
Eighth Circuit -- RaShina Young v. Michael J. Astrue
ALJ developed record sufficiently by considering skills generally needed for the task without reference to findings of specific injuries and incapacities of Petitioner.
Dissent: Nope.
RaShina Young v. Michael J. Astrue
Dissent: Nope.
RaShina Young v. Michael J. Astrue
Eighth Circuit -- Dennis Siegel v. Connecticut General Life Ins.
Claim fiduciary appointment was appropriately executed by the terms of the plan.
Administrator did not abuse discretion in denying benefits absent proof that depression had disabled the claimant.
As there was no material evidence of bias, court did not abuse discretion in denying deposition of plan expert.
Dennis Siegel v. Connecticut General Life Ins.
Administrator did not abuse discretion in denying benefits absent proof that depression had disabled the claimant.
As there was no material evidence of bias, court did not abuse discretion in denying deposition of plan expert.
Dennis Siegel v. Connecticut General Life Ins.
Seventh Circuit -- Peter Poole, III v. Debbie Issacs
[This case is listed as posting today,but in fact was posted and summarized a few days ago.]
Seventh Circuit -- Neil Aslin v. Financial Industry
As agency designation of broker as being from a restricted firm is no longer in force, the claim is moot.
No reasonable expectation that this plaintiff will be subject to the same designation, so the situation is not capable of repetition yet evading review.
Neil Aslin v. Financial Industry
Sixth Circuit -- Sheryl Taylor v. Timothy Geithner
Congress has not explicitly waived sovereign immunity for Title VII Breach of Settlement claims -- relevant administrative regulation does not specify any Article III remedy.
Fifty-two job applications (denied) coeval with the protected activity is sufficient to create a justiciable issue of retaliation.
Concur/dissent - No proof that plaintiff was qualified for jobs or suffered harm by the denial, no hard proof of adverse action within time period. Temporal proximity alone not enough to establish causation.
Sheryl Taylor v. Timothy Geithner
Fifty-two job applications (denied) coeval with the protected activity is sufficient to create a justiciable issue of retaliation.
Concur/dissent - No proof that plaintiff was qualified for jobs or suffered harm by the denial, no hard proof of adverse action within time period. Temporal proximity alone not enough to establish causation.
Sheryl Taylor v. Timothy Geithner
Fourth Circuit -- US v. Prentiss Watson
Three hour warant-less detention in convenience store after protective sweep while police waited for warrant was a violation of 4A.
As there was no break in the causal chain from the illegal arrest, Mirandized statements should have been excluded.
Not harmless.
Dissent: Detention was reasonable under Summers.
US v. Prentiss Watson
Fourth Circuit -- US v. Giuseppe Pileggi
Where appeals court vacates the sentence but not the restitution lower court normally does not have jurisdiction to alter the restitution amount.
As the government had means and incentive to contest restitution on appeal, restitution cannot be adjusted on remand absent instructions from the court of appeals.
Concurrence in J: General remand allows general revision of sentence, this was a specific remand.
US v. Giuseppe Pileggi
First Circuit -- Wu v. Holder
Ineffective Assistance and Due Process claims waived for not being raised during administrative proceeding.
As regulation at time of letter's receipt held that date-stamp was sufficient proof of time of receipt, and petitioner has not offered sufficient proof to establish a claim of clerical mistake, date-stamp establishes claim as untimely.
Wu v. Holder
As regulation at time of letter's receipt held that date-stamp was sufficient proof of time of receipt, and petitioner has not offered sufficient proof to establish a claim of clerical mistake, date-stamp establishes claim as untimely.
Wu v. Holder
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sixth Circuit -- USA v. Bryan Ross
Given prior abuse of attorney process and prior colloquy, trial court correctly allowed deft to proceed pro se after minimal colloquy.
Deft has a constitutional, non-waiveable right to counsel at competency hearing, even where court has legitimately allowed him or her to proceed pro se to that point.
Standby counsel did not provide meaningful adversarial testing of the case against deft.
As competency hearing is a critical stage, vacation and reversal is required for denial of counsel.
No abuse of discretion in allowing polygraph agreement into evidence.
No Speedy Trial Act claim, as not in bad faith.
No abuse of process in denial of subpoena
A few other things, including a
Dissent.
USA v. Bryan Ross
Deft has a constitutional, non-waiveable right to counsel at competency hearing, even where court has legitimately allowed him or her to proceed pro se to that point.
Standby counsel did not provide meaningful adversarial testing of the case against deft.
As competency hearing is a critical stage, vacation and reversal is required for denial of counsel.
No abuse of discretion in allowing polygraph agreement into evidence.
No Speedy Trial Act claim, as not in bad faith.
No abuse of process in denial of subpoena
A few other things, including a
Dissent.
USA v. Bryan Ross
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