August 26, 2021 opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • Ward v. U.S., 20-10836, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • Southwick, J. (Jones, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, compassionate release
    • Affirming district court’s denial of motion for compassionate release.
    • The Court held that the district court may use the sentencing factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) to reject compassionate release when the Government fails to present a Section 3553(a) argument.
  • Frymire Home Services, Inc. v. Ohio Security Insurance Co., 21-10012, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • Haynes, J. (Davis, Haynes, Oldham), insurance
    • Certifying questions to the Texas Supreme Court arising from insurance dispute between insured building owner and insurance company regarding whether insured had burden to allocate which portion of roof damage was caused by the particular hailstorm event and not from preexisting conditions. The Court certified the following questions: “(1) Whether the concurrent cause doctrine applies where there is any non-covered damage, including ‘wear and tear’ to an insured property, but such damage does not directly cause the particular loss eventually experienced by plaintiffs; (2) If so, whether plaintiffs alleging that their loss was entirely caused by a single, covered peril bear the burden of attributing losses between that peril and other, non-covered or excluded perils that plaintiffs contend did not cause the particular loss; and (3) If so, whether plaintiffs can meet that burden with evidence indicating that the covered peril caused the entirety of the loss (that is, by implicitly attributing one hundred percent of the loss to that peril).”
  • U.S. v. Braddy, 21-50185, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Remanding to district court due to imposition of 17 supervised-release special conditions from a district court standing order that had not been orally pronounced at the sentencing hearing, for the district court to either vacate the 17 special conditions or to resentence with the special conditions pronounced in order to give the defendant an opportunity to object.

Unpublished

  • U.S. v. Fulton, 20-10702, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Willett, Engelhardt), criminal, First Step Act
    • Affirming the district court’s denial of a reduction in defendant’s prison term under the First Step Act, but remanding for the district court to make a determination as to the defendant’s motion for reduction of his supervised release term.
  • U.S. v. Beverly, 20-20514, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Jones, Elrod), criminal, sufficiency of evidence
    • Reviewing for plain error, affirming that there was sufficient evidence in the record to support the defendant’s conviction of four counts of aiding and abetting armed bank robbery, one count of aiding and abetting attempted armed bank robbery, and five counts of aiding and abetting brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
  • U.S. v. Johnson, 20-30694, appeal from E.D. La.
    • per curiam (Davis, Jones, Elrod), criminal, compassionate release
    • Affirming district court’s denial of motion for sentence reduction.
  • Singh v. Garland, 20-60095, petition for review of BIA order
    • per curiam (Davis, Jones, Elrod), immigration
    • Denying Indian citizen’s petition for review of BIA’s approval of his order of removal.
  • Perez-Gomez v. Garland, 20-60370, petition for review of BIA order
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Costa, Engelhardt), immigration
    • Dismissing in part and denying in part Guatemalan citizen’s petition for review of BIA order denying his applications for: asylum; withholding of removal; and relief under the Convention Against Torture.
  • U.S. v. Carter, 21-10086, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Jones, Elrod), criminal, sentencing
    • Granting summary affirmance of defendant’s sentence on conviction of sexual exploitation of children and of transportation of child pornography.
  • Spec’s Family Partners, Ltd. v. Jones, 21-20009, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Stewart, Ho, Engelhardt), qualified immunity
    • Affirming qualified immunity dismissal of claims against Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
  • U.S. v. Ramirez-Garcia, 21-50005, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Jones, Elrod), criminal, sentencing
    • Granting summary affirmance of 30-month sentence on conviction for illegal reentry.
  • U.S. v. Rodriguez, 21-50106, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Jones, Elrod), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Arellanes-Dorante, 21-50183, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Costa, Ho), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Gonzalez-Mares, 21-50258 c/w 21-50262, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Graves), criminal, sentencing
    • Granting summary affirmance of 57-month sentence for illegal reentry and consecutive 12-month sentence for revocation of supervised release.
  • East v. Walgreen Co., 21-60198, appeal from N.D. Miss.
    • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Graves), employment discrimination
    • Affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant in employment discrimination suit.