August 25, 2022, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • Garcia v. Orta, 21-50890, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Southwick, J. (Smith, Wiener, Southwick), qualified immunity
    • Reversing denial of summary judgment and rendering summary judgment in favor of arresting officers on qualified immunity grounds, dismissing plaintiff’s suit for detention without probable cause for DWI.
    • Plaintiff had been held in pretrial detention, unable to post bond, for 505 days before the DWI charges were dismissed. He alleged that representations made by the arresting officers to support a warrant for his blood and to support pretrial detention were false.
    • The Court held that video evidence blatantly contradicted the plaintiff’s version of events, such that there was no genuine dispute of material facts that the allegedly false statements of the arresting officers were not necessary to the probable-cause finding that resulted in the plaintiff’s pretrial detention.
  • Menzia v. Austin Independent School District, 21-50979, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Clement, J. (Smith, Clement, Haynes), § 1983, Title VI
    • Affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s Title VI/ 1983 suit on behalf of her daughter against school district arising from its mishandling of severe racially-motivated and national-origin-related bullying of her daughter.
    • The Court held that the district court applied the wrong standard when it found that the school district took “some action” in response to the bullying, where the “some action” standard failed to account for the reasonableness of the action in light of the severity of the harassment. “[A] school district is deliberately indifferent when its response to the harassment or lack thereof is clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances. Accordingly, we require a school district do more than simply respond to harassment, it must respond reasonably to a risk of harm. And what constitutes appropriate remedial action will necessarily depend on the particular facts of the case.” (Internal quotation marks, alterations, and citations omitted).
    • Nevertheless, the Court, in applying the correct standard on review, held that, “[v]iewed in the totality, [the school district’s] responses establish that the District was not deliberately indifferent as a matter of law.”

Unpublished

  • U.S. v. Lopez, 21-10609, c/w 21-10864, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Oldham), criminal, sentencing
    • Granting summary affirmance of 425-month sentence and conviction of distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
  • Warner v. Zook, 21-10961, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Higginbotham, Duncan, Wilson), habeas corpus
    • Dismissing appeal from denial of § 2241 petition.
  • U.S. v. Reese, 21-11016, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Elrod, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and 94-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
  • Mendoza v. Lumpkin, 21-20501, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Graves, Costa), habeas corpus
    • Granting motion for reconsideration, withdrawing prior opinion, and substituting new opinion denying COA from dismissal of § 2254 petition.
  • Henderson v. Atmos Energy Corp., 21-30046, appeal from E.D. La.
    • per curiam (Richman, Clement, Duncan), personal tort
    • Affirming summary judgment on vicarious liability for slip-and-fall.
  • People Source Staffing Professionals, L.L.C. v. Robertson, 21-30368, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Willett, Oldham), trade secrets, unfair trade practices
    • Affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant company and its employees, who had left the plaintiff’s company and established the defendant company.
  • Efthemes v. Amguard Insurance Co., 21-30556, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Clement, Graves, Costa), personal tort
    • Vacating summary judgment in favor of defendants in plaintiff state trooper’s against driver, driver’s insurer, and driver’s employer for personal injury suffered during high-speed chase, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • U.S. v. Howard, 21-40873, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Oldham), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and 33-month sentence for transporting an illegal alien within the United States by means of a motor vehicle.
  • U.S. v. Garcia-Marcelo, 21-50700, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jones, Ho, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Vacating sentence in part and remanding for amendment of judgment to conform to orally pronounced sentence.
  • Osman v. Garland, 21-60508, petition for review of BIA order
    • per curiam (Smith, Elrod, Southwick), immigration
    • Denying in part and dismissing in part Somalian citizen’s petition for review of BIA order dismissing his appeal from the denial of his application for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture.
  • U.S. v. Cabrera, 22-40200, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Jones, Ho), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion for withdrawal and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Gonzalez-Arreola, 22-50008, c/w 22-50009, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Elrod, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and sentence for illegal reentry and revocation of supervised release.