August 21, 2023, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • Trevino v. Iden, 21-51105, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Higginson, J. (Wiener, Higginson, Wilson), qualified immunity
    • Reversing denial of qualified immunity motion to dismiss, and rendering judgment in favor of wildlife officer defendants on § 1983 claims arising from arrests related to hunting activities and to alleged forgeries in transfers of a jet ski and a pickup truck.
    • The Court held that the plaintiff failed to adequately allege a constitutional violation arising from the indictment for forgery in the transfer of title of the pickup truck because, under the independent-intermediary doctrine, the placement of the results of the officers’ investigation before the district attorney for a grand jury indictment broke the chain of causation.
  • U.S. v. Corporate Management, Inc., 21-60568, c/w 22-60145, appeal from S.D. Miss.
    • Wilson, J. (Jones, Ho, Wilson), Ho, J., dissenting in part; Medicare, fraud, False Claims Act
    • Dismissing appeal of post-judgment injunction against dissipation of assets; affirming in part and reversing in part final judgment awarding approximately $32 million in treble damages in government’s intervention into qui tam claims against defendants for Medicare fraud.
    • The Court held that the record contained sufficient evidence of materiality, despite the Government’s “pay and chase” policy, where it paid amounts for Medicare reimbursements even after it was investigating the claims, a policy “we decline to second-guess in this case.” The Court noted that, “without continued reimbursements, SCH, a critical access hospital that relied on Medicare for over 70 percent of its revenue, would have probably closed. Stopping reimbursements upon the first allegations of fraud would thus have undermined CMS’s goal of sustaining healthcare access for underserved rural patients.” The Court also held that the record contained sufficient evidence of scienter.
    • The Court held, however, that the Government’s intervening claims lodged after it had delayed prosecution of the case for eight years did not relate back to the pre-2009 claims and that no tolling applied to save those claims; accordingly, it ordered remittitur of the damages to excise the pre-2009 damages.
    • The Court criticized the extraordinary delays in the Government’s intervention into the qui tam case and the district court’s indulgence of those delays, but did not impose any sanction (much less dismissal) beyond the impact on the damages amount. “[T]he district court here declined to exercise that authority, and Appellants fail to pinpoint when the court’s cumulative indulgence of the Government’s snail’s pace rose to an abuse of discretion. More importantly, Appellants provide no precedent, and we are aware of none, where such an extraordinary sanction as dismissal has been awarded because of the Government’s inexcusable delays in intervening in a relator’s case. … We decline to break new ground today by granting such drastic relief. Nevertheless, because of its statute of limitations problems, … the Government does not escape unscathed. The consequence of the Government’s dilatory conduct is the reduction by over half of the judgment entered against Appellants.”
    • Judge Ho dissented in part. He would find that the Government’s claims in intervention did relate back to the pre-2009 claims.
  • St. Maron Properties, L.L.C. v. City of Houston, 22-20019, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • Ho, J. (Dennis, Elrod, Ho), taking, municipal liability
    • Affirming dismissal of state-law trespass claims by landowners against municipal officials for the dumping of construction debris on their property and the subsequent damage of the property by efforts to remediate the initial trespass; but reversing the dismissal of § 1983 takings claims.
    • The Court held, “Under Monell, a § 1983 plaintiff may not proceed against a municipality unless the injury was caused by an official policy of the municipality. But here, the property owners allege that city officials violated their rights at the specific direction of the Mayor and the City Council. That is enough to establish liability under Monell.”
  • Babinski v. Sosnowsky, 22-30588, appeal from M.D. La.
    • Stewart, J. (Richman, Stewart, Dennis), qualified immunity
    • Reversing denial of qualified immunity to professor defendants on plaintiff’s claims that they allegedly violated his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights “by conspiring to prevent his continued enrollment in LSU’s theatre program.”
    • The Court held that there was no violation of a clearly established right. “Traditionally, a student’s procedural due process claim falls within one of two arenas—academic deficiencies or disciplinary misconduct. The unique factual scenario here does not fit squarely into either category.” (Internal citations omitted).

Unpublished

  • U.S. v. Etheridge, 22-40516, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Graves, Douglas), criminal, sentencing, restitution
    • Affirming conviction and life sentence on crimes related to child pornography and sexual abuse of young children, but reversing and remanding restitution award for reconsideration.
  • U.S. v. Calzadias, 22-40801, appeal from E.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Graves, Oldham), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 420-month sentence on conviction of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
  • U.S. v. Beltran, 22-50939, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Elrod, Engelhardt), criminal, compassionate release
    • Remanding denial of motion for compassionate release to district court for explanation of decision.
  • U.S. v. Hernandez-Perez, 22-50978, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Engelhardt, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 71-month sentence on conviction of illegal reentry.
  • U.S. v. Najera, 22-50995, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Haynes, Ho), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Flores, 22-51098, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Stewart, Douglas), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • Argueta-Chavez v. Garland, 22-60604, petition for review of BIA order
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Graves, Oldham), immigration
    • Denying Salvadoran citizen’s petition for review of BIA order dismissing her appeal from an order of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying her application for asylum and withholding of removal.
  • Willis v. Howard, 23-20014, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Higginbotham, Stewart, Elrod), prisoner suit
    • Affirming dismissal of Texas state prisoner’s § 1983 claims.