Designated for publication Elrod, J. (Elrod, Willett, Duncan), habeas corpus Affirming denial of § 2254 petition for habeas relief from state conviction and sentence on basis that state court impermissibly used a non-final conviction to enhance his sentence, holding that any error by the state court was harmless. Accordingly, the Court did not base its … More August 28, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Stewart, Dennis, Southwick), securities fraud Denying second petition for en banc rehearing, no active-duty judge having requested a poll, and re-issuing mandate. The Court held that the district court judge’s finding of unclean hands, such that no setoff was awarded, rather than the unclean-hands issue going to the jury, was … More August 26-27, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Clement, Engelhardt, Wilson), breach of contract, tortious interference Reversing judgment as a matter of law to defendant on plaintiff’s declaratory judgment claim; reversing judgment as a matter of law to co-defendant on plaintiff’s declaratory judgment and tortious interference claims; remanding for jury trial on the reversed claims; affirming denial of … More August 23, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Higginbotham, Stewart, Higginson), criminal, equitable tolling, sufficiency of evidence, witness testimony Vacating conviction of making false statements on the basis that equitable tolling of the statute of limitations was unavailable; but affirming convictions of conspiracy to defraud the United States and falsification of records in a federal investigation, rejecting sufficiency … More August 22, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Richman, C.J. (Richman, Ho, Engelhardt), Ho, J., dissenting in part; immigration Granting Cameroonian citizen’s petition for review of BIA order dismissing appeal of IJ’s denial of applications for asylum and withholding of removal (denying petition for review of denial of protection under the Convention Against Torture), vacating BIA’s opinion, and remanding for … More August 16-21, 2024, opinions
Another quick-blurb catch-up post (the briefing and arguing has been non-stop since mid-July–Take the Fifth may need to take on some more staff!). Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves), criminal, Sixth Amendment, sentencing Affirming conviction and sentence on fraud under the Paycheck Protection Program, upholding denial of motion to substitute counsel and district … More August 1-15, 2024, opinions
We report after each month on interesting statistics from the data we generate from the daily opinion summaries from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and at the end of each court year (Oct.-Sept.) we will aggregate that–all of which provides useful insights into the inner workings of the Court, the relative … More July 2024 opinion statistics
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Higginbotham, Higginson, Duncan), qualified immunity, municipal liability, Fourth Amendment, § 1983 Dismissing appeal in part for want of appellate jurisdiction over appeals of denial of summary judgment on punitive damages claim, the summary judgment to police officer on Fourth Amendment search claim, and the summary judgment to the City and … More July 30-31, 2024, opinions
