December 30-31, 2024, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • Roake v. Brumley, 24-30706, appeal from M.D. La.
    • Clerk Order (Voting AGAINST en banc hearing in the first instance: Elrod, Smith, Stewart, Richman, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Willett, Duncan, Engelhardt, Wilson, Douglas, Ramirez, JJ.; voting FOR en banc hearing in the first instance: Jones, Ho, Oldham, JJ.); First Amendment, en banc
    • Order denying motion for the en banc Court to conduct the initial hearing of an appeal from the district court’s injunction against enforcement of Louisiana’s Ten-Commandments-in-every-classroom law as facially unconstitutional.
  • U.S. v. Vazquez-Alba, 23-11135, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and 45-month sentence for illegal reentry after deportation.
  • U.S. v. Trevino, 23-11180, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • Oldham, J. (Higginbotham, Jones, Oldham), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming reimposition of standard conditions to supervised-release portion of sentence on modification motion; rejecting arguments that modification of release standards were premature while defendant was still serving prison sentence, that modification violated Court of Appeals’ mandate when it reviewed appeal from initial sentence, and that condition regarding firearm possession was unconstitutional.
  • Excluded Lenders v. Serta Simmons Bedding, L.L.C., 23-20181, c/w 23-20450, c/w 23-20451, c/w Citadel Equity Fund, Ltd. v. Serta Simmons Bedding, L.L.C., 23-20363, appeals from S.D. Tex.
    • Oldham, J. (Haynes, Willett, Oldham), bankruptcy
    • Reversing in part and vacating in part bankruptcy court’s orders in consolidated appeals of adversary and main bankruptcy proceedings in Chapter 11 reorganization, regarding treatment of “uptier” lenders as compared to other lenders arising from 2016 and a 2020 complex financing transactions involving the debtor; and remanding for further proceedings.
  • U.S. v. Wilkerson, 23-50626, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Willett, J. (Wiener, Willett, Duncan), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, jury instructions
    • Affirming conviction for producing and possessing child pornography.
  • U.S. v. Uhlenbrock, 23-50664, c/w 23-50714, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Smith, J. (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal, First Amendment, 404(b), sufficiency of evidence, jury instructions
    • Affirming revenge-porn conviction, rejecting arguments that the federal statute was unconstitutional, that district court erred in admission of other-conduct evidence, that evidence was insufficient to support conviction, and that jury instructions were erroneous.
  • U.S. v. Perez-Gallan, 22-51019, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Smith, J. (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal, Second Amendment
    • On remand from U.S. Supreme Court, reversing district court’s dismissal of indictment of defendant for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8)(C)(ii), holding that the provision was not facially unconstitutional, and remanding to the district court to determine whether the provision was unconstitutional as applied to the defendant in the first instance.
  • U.S. v. Stinson, 24-60014, appeal from S.D. Miss.
    • Wilson, J. (Clement, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, garnishment
    • Reversing district court’s order to garnish and liquidate retirement accounts held solely in the defendant’s spouse’s name to satisfy a restitution award as part of sentence of defendant for conspiracy to engage in bank fraud.
    • “The question is whether, under Mississippi law, a person has a property interest in assets titled solely in his or her spouse’s name that may be garnished under the governing federal statutes. Caselaw and secondary sources strongly suggest that there is no such interest. In Mississippi, property is only classified as ‘marital property’ when a chancery court effectuates ‘equitable distribution’ of a divorcing couple’s assets. Until then, a person does not, simply by virtue of marriage, have an interest in property titled solely in his or her spouse’s name.”

Unpublished

  • Blake v. Smith, 24-10249, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jones, Dennis, Southwick), habeas corpus
    • Affirming denial of § 2241 petition.
  • Moore v. U.S., 23-30822, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Jones, Smith, Dennis), habeas corpus
    • Affirming denial of § 2241 petition.
  • U.S. v. Calzadias, 23-40376, appeal from E.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Richman, Graves, Ramirez), criminal, guilty plea
    • Vacating conviction and sentence for conspiracy to commit international money laundering, finding that district court lacked sufficient factual basis to accept the defendant’s guilty plea; and remanding for further proceedings.
  • DALF Energy, LLC v. GS Oilfield Services, LLC, 24-50032, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Haynes, Willett, Oldham), breach of fiduciary duty, fraud
    • In adversary proceedings in bankruptcy, vacating the dismissal of debtor’s breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent inducement claims arising from purchases of oil and gas leases, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • U.S. v. Rodriguez-Salas, 24-50369, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Haynes, Higginson, Douglas), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and sentence for illegal reentry.
  • Guillen-Perez v. Garland, 22-60108, petition for review of BIA order
    • per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Oldham), immigration
    • On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, again denying Mexican citizen’s petition for review of BIA order affirming IJ’s denial of motion for cancellation of removal or alternatively for voluntary departure.
  • U.S. v. Bakayev, 24-60404, appeal from S.D. Miss.
    • per curiam (Graves, Willett, Wilson), criminal, restitution
    • Granting unopposed motion to vacate restitution award and to remand to district court to recalculate amount of restitution.
  • U.S. v. Garcia, 23-10975, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Dennis, Haynes, Ramirez), criminal
    • Dismissing appeal from order for payment of special assessment as barred by guilty plea agreement.
  • MidTexas Industrial Properties, Inc. v. U.S. Polyco, Inc., 23-11095, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Haynes, Willett, Oldham), breach of contract, timeliness, standing
    • Affirming dismissal of claims arising from lease agreements; while dismissal had been on the basis of the statute of limitations, the Court affirmed the dismissal instead on lack of standing.
  • Berleth v. Preferred Ready-Mix, L.L.C., 24-20158, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Dennis, Haynes, Ramirez), bankruptcy
    • Reversing jurisdictional dismissal of adversary proceeding, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • U.S. v. Dominguez, 24-50183, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Higginbotham, Jones, Oldham), criminal
    • Affirming conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon.