Category: Opinion Summaries

Take the Fifth: Feb. 8, 2021 opinions

February 10, 2021

Designated for publication U.S. v. Medel-Guadalupe, 19-40901, appeal from S.D. Tex. per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Ho), criminal, sentencing, supervised release Withdrawing opinion issued on Oct. 27, 2020, and entering new opinion, affirming sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release for guilty plea to one count of harboring illegal aliens, and consecutive sentence … More Take the Fifth: Feb. 8, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Feb. 5, 2021 opinions

February 8, 2021

Unpublished U.S. v. Taylor, 19-10261, appeal from N.D. Tex. Higginson, J. (Stewart, Higginson, Wilson), criminal, sentencing Affirming above-guidelines sentence following guilty plea to one count of attempted bank robbery and one count of using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. U.S. v. Valdez, 19-11158, appeal from … More Take the Fifth: Feb. 5, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Feb. 4, 2021 opinions

February 5, 2021

Unpublished U.S. v. Higgins, 19-10885, appeal from N.D. Tex. per curiam (Higginbotham, Jones, Costa), criminal, sentencing, supervised release Affirming special conditions as part of supervised release sentence the district court’s order to participate in treatment for substance dependency, to contribute to the cost of that treatment, and to abstain from the use of alcohol and … More Take the Fifth: Feb. 4, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Feb. 3, 2021 opinions

February 4, 2021

Designated for publication Official Stanford Investors Committee v. Trustmark National Bank, 19-11131, appeal from N.D. Tex. Southwick, J. (Owen, Davis, Southwick), intervention Affirming the denial of intervention of right by group of Stanford investors into suit brought by original plaintiff group of Stanford investors against defendant who provided banking services to R. Allen Stanford for … More Take the Fifth: Feb. 3, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Feb. 1 and 2, 2021 opinions

February 3, 2021

Designated for publication Tibakweitira v. Wilkinson, 18-60459, petition for review of BIA order Engelhardt, J. (Haynes, Duncan, Engelhardt), immigration Dismissing in part and denying in part Tanzanian citizen’s petitions for review of a BIA order dismissing his appeal from the IJ decision denying his application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against … More Take the Fifth: Feb. 1 and 2, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Jan. 29, 2021 opinions

January 31, 2021

Designated for publication Miller v. Sam Houston State University, 19-20752, appeal from S.D. Tex. Wilson, J. (Jolly, Southwick, Wilson), Title VII, employment discrimination, judicial bias Reversing dismissal of claims, remanding for further proceedings, and ordering that cases be reassigned to a new judge upon remand. “From the outset of these [consolidated] suits, the district judge’s … More Take the Fifth: Jan. 29, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Jan. 28, 2021 opinions

January 29, 2021

Designated for publication Belliveau v. Barco, Inc., 19-50717, appeal from W.D. Tex. Jones, J. (Davis, Jones, Willett), Davis, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part; corporate veil piercing, breach of fiduciary duty Affirming district court’s summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s claims against sole shareholder of company plaintiff claimed had grossly undervalued his intellectual property in … More Take the Fifth: Jan. 28, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Jan. 27, 2021 opinions

January 28, 2021

Designated for publication Munoz-Rivera v. Wilkinson, 19-60376, petition for review of BIA order per curiam (Owen, Graves, Ho), immigration Dismissing petition for review of cancellation of removal order upon determining that “the use of an unauthorized social security number constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) such that petitioner is ineligible for cancellation of his … More Take the Fifth: Jan. 27, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Jan. 25 and 26, 2021 opinions

January 27, 2021

Designated for publication U.S. v. Coto-Mendoza, 20-10451, appeal from N.D. Tex. Haynes, J. (Haynes, Duncan, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing Affirming 37-month prison sentence on guilty plea of illegal reentry, finding that district court’s sentence was not procedurally unreasonable on the basis of the district court’s explanation of its sentencing decision. Defendant, an El Salvadoran citizen, had … More Take the Fifth: Jan. 25 and 26, 2021 opinions

Take the Fifth: Jan. 22, 2021 opinions

January 24, 2021

Designated foro publication U.S. v. Warren, 19-10805, appeal from N.D. Tex. Willett, J. (Wiener, Costa, Willett), criminal, fraud, sufficiency of evidence, sentencing Affirming conviction and sentence of 114 months and 102 months for two defendants on eight counts arising from fraudulent telemarketing scam to ostensibly cancel timeshares. The Court held that there was sufficient evidence … More Take the Fifth: Jan. 22, 2021 opinions