Designated for publication Jones, J. (King, Jones, Oldham), bankruptcy Affirming denial of motion to vacate bankruptcy court’s order removing four members of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and holding that the former members of the committee lack standing to prosecute the appeal. Jolly, J. (Jolly, Smith, Haynes), federal … More May 13, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Smith, Higginson, Engelhardt), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Davis, Ho, Ramirez), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, supervised release Affirming supervised release term that, if the defendant’s probation officer determines that the defendant poses a risk to … More May 10, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Willett, Duncan, Ramirez), criminal, sentencing Affirming 37-month sentence on conviction of illegal reentry. per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Willett, Duncan, Ramirez), appellate jurisdiction Dismissing appeal from notice of intent for failure to prosecute and order denying motion to appoint counsel for … More May 9, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, sentencing Affirming 77-month sentence on conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon. per curiam (Higginson, Ho, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing Affirming 24-month sentence on conviction of illegal reentry. per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), … More May 8, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, J. (Elrod, Ho, Wilson), timeliness After receiving response from Texas Supreme Court on certified question, reversing district court’s dismissal of claims as barred by the statute of limitations, and remanding for further proceedings. Oldham, J. (Jolly, Engelhardt, Oldham), qualified immunity Affirming denial of qualified immunity. To quote from the Court’s introduction: … More May 1-7, 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 April 2024 opinion statistics
Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Stewart, Duncan), breach of contract, fraudulent inducement Reversing judgment and $1.6 billion in combined compensatory and punitive damages in favor of plaintiff on breach of contract and fraudulent inducement claims, holding that liability determination was in error. The Court held that IBM’s actions in replacing BMC mainframe software on … More April 30, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Higginson), bankruptcy, Burford abstention Reversing denial of claimant’s motion for Burford abstention in adversarial proceeding brought by debtor trustee to challenge the creditor’s proof of claim; reversing denial of motion to dismiss certain claims that parties agreed were claims for equitable relief; and vacating dismissal of remaining damages … More April 29, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Elrod, Willett, Duncan), criminal, restitution Vacating $6,000 restitution award issued as part of sentence on conviction of production of child pornography, on holding that PSR cited inapplicable statutes and failed to conduct a proximate-cause analysis; and remanding for further proceedings. Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Higginson), criminal, competence, sentencing Affirming conviction … More April 25-26, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Jolly, J. (Jolly, Smith, Haynes), Federal Tort Claims Act Reversing district court’s dismissal of former federal inmate’s FTCA claim arising from alleged assault by prison officials; rejecting premise that there may be a de minimis injury exception from tort liability; remanding for further proceedings. Dennis, J. (Dennis, Engelhardt, Oldham), Oldham, J., dubitante; … More April 24, 2024, opinions
