Designated for publication Wiener, J. (Wiener, Graves, Duncan), sec. 1983 After receiving decision from Texas Supreme Court on certified question, affirming district court’s summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s sec. 1983 claims arising from wrongful capital conviction, on the basis that the plaintiff’s receipt of compensation under Texas’s Tim Cole Act–even though that compensation came after … More April 19-21, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Clement, J. (Smith, Clement, Wilson), insurance Affirming summary judgment in favor of insurer on homeowners’ suit for coverage for mold-related losses. Unpublished per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Oldham), criminal, restitution Affirming denial of writ of coram nobis as a collateral attack on restitution order. per curiam (Stewart, Dennis, Willett), prisoner suit Affirming dismissal … More April 18, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Higginbotham, Southwick, Higginson), bankruptcy Affirming district court’s affirmance of bankruptcy court’s order approving credit-bid sale of hotel property to debtor’s parent company and discharge of all liens, holding that the lender was a good faith purchaser. Elrod, J. (Wiener, Elrod, Engelhardt), criminal, guilty plea, restitution Affirming $75,000 restitution award as … More April 17, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Higginbotham, Smith, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing, First Step Act Affirming resentencing on remand under the First Step Act, in which district court declined to retroactively apply the decrease in the 25-year mandatory minimum under the First Step Act to defendant’s sentence for discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of … More April 14, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Engelhardt), personal torts, Batson violation Affirming denial of new trial or remittitur motion brought by plaintiff in trucker-collision case where jury found in favor of plaintiff but only awarded $37,500. The Court held that the defense counsel’s closing argument comments that allegedly alluded to the plaintiff’s counsel’s marketing … More April 13, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Wiener, Higginson, Wilson), criminal, sentencing, Brady violation, restitution Affirming convictions of depriving two persons of their constitutional rights under color of law, arising from defendant’s sexual assault of two men while a police officer, and concurrent sentences of 12 and 360 months. The Court held that withheld evidence was not … More April 6-12, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Wiener, J. (Wiener, Higginson, Wilson), administrative law, standing Vacating district court’s preliminary injunction of Biden administration’s executive order establishing working group to formulate guidance on the “social cost of greenhouse gases” to be used by federal agencies in policymaking actions, and dismissing states’ suit seeking injunctive relief for lack of standing. As … More April 5, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Engelhardt), Higginbotham, J., concurring; immigration Affirming dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that status-adjustment decisions made by the USCIS outside the context of removal proceedings are not final agency actions reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act, nor are they final removal actions reviewable per the Immigration and Nationality … More April 4, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Wiener, Higginson, Wilson), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, jury instructions, 404(b), Confrontation Clause Affirming convictions of kidnapping and other counts arising from drug trafficking conspiracy, rejecting arguments regarding the kidnapping jury instruction, sufficiency of the evidence, admission of 404(b) evidence, and violation of the Confrontation Clause. Dennis, J. (Davis, Dennis, Higginson), … More April 3, 2023, 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 March 2023 opinion statistics
