Designated for publication Willett, J. (Dennis, Willett, Duncan), Dennis, J., dissenting in part; criminal, Sixth Amendment, jury instruction Affirming conviction for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The Court found no error in the district court’s acceptance of the defendant’s waiver of potential conflict of interest by his counsel, a … More September 24, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Oldham, J. (joined by Richman, Jones, Smith, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Wilson, Ramirez); Haynes, J., concurring in part (joined by Stewart, Southwick); Willett, J., dissenting (joined by King, Elrod, Graves, Higginson, Douglas); § 1983 Affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s § 1983 claim for money damages and to challenge constitutionally “tainted” state-law conviction, on basis … More September 13, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Ho, Duncan, Oldham), habeas corpus, Equal Protection Clause Affirming denial of habeas relief on claim that life sentence for state conviction of sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct with the petitioner’s intellectually disabled daughter violated the Equal Protection Clause. Wiener, J. (Wiener, Elrod, Wilson), sec. 1983 Affirming judgment on jury … More September 6, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (King, Stewart, Higginson), criminal Affirming conviction of wire fraud. per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Oldham), criminal, sentencing Affirming denial of motion for sentence reduction. per curiam (Jones, Willett, Engelhardt), foreclosure Affirming summary judgment dismissal of claims arising from mortgage servicing. per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Oldham), criminal, sufficiency of evidence Affirming conviction of possession … More September 5, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Graves, J. (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves), Fair Labor Standards Act Affirming summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs’ FLSA overtime claims on the basis that each employee is a “bona fide executive” exempt from FLSA’s overtime provisions. Elrod, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Elrod), evidence Affirming summary judgment for defendant trustees on claims brought by plaintiff beneficiaries of … More September 4, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Stewart, Dennis, Wilson), workers’ compensation Affirming judgment against workers’ compensation insurer regarding voidability of policy under Mississippi law. per curiam (Southwick, Haynes, Douglas), criminal, sentencing Vacating 156-month sentence on conviction of carjacking and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, where district court expressed mistaken belief that Guidelines range was 84 … More September 3, 2024, opinions
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
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
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
Take the Fifth’s resident opinion-aggregator was out of the country for the first two and a half weeks of July, so the following are just abbreviated accounts of dispositions without any summary. Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), bankruptcy, contempt Affirming contempt order entered by bankruptcy court against defendant in adversary proceeding. Stewart, … More July 1-17, 2024, opinions
