Tag: criminal

April 17, 2023, opinions

April 18, 2023

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

April 14, 2023, opinions

April 17, 2023

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

April 13, 2023, opinions

April 14, 2023

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

April 6-12, 2023, opinions

April 13, 2023

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

April 5, 2023, opinions

April 6, 2023

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

April 4, 2023, opinions

April 5, 2023

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

April 3, 2023, opinions

April 4, 2023

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

March 27, 2023, opinions

March 28, 2023

Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Richman, Ho, Engelhardt), National Environmental Policy Act, sovereign immunity Affirming summary judgment in favor of Corps of Engineers on plaintiffs’ claims that Corps should be compelled to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement pursuant to NEPA to increase usage of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, which summary judgment dismissed claims on … More March 27, 2023, opinions

March 24, 2023, opinions

March 27, 2023

Designated for publication Wiener, J. (Wiener, Stewart, Engelhardt), breach of contract Affirming judgment that original ship owners were in default on their loan agreements for the mortgages that financed construction of the vessels, and that, under Panamanian law, the lenders’ preferred ship mortgages outranked the state-created liens of a purchaser who agreed to purchase the … More March 24, 2023, opinions

March 23, 2023, opinions

March 24, 2023

Designated for publication per curiam (denial of en banc rehearing; voting against rehearing were Richman, Jones, Stewart, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Willett, Ho, Duncan, Douglas, JJ.; voting for rehearing were Smith, Elrod, Engelhardt, Oldham, Wilson, JJ.); Higginbotham, J., concurring in denial of rehearing; Higginson, J., concurring in denial of rehearing; Oldham, J., dissenting from denial … More March 23, 2023, opinions