August 25, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Willett, Engelhardt, Douglas) (oral argument), Willett, J., concurring; criminal, Second Amendment, forfeiting argument Originally released a day before as an unpublished per curiam (though still with Judge Willett’s separate concurrence, re-released as a published disposition with the majority opinion attributed to Judge Engelhardt. Affirming dismissal of indictment of felon-in-possession on … More August 25, 2026, opinions

August 12, 2025, opinions

Designated for publication Willett, J. (single-judge order), immigration, mandate Denying motion to reopen case. Jose Ernesto Romero-Lozano, removed from the U.S. in 2014 and illegally reentering eight years later, was placed in withholding-only proceedings after DHS reinstated his removal order in 2022. An Immigration Judge denied his application, and the BIA affirmed in November 2023. … More August 12, 2025, opinions

December 9-13, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Smith, Clement, Higginson), criminal, sentencing, sufficiency of evidence, Affirming convictions of substantive healthcare in scheme to defraud TRICARE by ordering unnecessary toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests, finding sufficient evidence to support convictions, finding no plain error in district court’s exclusion of testimony regarding statements purportedly made to defendant by … More December 9-13, 2024, opinions

April 4, 2022, opinions

Designated for publication Penn-America Insurance Co. v. Tarango Trucking, L.L.C., 21-10749, appeal from N.D. Tex. Davis, J. (Davis, Willett, Oldham), insurance Reversing in part and vacating in part judgment that insurer did not owe defense or indemnity regarding fatal accident on insured’s property, finding that an exception to a policy automobile exclusion applied. An independent … More April 4, 2022, opinions

Take the Fifth: March 22 and 23, 2021 opinions

Designated for publication U.S. v. Brune, 19-11360, appeal from N.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Jones, Smith, Elrod), criminal, double jeopardy Affirming conviction of defendant for possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. In the charging instrument, the government had misstated the statutory citation for the charged crime, … More Take the Fifth: March 22 and 23, 2021 opinions