December 2, 2024, opinions

Unpublished per curiam (Ho, Engelhardt, Douglas), criminal, compassionate release Affirming denial of motion for compassionate release. per curiam (Graves, Willett, Wilson), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, guilty plea Affirming guilty plea conviction of conspiracy to receive firearms while being illegally or unlawfully present in the … More December 2, 2024, opinions

November 21-25, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Dennis, Southwick, Engelhardt), breach of contract, employment, personal jurisdiction Affirming dismissal of Louisiana-resident employee’s breach-of-contract wage payment claim against Virginia-resident employer for lack of personal jurisdiction. “[Defendant] Pritchard contends the fiduciary shield doctrine precludes jurisdiction based on his purely corporate contacts with Louisiana. [Plaintiff] Savoie counters that the fiduciary shield … More November 21-25, 2024, opinions

November 8, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Barksdale, Ho), criminal Affirming conviction of illegal reentry, which resulted in surrender to immigration officials for deportation. The Court rejected the defendant’s argument that the district court had improperly shifted the burden to him to prove the invalidity of the waiver of rights regarding the underlying deportation rather than … More November 8, 2024, opinions

November 6, 2024, opinions

Unpublished per curiam (Clement, Oldham, Wilson), prisoner suit Vacating dismissal of pretrial detainee’s failure-to-protect claim, affirming dismissal of other claims arising from assault, and remanding for further proceedings. per curiam (Wiener, Willett, Duncan), Wiener, J., concurring; municipal liability Affirming dismissal of municipal liability claims arising from tear-gassing and arrest of journalist plaintiff during George Floyd … More November 6, 2024, opinions

November 1-5, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication per curiam (voting against rehearing en banc: Elrod, Stewart, Southwick, Graves, Higginson, Engelhardt, Ramirez, JJ.; voting for rehearing en banc: Jones, Richman, Willett, Duncan, Oldham, Wilson, JJ.) (recused/not voting in en banc poll: Smith, Haynes, Ho, Douglas, JJ.); federal officer jurisdiction, en banc Denying en banc rehearing of May 29, 2024, panel … More November 1-5, 2024, opinions

October 31, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Higginbotham, Higginson, Duncan), immigration Denying Mexican citizen’s petition for review of BIA order dismissing appeal of IJ’s denial of applications for cancelation of removal and voluntary departure; rejecting arguments “that (1) the agency erred in determining he was ineligible for cancellation because he had not made the required exceptional-hardship and … More October 31, 2024, opinions

October 23, 2024, opinions

Unpublished Richman, J. (Jones, Rishman, Ho), criminal, guilty plea Denying government’s motion to dismiss appeal as barred by the appeal-waiver in the plea agreement; but affirming the guilty plea conviction for knowingly and intentionally possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine,” … More October 23, 2024, opinions

September 24, 2024, opinions

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

September 9, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Jones, J. (King, Jones, Oldham), criminal, sentencing Affirming district court’s determination that federal sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon would run consecutively with state-court sentence and that defendant would not get 43 months’ credit for time spent serving sentence on state conviction. per curiam (Haynes, Willett, Oldham), Haynes, J., … More September 9, 2024, opinions

August 1-15, 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