Designated for publication Willett, J. (Elrod, Willett, Duncan), habeas corpus Affirming denial of habeas relief, upholding district court’s judgment that the § 2254 petition was untimely. The Court first held that the appeal was timely, based on district court’s determination that the petitioner had placed his request for a “return date” and an extension to … More October 10, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Graves, Willett, Wilson), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Wilson, Douglas, Vitter, by designation), employment discrimination, Age Discrimination in Employment Act Affirming summary judgment dismissing ADEA and employment discrimination claims. per curiam (Wiener, Ho, Ramirez), criminal Affirming conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. … More October 7, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Wilson, J. (Wiener, Elrod, Wilson), Elrod, J., concurring; criminal, collateral estoppel Affirming denial of motion to dismiss criminal prosecution on collateral estoppel grounds, where government decided to retry defendant on bribery charges after Court of Appeals vacated first conviction for improper jury instruction and remanded. Court held that defendant failed to show … More September 30, 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
Designated for publication Dennis, J. (Jones, Dennis, Willett); Willett, J., concurring; Jones, J., dissenting; qualified immunity, municipal liability Reversing summary judgment dismissal on qualified immunity grounds of excessive force claims arising from violent arrest of plaintiff, holding that the defendant officer “failed to show the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact as to … More August 29-30, 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
Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Clement, Engelhardt, Wilson), breach of contract, tortious interference Reversing judgment as a matter of law to defendant on plaintiff’s declaratory judgment claim; reversing judgment as a matter of law to co-defendant on plaintiff’s declaratory judgment and tortious interference claims; remanding for jury trial on the reversed claims; affirming denial of … More August 23, 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
