Tag: habeas corpus

Take the Fifth: Nov. 24, 2020 opinions

November 25, 2020

Designated for publication Smith v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 19-20818, appeal from S.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Dennis), defamation Affirming summary judgment in favor of Wal-Mart on plaintiff’s defamation claim for being misidentified as a shoplifter by a Wal-Mart employee. Court held that, under standard necessary to overcome the qualified privilege under Texas law that … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 24, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Nov. 13, 2020 opinions

November 16, 2020

Designated for publication U.S. v. Batiste, 19-30927, appeal from E.D. La. Engelhardt, J., (Graves, Costa, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing, First Step Act Affirming in part sentence of imprisonment and denial of sentence-reduction under the First Step Act, but remanding in part the portion of the sentence regarding the term of supervised release for the district court … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 13, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Nov. 12, 2020 opinions

November 13, 2020

Designated for publication Richardson v. Hughs, 20-50774, appeal from W.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Oldham), intervention, election law Denying motion to intervene on appeal, by plaintiff in similar but separate case. This motion arises from two lawsuits challenging Texas’s signature-verification scheme for absentee ballots. Noting that, “[p]erhaps because there is no rule explicitly allowing … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 12, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Nov. 2-6, 2020 opinions

November 9, 2020

Designated for publication Pizza Inn, Inc. v. Clairday, 19-11302, appeal from N.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Smith, Clement, Oldham), breach of contract, equitable intervention doctrine Reversing district court’s upholding of jury verdict in favor of franchisee, applying equitable intervention doctrine and awarding damages and attorneys’ fees to franchisee for pizza franchise’s refusal to renew contract when … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 2-6, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 30, 2020 opinions

October 31, 2020

Designated for publication Whole Woman’s Health v. Paxton, 17-51060, appeal from W.D. Tex. per curiam (Owen, Jones, Smith, Stewart, Dennis, Elrod, Graves, Haynes, Higginson, Costa, Willett, Ho, Engelhardt, Wilson); abortion law After the October 13 release of the panel opinion affirming the district court’s injunction of enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 8 (requiring that “a … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 30, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 27, 2020 opinions

October 28, 2020

Designated for publication U.S. v. Ramirez, 19-20098, appeal from S.D. Tex. Oldham, J. (Smith, Clement, Oldham), criminal, sentencing Affirming the district court’s sentencing of defendant to 300 months’ imprisonment for health care fraud. Court held that there was no error in district court’s reliance on presentencing report to impose a 26-point adjustment to defendant’s sentencing … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 27, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 23, 2020 opinions

October 26, 2020

Designated for publication In the Matter of: Ward, 18-10469, appeal from N.D. Tex. Owen, C.J. (Owen, Clement, Ho), bankruptcy, timeliness Affirming district court’s judgment that the bankruptcy court did not err in finding creditors’ complaint seeking denial of debtor’s discharge was timely and in entering an order denying discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(4)(A) and … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 23, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 22, 2020 opinions

October 23, 2020

Designated for publication Whole Woman’s Health v. Paxton, 17-51060, appeal from W.D. Tex., designated for publication Dennis, J. (Stewart, Dennis, Willett), Willett, J., dissenting; abortion law; Opinion originally released on October 13, 2020; released in “MODIFIED” form on Oct. 22 in order to append Judge Willett’s dissent; Take the Fifth‘s original summary of the majority … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 22, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 20, 2020 opinions

October 21, 2020

Designated for publication U.S. v. Sila, 17-11212, appeal from N.D. Tex. Elrod, J. (Higginbotham, Elrod, Haynes), criminal, sentencing, sufficiency of evidence Affirming two counts of indictment regarding theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft, vacating one count of indictment regarding theft of government funds for insufficiency of evidence, and remanding for resentencing. Defendant had … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 20, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 19, 2020 opinions

October 20, 2020

Designated for publication Richardson v. Hughs, 20-50774, appeal from W.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Oldham), Higginbotham, J., concurring; election law, sovereign immunity Staying, pending appeal, the district court’s injunction of Texas’s procedures regarding mail-in ballot signature verification and voter-notification procedures. Texas’s absentee mail-in balloting procedures–a system that, as confirmed by 5th Circuit’s October 14th … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 19, 2020 opinions