Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Wiener, Stewart, Southwick), supervised release, criminal Affirming revocation of supervised release based on failure to report to federal parole officer and on state crimes while on release, even though arrest for revocation of supervised release did not occur until after term of supervised release was over, upholding invocation of jurisdiction … More May 15, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), toxic torts, expert witness Affirming exclusion of plaintiff’s expert testimony in Deepwater Horizon-cleanup-related toxic tort action, and affirming summary judgment for defendant, but clarifying Circuit’s requirements for causation proof in an expert report. Under Daubert and Rule 702, expert testimony is admissible if it is both relevant … More May 12, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Clement, J. (Clement, Engelhardt, Wilson), Title VII, employment discrimination, labor law, jury instructions, pleadings amendment Reversing the denial of Southwest’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on employee’s belief-based Title VII claim and RLA retaliation claim and remanding with instructions for the district court to enter judgment for Southwest; affirming … More May 8-9, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Ramirez, J. (Richman, Graves, Ramirez), Richman, J., dissenting; labor law, appellate jurisdiction The Court dismissed Amazon’s appeal of what it argued was a constructive denial of its motion for temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction of the NLRB’s Bargaining Case proceeding, for lack of appellate jurisdiction on the basis that there was … More May 6, 2025, opinions
Opinions designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), criminal, sentence reduction Affirming denial of motion for sentence reduction. Higginson, J. (Smith, Higginson, Douglas), criminal, sentencing, sufficiency of evidence Affirming convictions and sentences for conspiracy to import and importation of methamphetamine. Unpublished opinions per curiam (Stewart, Clement, Willett), criminal, sentencing Affirming sentence on conviction of … More April 29, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Hendrix, J. (Jones, Oldham, Hendrix, by designation), criminal Affirming conviction of fraud and financial crimes arising from real-estate scheme, rejecting arguments that admission of prior-convictions evidence was plain error and that district court abused its discretion in limiting the good-faith defense and denying funding for expert witness. Smith, J. (Elrod, Smith, Engelhardt), … More March 7, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Jones, Stewart), criminal, search and seizure Reversing grant of motion to suppress evidence from a house and vehicle, holding that the good-faith exception applied to overcome the bare-bones nature of the affidavit in support of the search warrant, and remanding for further proceedings. Southwick, J. (Southwick, Haynes, Douglas), Equal … More March 3-4, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Ho, Engelhardt, Douglas), Douglas, J., dissenting in part; qualified immunity Affirming district court’s denial of qualified immunity on excessive force claim, but reversing denial of qualified immunity on unreasonable search claim, and remanding for further proceedings on claims arising from shooting death of homeowner by officers who had not announced … More February 25, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Davis, Smith, Higginson), jurisdiction, settlement agreement, foreclosure Affirming district court’s judgment that it lacked ancillary jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement where the parties had filed an unconditional Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) stipulation of dismissal without a concurrent court order incorporating the agreement terms or expressly retaining jurisdiction over the agreement. Barksdale, … More February 13, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Ho, J. (Higginbotham, Willett, Ho), bankruptcy Dismissing for lack of jurisdiction appeal from order reopening bankruptcy proceedings; and affirming dismissal of debtor’s claim to challenge foreclosure sale. Ho, J. (Ho, Duncan, Oldham), criminal, sentencing Affirming sentence based on calculation of criminal history points that included additional convictions and sentences entered against the … More February 7, 2025, opinions
