(Still in catch-up mode here, so the opinions designated for publication will get the same brief treatment as the unpublished opinions …) Designated for publication Davis v. Lumpkin, 19-20873, appeal from S.D. Tex. Southwick, J. (Smith, Wiener, Southwick), prisoner suit Affirming in part dismissal of prisoner’s § 1983 action, vacating in part, and remanding. Bertrand … More June 1-3, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Boch-Saban v. Garland, 20-60540, petition for review of BIA order per curiam (Southwick, Haynes, Higginson), immigration Vacating BIA order dismissing as untimely a Guatemalan citizen’s appeal from an IJ’s order denying as time- and number-barred a motion to reopen and dismiss, and remanding to BIA to consider in the first instance the … More April 8, 2022, opinions
(Note: While normally Take the Fifth provides more detailed summaries for opinions designated for publication and only basic disposition notes and links for unpublished opinions, because this is a catch-up post after two weeks of being away from the blog, we are just providing the links and basic disposition notes for both published and unpublished … More March 19-31, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. Swenson, 20-20509, appeal from S.D. Tex. King, J. (King, Costa, Willett), criminal, sentencing, restitution, sufficiency of evidence Affirming conviction of mail fraud, sentence, and restitution award. The Court held that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction on count of mail fraud (the jury had found defendant not guilty … More February 2, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. Martinez, 21-30068, appeal from W.D. La. Davis, J. (Davis, Jones, Elrod), criminal, search and seizure Affirming denial of motion to suppress evidence seized from USPS packages; defendant had argued that reasonable suspicion did not exist to detain the packages, and that the 17-day delay between their detention and the search … More February 1, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. Martinez, 20-11016, appeal from N.D. Tex. Costa, J. (Elrod, Southwick, Costa), criminal, sentencing Vacating sentence on conviction for drug conspiracy, and remanding for resentencing under new calculation of amount of money involved. Defendant owned a tobacco shop, and various drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the back of his … More August 27, 2021 opinions
Unpublished U.S. v. Mafo, 20-11090, appeal from N.D. Tex. per curiam (Southwick, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, restitution Affirming restitution award of $1,999,083 as part of sentence on guilty-plea conviction of wire fraud. U.S. v. Pineda, 20-40664, appeal from E.D. Tex. per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Graves), criminal, compassionate release Affirming district court’s denial of motion for compassionate … More August 18, 2021 opinions
Designated for publication Nguyen v. Garland, 19-60342, petition for review of BIA order Graves, J. (Jones, Clement, Graves), immigration Denying Vietnamese citizen’s petition for review of BIA decision that affirmed the ruling of an immigration judge who had found that Mr. Nguyen was subject to removal from the United States because he had been convicted … More Take the Fifth: May 12, 2021 opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. Williams, 20-40157, appeal from S.D. Tex. Oldham, J. (Higginbotham, Costa, Oldham), criminal, restitution Affirming restitution award of more than $2 million for defendant on guilty plea conviction of four counts of wire fraud involving purported sales of cattle in which defendant absconded with the money without producing the cattle. “The … More Take the Fifth: April 14, 2021 opinions
Brackeen v. Haaland, 18-11479, appeal from N.D. Tex. per curiam (Owen, Jones, Smith, Wiener, Stewart, Dennis, Elrod, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Costa, Willett, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham), Indian Child Welfare Act, standing, Administrative Procedures Act No one principal opinion commanded a majority of the en banc Court as to the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare … More Take the Fifth: April 6 and 7, 2021 opinions
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