Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Smith, Stewart, Haynes) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing Affirming 240-month and 360-month concurrent sentences on conviction of possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of children, and financial penalties and restitution of $55,300. In June 2021, police discovered that the defendant, Ulysses Rubalcava, had sexually abused two of his minor … More December 3, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Clement, J. (Clement, Graves, Ho) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing Vacating sentence in part and remanding for conformance of the written judgment of terms of supervised release with oral pronouncement. The Fifth Circuit confronted a recurring post-Diggles question: what should be done when a written judgment includes unpronounced discretionary conditions of supervised … More December 2, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Smith, J. (Smith, Dennis, Richman) (oral argument), Dennis, J., dissenting in part; criminal, sentencing Affirming conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm as an alien admitted under a nonimmigrant visa. The Fifth Circuit affirmed Moctar Ahmadou’s conviction and 78-month sentence for possessing a firearm as a nonimmigrant under 18 U.S.C. § … More November 25, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Wiener, Engelhardt, Oldham) (oral argument withdrawn), diversity jurisdiction Remanding appeal from judgment in favor of defendant in trust dispute, for jurisdictional discovery. “Once again, a party invoking this court’s diversity jurisdiction has failed to establish the citizenship of a limited liability company. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Thus, we remand this … More November 10, 2025, opinions
Published decisions per curiam (Elrod, Jones, Higginson) (no oral argument), Higginson, J., dissenting; criminal, discovery, sealed records Granting unopposed motion for summary reversal of unexplained denial of joint unopposed motion for entry of modified protective order for production of criminal discovery records. Finding: “The dissent raises the concern that a reversal of the District Court’s … More October 23-24, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Jones, Stewart, Ramirez) (oral argument), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, testimony, jury instruction Affirming conviction of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and making false entries in bank records. A federal jury convicted Ashton J. Ryan, Jr.—former President/CEO of First NBC Bank and Chair of its Board—of conspiracy to commit … More October 17, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Smith), qualified immunity On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal and disabling of the Fifth Circuit’s “moment-of-threat” rule for analyzing a deadly force case, again affirming–this time under a reasonableness framework–the district court’s qualified immunity dismissal of a suit against a police officer who used deadly force … More September 18, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Duncan, Engelhardt), indemnity, maritime law Affirming that contract between plaintiff and defendant was not a “maritime contract,” and that the indemnity provision was therefore invalid. Genesis Energy appealed the dismissal of its crossclaim for defense and indemnification against Danos, LLC, after a Danos employee was injured transferring from an … More September 15, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Southwick, Oldham, Ramirez), Ramirez, J., dissenting in part; Oldham, J., dissenting; immigration, due process, Alien Enemies Act, habeas corpus On remand from U.S. Supreme Court’s grant of temporary restraining order halting deportation of petitioners under the Alien Enemies Act, granting preliminary injunction blocking removal of petitioners, leaving in place government’s … More September 1-3, 2025, opinions
Unpublished decisions per curiam (Richman, Southwick, Willett), criminal, sentencing Affirming 292-month sentence on conviction of wire fraud affecting financial institutions. per curiam (Dennis, Ho, Oldham), criminal Affirming conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon. per curiam (King, Haynes, Ho), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Stewart, Clement, Wilson), … More August 28, 2025, opinions
