Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Dennis, Engelhardt, Oldham), Dennis, J., dissenting; bankruptcy Vacating bankruptcy court’s award of $239,655 in compensatory damages on civil contempt award, and remanding for further proceedings. The Court held that the bankruptcy court’s limited contempt power–limited to civil contempt–meant that it may only shift fees that are compensatory for actual expenses … More April 4, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, J. (joined by Richman, Jones, Smith, Stewart, Haynes, Higginson, Willett, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, Douglas, Ramirez, JJ.) (Judges Southwick, Graves, and Wilson recused); Dennis, J., concurring in judgment only (joined by Higginson, Ramirez, JJ.); Ho, J., concurring (joined by Stewart, Elrod, Higginson, Ramirez, JJ.); mootness, appellate jurisdiction, standing In en banc … More April 1-2, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Wiener, Willett, Douglas), criminal, sentencing Affirming 110-month sentence on conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with a drug trafficking offense. per curiam (Willett, Duncan, Douglas), criminal, sentencing Affirming sentence on conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; possession of cocaine with intent to distribute … More November 6, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Richman, Southwick, Oldham), toxic tort, recusal Affirming district court judge’s denial of motion to disqualify himself from cases arising from Deepwater Horizon spill. The Court held that the district court judge’s former partnership in a law firm that represented a former defendant in the claims that had been found not … More October 20, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Clement, J. (Clement, Elrod, Willett), spoliation, trade secrets Affirming spoliation sanction of default judgment and damages award against spoliating defendant in suit alleging misappropriation of proprietary software code. Higginson, J. (Smith, Higginson, Willett), takings Reversing judgment that city violated Takings Clause when it refused to compensate a homeowner for damage to her … More October 10-11, 2023, decisions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Wiener, Higginson, Wilson), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, jury instructions, 404(b), Confrontation Clause Affirming convictions of kidnapping and other counts arising from drug trafficking conspiracy, rejecting arguments regarding the kidnapping jury instruction, sufficiency of the evidence, admission of 404(b) evidence, and violation of the Confrontation Clause. Dennis, J. (Davis, Dennis, Higginson), … More April 3, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Stewart, Duncan), foreign discovery Reversing 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a) order for foreign discovery, and remanding for further proceedings. The Court held that the district court “misconstrued our precedent and erroneously rebuffed respondents’ challenge” to a discovery order’s “validity pursuant to statutory requirements and the Supreme Court’s ‘Intel factors.’” (Citing … More December 13, 2022, opinions
(Abbreviated summaries on this group of opinions, due to some heavy briefing obligations in our practice that have shortened our time to draft more detailed summaries of these opinions) Designated for publication Costa, J. (Davis, Costa, Oldham), Oldham, J., dissenting; Clean Air Act, standing Affirming Clean Air Act penalties, as well as standing of plaintiffs … More August 26-31, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Garcia v. Orta, 21-50890, appeal from W.D. Tex. Southwick, J. (Smith, Wiener, Southwick), qualified immunity Reversing denial of summary judgment and rendering summary judgment in favor of arresting officers on qualified immunity grounds, dismissing plaintiff’s suit for detention without probable cause for DWI. Plaintiff had been held in pretrial detention, unable to … More August 25, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Collins v. Yellen, 17-20364, appeal from S.D. Tex. per curiam (joined by Owen, Jones, Smith, Elrod, Southwick, Higginson, Willett, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, Wilson, JJ.); Haynes, J., dissenting, joined by Stewart, Dennis, Graves, Costa, JJ.); separation of powers After partial vacatur and remand by U.S. Supreme Court of en banc decision at … More March 1-4, 2022, opinions
