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The Supreme Court ordered the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate a verdict against Shirley Ree Smith today in a shaken baby syndrome case that grabbed national headlines. In the opinion, the Court also admonished the Ninth Circuit for repeatedly supplanting the jury verdict in the case with its own opinion. “It is not the job of this court, and was not that of the [Ninth] Circuit, to decide whether the state’s theory was correct....

An impassioned, poignant, and 100% legally accurate defense of Santa Claus. Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, on this very important case. My client, Santa Claus, has been accused of criminal trespass, labor violations, and violations of the Federal Aviation Act. The state has not met the burden of proof on any of these charges. Santa Is an Invitee Consider first the charges of criminal trespass....

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a police officer who used a leg sweep to interrupt a child custody argument was not entitled to qualified immunity from an excessive force lawsuit. Police officers in Flandreau, South Dakota intervened in two child custody arguments between Shaylene Montoya and her ex-boyfriend. The first police visit ended calmly, with a warning that someone would be arrested if the police had to return....

The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) requires that states receiving federal educational funding provide students with disabilities a “free appropriate public education” (“FAPE”). Pursuant to IDEA, O.M.’s parents sought reimbursement, from the Pottsville Area School District, for residential educational expenses incurred when O.M. attended two separate boarding schools. Prior to admission to Wediko, the school district did not evaluate O.M., and did not provide an IEP. Prior to O.M.’s admission to Phelps, the Pottsville District did an evaluation and provided an IEP, which O....

Hardt v. Reliance Std. Life Ins. Co., No. 09-448, involved an action alleging that defendant violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by wrongfully denying her benefits claim. The Court reversed the Fourth Circuit’s order vacating the district court’s award of attorney’s fees to plaintiff, holding that: 1) a fee claimant need not be a “prevailing party” to be eligible for an attorney’s fees award under 29 U....

In Phoenix Mem. Hosp. v. Sebelius, No. 09-15506, an action against the Secretary of Health and Human Services arguing that the adjustment plaintiff-hospitals received for serving disproportionately high numbers of low-income patients should be increased because the reimbursement did not account for all low-income patients included under the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendant where the Secretary’s decision that Medically Needy/Medically Indigent patient days were properly excluded from the Medicaid Low Income Proxy was not contrary to law, arbitrary or capricious, or unsupported by substantial evidence....

All you need is a phone to participate in client meetings, depositions, ADR, mediation, oral arguments and a host of other essential work, including many court proceedings. However, that doesn’t mean it will go smoothly, particularly at first, as everyone adjusts to this temporary new reality. You have probably already noticed some unique challenges. Speaking and running a meeting over the phone does take some practice and forethought. Here are some key points to consider when conducting essential work tasks over the phone....

In Minix v. Canarecci, No. 09-2001, the court decided a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against prison officials by a mother claiming her son died as a result of defendants’ alleged indifference to her son’s suicide risk. In affirming the district court’s ruling in favor of the defendants, the court held that summary judgment was appropriate as plaintiff has not met the high hurdle of meeting the standard for deliberate indifference liability....

Maybe you’ve practiced at a firm for a few years and you’re ready for something different, or maybe you’ve always dreamed of arguing a case before the Supreme Court. But one thing’s clear – you’ve decided to start your own appellate practice. So, go ahead and hang out a shingle, but if you think that’s going to be enough to drive business, think again. Most people don’t graduate from law school and open up an appellate practice....

If you’re trolling for a tolling ruling in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, you may be out of luck. The Tenth Circuit reminded us this week that equitable tolling is rarely available. An Oklahoma state court sentenced Harry Miller, Jr., to prison in 2007 for making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child. In 2010, he filed an application for state post-conviction relief and, when that failed, a federal habeas petition....

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Does this old reasoning test, which we’ve all heard a thousand times, apply to the latest Senate investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and its connections to Russians? To apply that old analogy, if it looks like collusion, is it collusion? And if it really is collusion, then what? The results of the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation were released Aug....

We’re all aware that a cop can seize drugs from a criminal, but did you know that a cop who steals a dealer’s drugs has conducted an unreasonable search? That’s the word out of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on Friday that a police officer violates a suspect’s civil rights when he seizes drugs for personal gain. Arthur Sease was a Memphis police officer until he was fired by the department in late 2004, after the department learned about Sease’s side gig: stealing drugs....

Sentence for receipt of child pornography is affirmed where the district court did not err in imposing a four-level enhancement for the possession of images containing sadistic or masochistic conduct, as the court made an objective determination that the image depicted sexual activity involving a minor and the depicted activity would have caused pain to the minor, and thus established an adequate basis for the application of the enhancement. Read US v....

Defendants’ drug possession sentences are affirmed where neither Defendant was eligible for a reduced sentence under 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2), because their sentences were based solely on powder cocaine, meaning that Amendment 706 to the Guidelines would not have the effect of lowering their sentences. Read US v. Johnson, No. 08-3925 Appellate Information Submitted: June 18, 2009 Decided and Filed: June 30, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Moore Counsel For Appellant:...

Defendant’s tax evasion and obstruction of justice sentence is vacated where: 1) the District Court erred when it reimposed a custodial sentence that had already been served; and 2) Defendant’s failure to adequately represent himself in the proceedings did not warrant a sentencing enhancement. Read US v. O’Georgia, No. 05-2598 Appellate Information Submitted: March 13, 2009 Decided and Filed: June 24, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Gilman Counsel For Appellants:...

Sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in concluding defendant was not eligible for modification of his crack sentence under 18 U.S.C. sec. 3582(c) as his applicable Guidelines range was his career offender range and that range had not been lowered by Amendment 706; and 2) the court did not err in denying defendant’s motion for a sentence reduction as his sentence was explicitly based on a stipulation between the parties and not on a sentencing range that had subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission....

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s passing, many are wondering about her pets. The late monarch was known for her penchant for Pembroke Welsh Corgis. At her death, she left behind four dogs. There was speculation that family members or staff may take in the dogs. But it was unclear. Her son Prince Andrew and former daughter-in-law Sarah Ferguson stepped up to care for the Queen’s corgis. But was this arranged before her death?...

After a Missouri health care worker was subject to several instances of physical and verbal harassment from a patient, she sued her employer. Chavonya Watson argued that Heartland Health Laboratories created a hostile working environment by failing to protect her from the third party harassment. The Eighth Circuit, however, was unconvinced. the court found that, even if an employer could be held responsible for a third party, the harassment alleged was too fleeting to have created a hostile work environment, having occurred for just moments at a time....

The Tenth Circuit found that the government’s evidence was valid in proving that appellant had knowingly committed tax evasion, affirming his conviction but reversing a sentence that was originally reduced. After a jury trial, appellant Bill Melot had been convicted of one count of attempting to evade or defeat tax, one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the administration of the Internal Revenue Code, six counts of a willful failure to file, and seven counts of making false statements to the Department of Agriculture....

In a jurisdictional battle decided Friday, the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline was determined to be a citizen of Delaware for purposes of litigation. The plaintiffs, both who suffered birth defects from the effects of thalidomide on their mothers’ pregnancies, argued unsuccessfully to the Third Circuit that GSK was a citizen of Pennsylvania, where most of its business is located. In what will no doubt add to future law school primers and bar study guides on subject matter jurisdiction, the Court declared there was diversity of citizenship between the parties....