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Conviction and sentence for drug crimes and firearms possession is affirmed where: 1) the district court properly denied defendant’s suppression motion as the affidavit was sufficient to establish probable cause to search defendant’s home, and even were it not, the officer acted in good faith when he executed the search of defendant’s home in reliance on the warrant; 2) the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence relating to defendant’s prior firearm conviction as the evidence relating to the conviction was admissible under Fed....

Defendant’s drug and firearm sentence is affirmed where Amendment 706 to the Sentencing Guidelines affected only U.S.S.G. section 2D1.1(c), the portion of the Guidelines that sets forth the base offense level for crack cocaine offenses, and all other Guidelines provisions that affect the final offense level remain unchanged. Read US v. Quinn, No. 08-6217 Appellate Information Submitted: July 29, 2009 Decided and Filed: August 6, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Gilman...

Words matter when your communications are scrutinized under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). For example, there’s a different between “ineligible for bankruptcy discharge” and “presumptively nondischargeable.” Federal courts quantify that difference through damages. Which brings us to a recent decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Berlincia Easterling obtained a student loan guaranteed by the Department of Education in the late 80s. Easterling filed a bankruptcy petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on August 23, 2001....

This post was updated on March 24, 2022 Making a will can be intimidating. Aside from having to think about death, trying to craft a legal document that accomplishes everything you want can be a daunting task. For executors, lawyers, and judges, interpreting a will without the help of the person who drafted it is a notoriously tricky practice, so getting it right is essential. With so many ways to get it wrong, how do you ensure you have a valid will that properly takes care of your estate?...

The Rules, they are a changing. As of December 1, 2013, amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure took effect. Not only that, but changes to the Tenth Circuit’s local rules of the Tenth Circuit take effect on January 1, 2014. Mark your calendars, and note these changes… The changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (“FRAP”) were changed in three primary ways: procedures for Tax Court, briefing requirements, and in forma pauperis applications....

In a June 8th appeal on the district court’s dismissal of a death row inmate’s habeas petition, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held in favor of the state and upheld the lower court decision dismissing the writ of habeas corpus. Quick Facts: The petitioner, Anthony Apanovitch, is an Ohio death-row inmate doing time for rape and murder. The only physical traces of the killer that were found at the scene of crime were certain bodily fluids found on the victim’s person....

Why it seems like only yesterday that many lawyers were just trying to figure out how to pronounce Concepcion. Alas, that was 2011, and the Supreme Court is moving on to another arbitration dispute: American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant. The AmEx arbitration litigation has been going on for years. As in, Justice Sonia Sotomayor sat on one of the Second Circuit panels that heard the case when she was but a federal appellate judge....

In an action against an insurer for breach of its duty to defend, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where the policies underlying Colorado’s complaint rule did not allow an insurer to ignore ongoing parallel judicial proceedings which it was aware of, and Colorado law required policy exclusions to be read narrowly. Read Apartment Inv. & Mgmt. Co. v. Nutmeg Ins. Co., No. 08-1150 Appellate Information Filed February 2, 2010...

Transcript Panel 1: Two round characters with big eyes are leaning close to each other, as if the left one has their arm around the right one. They are looking at each other admiringly as a thought bubble rises above the head of the one on the left. The thought bubble says: “I’m 18 and dating someone younger. Is it illegal to have sex?” Panel 2: An anthropomorphized document with the words “statutory rape” scrawled across the top stands assertively with hands on its “hips” in between two couples of round characters....

In a medical malpractice action, denial of plaintiffs’ motion for relief from a voluntary dismissal order under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) is affirmed where the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that plaintiffs’ actions were voluntary and their counsel’s actions did not amount to mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect in order to obtain relief. Read Eskridge v. Cook County, No. 08-2980 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division....

In Johnson v. US, No. 08-6925, a circuit court of Appeals upheld defendant’s sentence for possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, which was enhanced under the Armed Career Criminal Act. As the Court wrote: “We decide whether the Florida felony offense of battery by “[a]ctually and intentionally touch[ing]” another person, Fla. Stat. § 784.03(1)(a), (2) (2003), “has as an element the use . . . of physical force against the person of another,” 18 U....

The Second Circuit upheld the murder, racketeering, narcotics and firearms convictions of four members of the “Courtland Avenue Crew,” a violent gang from the Bronx. One defendant’s convictions relied partially on evidence gathered from social media, including a rap video and photos of tattoos taken from Facebook. That defendant, Melvin Colon, was convicted in part for the execution of Delquan Alston, who he thought was an informant. On appeal, he argued that the Facebook evidence was procured through an unconstitutional law, the Stored Communications Act, and that its use in the trial violated his First Amendment rights....

A federal appeals court rebuffed the Trump administration for withholding federal grant money from Philadelphia because it is a sanctuary city. In City of Philadelphia v. Attorney General of the United States, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals said the Justice Department unlawfully punished the city for its position on immigration. Jeff Sessions, attorney general at the time, said last year that cities would not receive federal funds unless they cooperated with U....

District court’s denial of defendant’s petition for habeas relief is vacated and remanded because the court did not consider the Supreme Court’s decision in Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408 (2005), in holding that the Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269 (2005) stay-and-abeyance procedure applies exclusively to mixed petitions. As the Supreme Court has indicated that a petitioner may file a “protective” petition meriting a stay under Pace even where only unexhausted claims are at issue, the case is remanded for the district court to consider whether petitioner has met the stay-and-abeyance standard set out in Rhines and thus should be granted a stay....

In an action arising out of a truck accident, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part where the district court did not clearly err in finding that plaintiff consciously opted against timely obtaining one truck driver’s testimony. However, the judgment is reversed in part where one defendant retained the right to control at least some of the “means and methods” used by the independent contractor that employed one of the drivers to achieve the contract’s stated objectives....

In Chen v. Holder, No. 09-2619, the Seventh Circuit dealt with a Chinese citizen’s petition for review of BIA’s denial of her application for asylum on the ground that the petitioner’s lawsuit against a local government in China did not amount to a “political opinion” within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. section 1158(b)(1)(B)(i). In granting the petition, the court remanded the matter in holding that the Board has never addressed the question of whether it is appropriate to treat suing a unit of government as a legitimate means of expressing one’s political opinion....

Though half of the country is now fully vaccinated, the United States continues to struggle against an anti-COVID-19 vaccination movement. As more employers, universities, businesses, and localities are requiring proof of vaccination before community interaction, legal challenges to vaccine mandates have arisen, dragging one Supreme Court case from over a century ago back into the spotlight. Case Background In 1905, citizens of the United States struggled with a different epidemic from the one we face today: smallpox....

Even with almost two months to prepare, the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, contained a lot of information to digest. While Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion included relatively little new information from the leaked draft, the concurring opinions have opened the door to a lot of speculation. Below are four potential legal issues involving abortion that could make their way back up to the Supreme Court....

In habeas proceedings arising from a rape conviction, a circuit court of appeals’ order affirming the grant of petitioner’s habeas petition is reversed and remanded where: 1) the court of appeals’ analysis failed to preserve the factfinder’s role as weigher of the evidence by reviewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, and it erred in finding a state court’s resolution of petitioner’s claim to be objectively unreasonable; and 2) petitioner forfeited his claim that a prosecution expert incorrectly described the statistical implications of certain DNA evidence....

In a pair of recent panel decisions before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, major California gun-control legislation was upheld over challenges from special interest, gun advocacy groups. One panel, as explained by Reuters, upheld a recent amendment to California’s Gun-Free School Zone Act, prohibiting individuals with a concealed carry permit to have a gun on school grounds unless they are an active, off-duty, or retired peace officer (Case: Gallinger v....