Federal Circuit: Acree v. O'Rourke

Review panel has a duty to determine that the claimant's withdrawal of claim is done with a knowledge of the consequences; this does not conflict with the claimant's right to withdraw the claim.

http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/17-1749.Opinion.5-31-2018.1.pdf

Federal Circuit: WMI Holdings Corp. v. US

As plaintiff didn't sufficiently establish value of particular assets within a group acquisition, court was not obliged to independently evaluate the assets.

(NB:  we don't know many things, but we especially don't know tax and patent.  As always, entertainment purposes only.)


http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/17-1944.Opinion.6-1-2018.1.pdf

Eleventh Circuit:Alfonso Ponton v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections

Where a court recharacterizes a pleading as a habeas filing without informing the deft/petitioner, the petition does not count towards the statutory limit on second and successive findings; this rule applies to initial filings that predate the supreme court decision that established the rule.

http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201610683.pdf

Eleventh Circuit: Campbell v. US

No inadequate assistance of counsel where deft's in-court admission of not living in the house jeopardized his standing to challenge a search there.

Deft could not have challenged the search anyway, as his primary purpose there was business-related.

http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201513261.pdf

Eleventh Circuit: Livingston Manners v. Officer Ronald Cannella, et al.

Arguable probable cause suffices for qualified immunity on S1983 claim. 

Driving 176 yards to lit gas station sufficed to establish deft was fleeing.

Refusal to be handcuffed while rolling on ground made punching and tasing reasonable.

http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201710088.pdf

Eleventh Circuit: Pamela M. Perry, M.D. v. The Schumacher Group of Louisiana, et al

District court retained jurisdiction over action despite joint stipulation as to the sole unadjudicated claim, as only a stipulation as to the entirety of the action would suffice to dismiss the action.


http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201615400.pdf

Eleventh Circuit: USA v. Sally Jim

Where gambling revenues are used for the welfare of tribe members, statute requiring tax payments on Indian gambling business prevails over earlier statute exempting Indian general welfare payments from taxation.

Refusal to amend monetary judgment against an intervenor of right was not an abuse of discretion.

http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201617109.pdf

US v. Marcel King

Possible future offender registration requirement is an insufficient collateral consequence of supervised release revocation to prevent mootness after completion of the sentence.


http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/06/04/17-10006.pdf

Ninth Circuit: Luther v. Berryhill

SSA ALJ must explain discounting of 100% VA disability finding.


http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/06/04/16-55987.pdf

Ninth Circuit: Pacific-Western Bank v. Fagerdala

Purchase of a subset of claims in a class is not per se proof of bad faith; bankruptcy court must consider whether there is either an ulterior motive or a plan to injure the other creditors beyond enlightened self interest.


http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/06/04/16-35430.pdf

Ninth Circuit: Hodson v. Mars Inc.

Not disclosing the possibility of child or slave labor in the supply chain doesn't violate state disclosure laws, as the omission does not relate to a physical defect affecting the central function of the product.


http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/06/04/16-15444.pdf

Eighth Circuit: A.H. v. St. Louis County, Missouri

Insufficient proof for deliberate indifference S1983 claim relating to jail suicide; a plan to defeat the problem suffices to defeat municipal liability.

Mere performance of the merely ministerial duties exempted from immunity suffices to exculpate from claim.

Improper medical treatment claim can't be brought under disability statutes.


http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/18/06/171198P.pdf

Eighth Circuit: United States v. William Marshall

No abuse of discretion in sentencing, as court did not explicitly rely on prosc. assertion that deft left state to avoid a warrant.

Identity theft sentence for florist living under a false name for fear of the mob generally reasonable.  Bare assertion of indigence unsupported.


http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/18/06/164499P.pdf

Seventh Circuit: Highway J Citizens Group UA v. TRAN

Deference to implicit agency view that road renovation project falls within NEPA exclusion, since agency approved the program.


http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2018/D06-05/C:17-1036:J:Easterbrook:aut:T:fnOp:N:2165825:S:0

Seventh Circuit: John Crane, Incorporated v. Shein Law Center, Ltd.

Insufficient personal jurisdiction over out of state counsel under state long-arm statute where all contacts with forum state were incidental to the litigation.


http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2018/D06-04/C:17-1926:J:Kanne:aut:T:fnOp:N:2165287:S:0

Seventh Circuit: Cheryl Dalton v. Teva North America

Bare statement of diversity of citizenship does not suffice for jurisdiction.

State liability statute required expert testimony on causation; neither a claim of obviousness nor a strict liability theory of claim defeats this.


http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2018/D06-04/C:17-1990:J:Barrett:aut:T:fnOp:N:2165052:S:0

Sixth Circuit: Sunrise Cooperative v. United States Dep't of Agric.

Agency's regulation of benefit plan foreclosed by Chevron step one: although there have been substantial changes in the business entity, the statute unambiguously qualifies the entity as a legitimate recipient.


http://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/18a0104p-06.pdf

Sixth Circuit: United States v. Alejandro Cota-Luna

Court's rejection of plea agreement was an abuse of discretion, as the stated reasons weren't relevant to the defts culpability.  (Deft had no knowledge of the amount of drugs underneath the truck.)

Reassigned on remand.

Concur in J:  legal error in safety valve relief sentencing consideration sufficed for remand.


http://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/18a0103p-06.pdf

Fourth Circuit: Kathy A. Netro v. GBMC

Portion of unpaid state court judgment that plaintiff would eventually have to reimburse to the federal government sufficed for Article III injury for the plaintiff.

Statute, although not formally a qui tam statute, effected a partial assignment of claim sufficient for standing.

Delay in payment of judgment not unreasonable, though.


http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/171597.P.pdf

Second Circuit: US v. Castillo

Government's premature concession that advisory sentencing guidelines residual clause was void for vagueness did not forfeit the claim, as it's a question of law, and the court can decide on its own.

Offense can be defined for purposes of modified categorical review by combining common law, state codes, and MPC.

Recklessness suffices for the mental state when categorizing manslaughter as a crime of violence.

Under modified categorical review, state manslaughter statute is a crime of violence, as even an omission can(?) require recklessness.

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/c03aa681-4808-489f-8380-da2ee3800b29/2/doc/16-4129_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/c03aa681-4808-489f-8380-da2ee3800b29/2/hilite/

Second Circuit: duPurton v. US

New evidence insufficient for coram nobis petition, as it doesn't conclusively establish earlier error.


http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/c03aa681-4808-489f-8380-da2ee3800b29/1/doc/17-151_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/c03aa681-4808-489f-8380-da2ee3800b29/1/hilite/

First Circuit: Potvin v. Speedway LLC

Property owner has no duty to warn where the danger is open and obvious.

Distracting effects of nearby gas pumps waived as not raised below.

Absent evidence of design defects in statutorily mandated safety devices, no duty to remedy any danger they present.

No abuse of discretion in District Court's substitution of one deft for another, given offer to indemnify.

"Longiloquent" apparently a word. 


http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/17-1993P-01A.pdf

First Circuit: Coskery v. Berryhill

Dicta: Deference to agency view that amendment of regulation didn't have retroactive effect.

ALJ's adverse credibility determination can be upheld on other grounds.

ALJ considered appropriately broad range of evidence.


http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/17-1886P-01A.pdf

First Circuit: US v. Melendez-Gonzales

AUMF for the War of Terror sufficed for statutory tolling of the statute of limitations; the indictment might otherwise have been untimely.

Court's instruction that a group of visitors not attend in full military dress did not, for constitutional purposes, close the courtroom.  Challenge to court's subsequent mention in jury instructions waived for not being raised below.

Prosc. witness description of "fraud" not unfairly prejudicial, possible hearsay harmless error.

Sentencing bumps, including uncharged conduct, established by preponderance; longer sentence for deft convicted of fewer counts not unreasonable.


http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/17-1084P-01A.pdf

First Circuit: US v. Lawson

SORNA -- remand for unexplained upward variance in period of supervised release.


http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/17-1084P-01A.pdf