2012 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 1 - 500 of 533
Date: December 27, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1301
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal involved litigation between Coverall North America, Inc. and its franchisees. Proceeding under federal diversity jurisdiction, the franchisees asserted a variety of state-law claims against Coverall. Which of…
Date: December 27, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1460
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff owned a home on Grassy Pond Road in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. The Hopkinton Planning Board granted a developer's application to develop a residential subdivision on a tract adjacent to Plaintiff's land on the…
Date: December 26, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1187
Justia Opinion Summary: Several years ago, Plaintiffs entered into a fifteen-year lease with Defendant's predecessor in interest (Miller). The lease included a purchase option. After Defendant refused to allow Plaintiffs to exercise the…
Date: December 21, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1925, 12-1250
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, a wife and husband, were Chinese nationals. In removal proceedings, Petitioners argued that, if repatriated, they would be subjected to involuntary sterilization. The Immigration Judge (IJ) determined that…
Date: December 18, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1494
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Nancy Shay and the daughter of Defendant Barbara Walters attended boarding school together in the early 1980s. The two of them were suspended in 1983, and Plaintiff was subsequently expelled. In 2008, Walters…
Date: December 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1877
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. Defendant appealed, claiming (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the…
Date: December 14, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-2359, 11-2295
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Michael Powers and John Mahan, who ran an employment agency supplying temporary workers, were convicted after a jury trial of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the functions of the IRS and…
Date: December 14, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1139
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved an insurance coverage dispute arising from charges of sexual harassment brought by a former employee (Employee) against the one-time president (President) of Jasmine Company, Inc. After President filed…
Date: December 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2156
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was charged with five criminal offenses based on the discovery of marijuana plants and pipe bombs in his home. Appellant filed motions to suppress the evidence seized from his home and his statements to law…
Date: December 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1764
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on one count of possessing five or more grams of cocaine base. After his motion to suppress evidence was denied, Defendant entered a conditional plea of guilty and was sentenced to 180 months'…
Date: December 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2231
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, a husband and wife and their son, were citizens and natives of Armenia who were ordered removed from the United States following the denial of their asylum claim in 1997. They resided in the country until…
Date: November 30, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1631
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, there were two shooting deaths, one of a civilian, Liko Kenney, and one of a police officer, Bruce McKay, in Franconia, New Hampshire. Following a traffic stop, Kenney shot Officer McKay four times and ran over…
Date: November 28, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1952, 11-1964, 11-1987, 11-2001
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved legal challenges to recent federal management actions taken in New England's sensitive Multispecies Groundfish Fishery (Fishery). The challenges centered on the promulgation of a new groundfish Fishery…
Date: November 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2290
Date: November 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2346
Date: November 28, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1472
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the governor of Maine violated the First Amendment by removing a large state-owned mural, commissioned by the former administration, from its location on the walls of a small waiting…
Date: November 27, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1456, 11-1455
Justia Opinion Summary: After a three-day trial, a jury convicted Defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm and knowingly possessing a firearm with an altered serial number. Defendant appealed, claiming (1) the district court…
Date: November 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2076
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Appellant on nine counts growing out of a conspiracy to commit armed robbery and the unlawful killing of a guard during a robbery. In an earlier multi-defendant appeal, the First Circuit Court of Appeals…
Date: November 27, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1137
Justia Opinion Summary: This insurance coverage dispute arose from charges of sexual harassment brought by a one-time employee against Appellant, the former president of Jasmine Company, Inc. Appellant sought a defense to and indemnity for the…
Date: November 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1626
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant served several prison terms for sex-related crimes. Before Appellant was released from custody in the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the federal government commenced the effort to have him certified as a sexually…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1326
Justia Opinion Summary: Chapter 11 debtor Redondo Construction Corporation brought an adversary proceeding against the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority (Authority) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1345
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant appealed a judgment of the U.S. district court sentencing him to thirty-three months' imprisonment for failing to register as a sex offender. In calculating a range for his sentence under the sentencing…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1398
Justia Opinion Summary: House of Flavors purchased equipment from Tetra and executed an agreement with Tetra to fund its installation. Under the agreement, Tetra paid for the installation, House of Flavors then transferred ownership of the…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1412
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, Greater Omaha Packing Company (GOPAC) asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate a jury's unanimous finding that GOPAC supplied Fairbank Reconstruction Corporation with E. coli-tainted beef, which…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1430
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed a grant of summary judgment to her former employer in this suit for discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, arguing that the district…
Date: November 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2503
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner's husband was employed by GD Arabia, Ltd. as a military trainer in Saudi Arabia. After he was found dead by asphyxiation by hanging, Petitioner filed a claim for death benefits under the Defense Base Act…
Date: November 20, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1167
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) to 216 months in prison. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district…
Date: November 20, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1245
Justia Opinion Summary: This case required the First Circuit Court of Appeals to explore the parameters of the doctrine of quasi-judicial immunity. The underlying litigation was a will contest turned conspiracy case. The plaintiff prevailed in…
Date: November 16, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1386
Date: November 14, 2012
Docket Numbers: 10-1086, 10-1090, 10-1134, 10-1440
Justia Opinion Summary: An undercover United States Customs Task Force operation involving efforts on land, at sea, and in the air ended with the arrests of Defendants, Saturnino Tatis-Nunez, Cesar Hernandez-De la Rosa, Carols Espinal-Almeida,…
Date: November 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1275
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a bench trial, Appellant was convicted of thirteen counts for crimes involving child pornography. Appellant appealed, challenging various rulings rulings by the district court before and after the trial. This…
Date: November 14, 2012
Docket Number: 12-2049
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested and ordered to be detained on criminal charges. An initial indictment and several superseding indictments followed charging Defendant with several drug offenses. The last indictment was filed in…
Date: November 13, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1884, 11-1885
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a federal prisoner, appealed from the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 petition, which was largely focused on a variety of ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Appellant also appealed from…
Date: November 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2167
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of El Salvador who entered the United States without inspection at the age of seventeen, sought judicial review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying…
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-2346, 11-2290, 10-1593, 10-1275
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties in this case were Plaintiff, Madeleine Candelario del Moral, and Defendant, UBS Financial Services, Inc. of Puerto Rico (UBSPR). The lead issue argued here arose from a Puerto Rico judge's verbal order in a…
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1548
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, entered the United States without inspection. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) later issued Petitioner a notice to appear in removal proceedings. An…
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1996
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant defrauded a number of investors in a series of schemes that used the mails. All told, investors lost about six million dollars. Defendant also laundered money he received from the fraud by buying himself a…
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2290
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2346
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Numbers: 12-1277, 12-1189
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, Starbucks Corporation, accumulated tips from containers along individual stores' cash registers and distributed them weekly to baristas and shift supervisors within a store in proportion to the number of hours…
Date: November 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1510
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was indicted in federal district court on two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Appellant moved to suppress the ammunition as well as inculpatory statements he made in connection…
Date: November 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1617
Justia Opinion Summary: After they were fired from their jobs, Appellants filed suit in federal district court against their former employer (Employer) and against the severance plan (Plan) established by Employer pursuant to ERISA. The…
Date: November 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2329
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty in Massachusetts federal district court to five counts of crack cocaine distribution and one count of conspiracy to distribute. Defendant was sentenced to 121 months in prison and appealed to…
Date: November 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1047
Justia Opinion Summary: Erasmo Rojas-Perez (Rojas), the lead petitioner in this case, and his wife, Angelica Garcia-Angeles (Garcia), sought review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Petitioners, who…
Date: November 2, 2012
Docket Numbers: 12-1129, 12-1174
Justia Opinion Summary: In an effort to reduce costs and achieve greater efficiency, Employer consolidated two lab operations into one, which resulted in a reduction in positions and in a Union losing jurisdiction over lab testing work that its…
Date: November 2, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1473
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was severely injured in a workplace accident and sued Trail King, the custom manufacturer of the trailer involved in the accident. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a jury's finding that Defendant had…
Date: November 2, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1569
Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute between The Saint Consulting Group (Saint) and its liability insurer, Endurance American Specialty Insurance Company (Endurance), stemmed from Endurance's refusal to defend Saint in a lawsuit against Saint…
Date: November 2, 2012
Docket Number: 12-2145
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was an otherwise qualified voter in Puerto Rico who was removed from the voter registration roll because she did not vote in the 2008 general election. Plaintiff filed suit on September 12, 2012, seeking a…
Date: October 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2157
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Defendant of participating in an oxycodone distribution conspiracy, and he received a sentence of 210 months. On appeal, Defendant raised several challenges to his conviction and sentence, the most…
Date: October 31, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1152
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case a corporation abruptly cashiered a member of senior management, which prompted the employee to file suit for age discrimination and retaliation. After a protracted trial, the jury found the employer guilty…
Date: October 24, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1155
Justia Opinion Summary: Mark and Carol Menard appealed from a district court order dismissing their complaint for failure to state a claim and denying their motion to amend the complaint. Mark Menard (Menard) was permanently injured while…
Date: October 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2086
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Guatemala, applied for asylum, asserting that he had fled his native country due to political persecution. After the Department of Homeland Security began removal proceedings against him,…
Date: October 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1432
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant sought review of his conviction on a charge of conspiracy to collect debts by extortionate means and collection of debts by extortionate means. On appeal, Appellant claimed (1) the trial was tainted by the…
Date: October 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2398
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began removal proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) against Petitioner. The notice asserted that Petitioner was removable on three separate grounds…
Date: October 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2500
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Jamaica, was convicted of illicit trafficking - an aggravated felony - and also of an offense under a state law relating to a controlled substance. The Department of Homeland Security…
Date: October 19, 2012
Docket Number: 12-2171
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from the denial of a preliminary inunction, plaintiff labor unions claimed that sections 6.007-.010 of Law 222, Puerto Rico's campaign finance law, placed an unconstitutional burden on the union's First…
Date: October 18, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1473, 11-1476
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties in this case were competing financial institutions operating in Puerto Rico. Plaintiffs (collectively, "Oriental") had for many years used the ORIENTAL mark in connection with advertising, promotion, and…
Date: October 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1476
Date: October 18, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1386
Date: October 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1194
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted for traveling in interstate commerce and then knowingly failing to update his sex offender registration at his destination as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act…
Date: October 16, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1180
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute various controlled substances, including crack cocaine, and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. On…
Date: October 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1334
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted after a jury trial of producing, and aiding and abetting in the production of, a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct using materials mailed, shipped, or transported in…
Date: October 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2276
Justia Opinion Summary: In this adverse employment action, Plaintiff appealed the district court's award of summary judgment to his former employer ("the Company") on his claims of age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in…
Date: October 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2346
Justia Opinion Summary: A federal grand jury in the district of Maine handed up an indictment that charged an elementary-school music teacher with two counts of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. After a…
Date: October 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2237
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Muhammad Saleem Sheikh, a native and citizen of Pakistan, sought review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The order came after the BIA dismissed Petitioner's appeal…
Date: October 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1914
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in the United States district court, Appellant, an attorney, was convicted on bribery, extortion, and conspiracy charges stemming from his involvement in a scheme to purchase the votes of three corrupt…
Date: October 3, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1091
Justia Opinion Summary: This case required the First Circuit Court of Appeals to decide, for the first time, whether section 1101(a)(42)(B), a statute enacted to pave the way for asylum for victims of China's coercive population control…
Date: October 2, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2236
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Juan Colon-Rodriguez was convicted in 2009 on twelve counts of making false statements on Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan applications and one count of defrauding a financial institution. The district sentenced…
Date: October 2, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1013
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract case, defendant DHL Express (USA), Inc. ("DHL") appealed from a judgment on the pleadings for plaintiff C.A. Acquisition Newco LLC ("Newco"). The district court concluded that DHL had…
Date: October 2, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1243
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Ivan Gonzalez-Cancel aspired to run for Governor of Puerto Rico as Partido Nuevo Progresista's ("PNP") candidate in the 2012 general election. When he applied for the job, however, PNP said he was not…
Date: September 28, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1939
Justia Opinion Summary: In this Hague Convention case concerning claims by a motion of wrongful retention in this country of her fourteen-year-old daughter who was in need of emergency psychiatric care, the district court both denied relief and…
Date: September 26, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1386
Justia Opinion Summary: A pipeline owner and a natural gas supplier entered into a contract for the transportation of the supplier's natural gas. The parties later became embroiled in a dispute and submitted their dispute to binding…
Date: September 26, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1414
Justia Opinion Summary: After Mark Jones repeatedly failed to pass an examination to receive a license required by his employer of all persons in that position, by a date of which he had many months' notice, he requested for the first time that…
Date: September 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1294
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted, after a four-day trial, of attempting to kill a federal witness with intent to prevent testimony and communication with law enforcement. Defendant was sentenced to 360 months' imprisonment.…
Date: September 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2174
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Venezuela, sought review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The order upheld both an immigration judge's (IJ) determination that Petitioner's asylum…
Date: September 25, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1031
Justia Opinion Summary: Milford-Bennington Railroad Company, Inc. (MBR) appealed an award of summary judgment to Pan Am Railways, Inc., Boston and Maine Corporation, and Springfield Terminal Railway Company (collectively, "Pan Am") in a dispute…
Date: September 24, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1199
Justia Opinion Summary: The State enacted an Act in 2011 pursuant to which health insurers were required to disclose, upon written request from a public school district, aggregate loss information pertaining to any group policies held by the…
Date: September 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1555
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue in this case concerned a procedural requirement that must be satisfied in order to file suit under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Pursuant to this requirement, a claimant must…
Date: September 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1947
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Loan Modification Group, Inc. (LMG) appealed from a jury verdict awarding $414,000 in damages against LMG for breach of partnership duties and responsibilities owed to Appellee, Lisa Reed. The First Circuit…
Date: September 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2030
Justia Opinion Summary: This putative class action was one of a number of breach-of-contract suits being brought against financial institutions nationwide by mortgagors who claimed that they were improperly forced to increase flood insurance…
Date: September 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2037
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was among a number of homeowners in multiple states claiming that their mortgage companies wrongfully demanded an increase in flood insurance coverage to levels beyond the amounts required by their mortgages.…
Date: September 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2100
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant filed for bankruptcy. Defendant was later charged with bankruptcy fraud on the basis that she failed to include in the bankruptcy petition information related to her past fraudulent use of credit cards that she…
Date: September 19, 2012
Docket Numbers: 10-2243, 10-2266, 10-2313, 11-1130, 10-2350
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants were players in the Boston real estate market. Along with six coconspirators, Appellants devised and executed a mortgage fraud scheme which netted them illegal profits of nearly $2 million between May 2005 and…
Date: September 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1888
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue on this appeal was whether a petition for habeas corpus was timely filed within the one-year limitations period provided by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). The district court…
Date: September 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1775
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jose Romero-Lopez was convicted after a jury trial of money laundering offenses in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956 and 982. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction, holding that there was…
Date: September 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1050
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant appealed his conviction of conspiracy to commit a carjacking and aiding and abetting an attempted carjacking resulting in a death. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the government…
Date: September 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1094
Justia Opinion Summary: The government charged Defendant with one count of interfering with the operation of an aircraft with reckless disregard for human life and one count of making false statements. After a jury trial, the jury found…
Date: September 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1944
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered into a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with a Union under which Defendant remitted contributions to an array of Union-affiliated benefit funds (the Funds). After the Funds commissioned audits of…
Date: September 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2274
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a resident of Massachusetts, challenged the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing claims she brought in November 2009 against the Cadle Company and its corporate sibling CadleRock Joint Venture…
Date: September 7, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2248
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal involved an award of $59,787 in attorney's fees against unsuccessful plaintiffs in a civil rights action against the Municipality of Adjuntas, its mayor, and Plaintiffs' direct supervisors. Plaintiffs argued…
Date: September 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1880
Justia Opinion Summary: Two physicians who contracted with HMOs refused to accept capitation payments in place of fee-for-service payments, so the HMOs dropped the physicians' contracts. The physicians brought constitutional and antitrust…
Date: September 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2247
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought review of an administrative determination sustained by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Petitioner mismanaged various brokerage accounts under his supervision. The original…
Date: September 4, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1089, 11-1091
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee was terminated from his job at a Walgreens store in Puerto Rico after a two-week absence from his job due to a medical condition. Following his termination, Employee and his wife (Wife) sued Walgreens, alleging…
Date: September 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2171
Justia Opinion Summary: On January 4, 2010, an immigration judge (IJ) denied Petitioner's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and withholding under the Convention Against Torture. The board of immigration appeals (BIA) affirmed this…
Date: September 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2179
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs purchased a flood insurance policy from Appellee, American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida. Their policy was issued pursuant to a federal program under which private insurers issue and administer…
Date: September 4, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1185
Justia Opinion Summary: in this trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract case, defendant Chance Mold Steel Co. (Chance) appealed from a permanent injunction and from a jury award of damages. The injunction, based on a finding of…
Date: August 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2294
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire. Appellant appealed, arguing that the district court erred in denying…
Date: August 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2462
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted in the United States district court for his role in a scheme to illegally obtain and distribute prescription drugs. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the district court…
Date: August 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2332
Justia Opinion Summary: Developer and Tenant had done business for many years and had established a template for future transactions. A dispute arose when Tenant forwarded to Developer a commercial lease containing a material term that deviated…
Date: August 24, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2487
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the forty-six-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with his shipping an assault rifle and pistol from Florida to Puerto…
Date: August 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1682
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed from entry of summary judgment against his claims of race-based disparate treatment and of hostile work environment against Employer. Plaintiff's complaint alleged Employer punished him more harshly…
Date: August 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1262
Date: August 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1246
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted for illegally trafficking in sperm whale teeth and narwhal tusks. Specifically, the jury found Defendant's whale-tooth dealings violated CITES, an international compact implemented in the United…
Date: August 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1121
Date: August 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1126
Date: August 20, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1245, 11-1242, 11-1244
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to firearms charges in three cases. The district court, at a consolidated hearing, subsequently sentenced Defendant to a total term of imprisonment of seventy-two months. Defendant appealed, arguing…
Date: August 20, 2012
Docket Numbers: 11-1126, 11-1733, 11-1121
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerned the implementation of a federally-assisted Medicaid program by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, represented by its Secretary of Health. This was the sixth time the First Circuit Court of Appeals…
Date: August 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1419
Justia Opinion Summary: Alas, a citizen of El Salvador, unlawfully entered the U.S. in 2003. In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security began removal proceedings, charging Alas with removability as an alien present without being admitted or…
Date: August 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1753
Justia Opinion Summary: Sumrall pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute over five grams of cocaine base, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B). The government sought to invoke the career offender guideline, USSG 4B1.1(a), which applies…
Date: August 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1650
Justia Opinion Summary: McKenna and his wife, Suzette, refinanced with Wells Fargo, to help pay for his children's college education and granted a mortgage on their residence. On the same day, Wells Fargo provided the McKennas with a disclosure…
Date: August 15, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2042
Justia Opinion Summary: Malley’s former marital house sold shortly before filing his Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and netted more than $250,000, from which he declared under oath that he had received nothing. The trustee believed that $27,000,…
Date: August 15, 2012
Docket Number: 11-9004
Justia Opinion Summary: Sharfarz hired Goguen to build an addition to his house. Despite taking full payment, Goguen never finished the job. Sharfarz had to pay another to finish the work and sued consumer-protection laws, Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: August 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1057
Justia Opinion Summary: Back Bay has operated a health club in Boston since 1995, renting space under a lease that is renewable through 2025. In 2004, a developer purchased the building and obtained a zoning variance to convert the building…
Date: August 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1818
Justia Opinion Summary: Lynch is a highway construction contractor and a signatory of the Construction Industries of Rhode Island's collective bargaining agreement with Local 251, as representative of truck drivers employed by Lynch. Lynch…
Date: August 10, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2211
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on challenges of planting evidence and conducting illegal searches and seizures, officers in the Puerto Rico Police Department were convicted (in different combinations) of conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten,…
Date: August 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1747
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008 Ziegler Holdings purchased the right to civil possession of a beachfront residence in Vieques, Puerto Rico, from plaintiffs and agreed to make monthly payments over four years, culminating in a balloon payment;…
Date: August 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1706
Justia Opinion Summary: Green Mountain owns cellular phone towers and leases space to federally licensed providers of wireless telecommunications services, who mount antennae on the towers to service their cellular networks. Green Mountain…
Date: August 8, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1746
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Edlow agreed to purchase three residential condominium units in RBW's luxury development, consisting of a Residential Unit, a Commercial Unit, and a Hotel Unit. It was anticipated that the Regent Hotel would…
Date: August 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1773
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to possessing counterfeit securities and possessing a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 513(a), 922(g)(1). The presentence report recommended a guideline sentencing range of 70 to 87 months, based on…
Date: August 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1474
Justia Opinion Summary: The Blackstone River runs from Worcester, Massachusetts into Rhode Island. It becomes the tidal Seekonk River, flows into the Providence River, and empties into Narragansett Bay. During the industrial revolution, textile…
Date: August 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1991
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, Cordero began working as an agent in the Internal Revenue Division of the Puerto Rico Treasury Department. Her supervisor, Rodríguez, was brother of the mayor of Mayagüez, who was head of the Popular Democratic…
Date: August 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1043
Justia Opinion Summary: Denson spent about a year in federal prison for mail and wire fraud after he got caught up in a "Nigerian" money scam, 18 U.S.C. 1341 & 1343. After persons in Africa emailed Denson saying that he had inherited the rights…
Date: August 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1262
Justia Opinion Summary: The Eastern Orthodox monastic order began a spiritual affiliation with the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR)in 1965. Although the Monastery concedes it commemorated the bishops of ROCOR…
Date: August 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2110
Justia Opinion Summary: Palmquist, a veteran, injured in a helicopter crash that caused residual brain injury, was entitled to preference in federal employment, 5 U.S.C. 2108(3)(C), 3309(1), 3313(2)(A). The VA hired him as a medical support…
Date: August 1, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1233
Justia Opinion Summary: The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. 2701-2721, establishes a cooperative federal-state-tribal regime for regulating gaming by federally recognized Indian tribes on Indian lands. The Massachusetts…
Date: July 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1236
Justia Opinion Summary: DEA obtained permission to wiretap telephones. Symonevich arranged by phone to buy heroin at McDonald's off I-495. During a call, "Tony," asked Symonevich what kind of car he was driving; the answer was a green Subaru.…
Date: July 30, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1772
Justia Opinion Summary: Fernandes injured his back when he stepped into a hole in the floor of a tire "shed," an old shipping container, which was on property leased by AGAR to Fernandes's employer, Penske Truck Leasing. He sued AGAR on the…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2246
Justia Opinion Summary: Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped petitioner at a New Hampshire checkpoint. She failed to produce valid immigration documents and CBP charged her as a removable alien present in the U.S. without having been…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2363
Justia Opinion Summary: Massachusetts Trooper Patterson, undercover, placed a phone call requesting two $40 bags of crack cocaine and waited for delivery in a truck equipped with concealed audio/video recording equipment. From across the…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2372
Justia Opinion Summary: Crooker was charged with possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), and possession of marijuana, 21 U.S.C. 844. He was convicted of possession of marijuana…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1857
Justia Opinion Summary: In a suit alleging engine defects in Volkswagen and Audi vehicles, the district court awarded $30 million in attorneys' fees to several groups of plaintiffs' attorneys who achieved a class action settlement agreement.…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1921
Justia Opinion Summary: Carta pled guilty to child pornography in 2002 and was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. Prior to his scheduled release, the Bureau of Prisons certified that Carta was a "sexually…
Date: July 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1385
Justia Opinion Summary: Venti’s father received federal Civil Service Retirement System benefits. Venti’s father died in 1990, which should have terminated his benefits. The Office of Personnel Management continued to deposit the CSRS funds…
Date: July 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1686
Justia Opinion Summary: Alvarado began working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1991. His recurrent schizoaffective disorder was first diagnosed in 1992. According to Alvarado, the medication made him drowsy and slowed his work pace, at times…
Date: July 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2022
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers bought and renovated a $1,050,000 row house in the South End of Boston, subject to historic preservation restrictions. In 2003, they learned about a tax incentive program for historic preservation, promoted by…
Date: July 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1492
Justia Opinion Summary: Police received a tip that Howard, a suspected gang member with an outstanding arrest warrant for armed assault with intent to murder, was at a specific house. Officers knocked, announcing themselves as police, and…
Date: July 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2468
Justia Opinion Summary: Gove worked for TDC, which had a contract with Loring. TDC employees were informed that CSD had been awarded the Loring contract and would be providing services previously furnished by TDC. Gove applied online for a CSD…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2431
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, Holmes pled guilty to second-degree murder and received a sentence of life in prison, the mandatory sentence. Mass. G.L. ch. 265, 2. Holmes claims that he pled guilty because his attorney, Graham, told him that…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1479
Justia Opinion Summary: Officers searched a home inhabited by Clark and her adult son, Matthew. The warrant, issued the previous day, authorized a search for evidence of animal cruelty and unlicensed operation of a breeding kennel. Officers…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1489
Justia Opinion Summary: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400-1491, requires that students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible. Sebastian, born in…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1988
Justia Opinion Summary: Cham, a Muslim and a native of The Gambia, immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 and began work in May, 2003, at a gas station/ convenience store. In December, 2004, Cham was injured in a car accident and informed his…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1741
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were employees of subcontractor that provided concrete for Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project, the "Big Dig." The government charged that over nine years, the company knowingly provided concrete that…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1666
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff’s employment was terminated after she exhausted 12 weeks of medical leave and did not return to work. The employer had received a certification of health care provider indicating that she was "not…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2186
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, former directory-advertising sales representatives for Idearc were discharged in 2007. Each was older than 40 and each had at least 18 years of service. Idearc claimed they were let go for poor performance;…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2531
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former trust employee of the Metropolitan Bus Authority of Puerto Rico, sued public officials under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that a decision not to install him in a career attorney position in the MBA was…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2250
Justia Opinion Summary: A substantial portion of Boston Scientific's sales in 2008-2009 were of cardiac rhythm management devices handled by a group within the company devoted to such products. In August 2009, Boston Scientific began an audit…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1726
Justia Opinion Summary: One defendant pled guilty to seven counts of aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C 1028 A, and access device fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1029 (a)(2) and the other was convicted of aggravated identity theft and two counts of identity…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1790
Justia Opinion Summary: Mead was fired from her job as administrator of 15 assisted living facilities operated by IA and licensed by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. She sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983,alleging that her termination…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1129
Justia Opinion Summary: A member of the Boston City Council was convicted of attempted extortion under color of official right (Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. 1951) and three counts of making a false statement to FBI agents, 18 U.S.C. 1001 for accepting…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1290
Justia Opinion Summary: An FBI agent went online, undercover, to search for child pornography, using LimeWire, a commercially available peer-to-peer filesharing program. He used a special version developed by the FBI, known as EP2P, to assist…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2072
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an American company (OneBeacon), claims that a Canadian company, (Aviva), is obligated to reinsure OneBeacon for policies OneBeacon issued to certain entities in the early 1980s. The district court granted…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2193
Justia Opinion Summary: The EPA initiated efforts to remediate contamination at the Rhode Island Centredale Manor Superfund Site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9601-9675 and issued a…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1330
Justia Opinion Summary: An ATF agent obtained a warrant and searched Widi's apartment, which contained a marijuana growing system, ammunition, and firearms. He was convicted of possessing a firearm or ammunition as a prohibited felon, 18 U.S.C.…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1576
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff's decedent was shot and killed by a man wielding a stolen handgun. Plaintiff claimed that the gun owner's negligent storage of the weapon and his failure timely to report its theft proximately caused the…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1640
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, a father and children, natives of Honduras, entered the U.S. without inspection in 1991. The father, who had uncovered tax fraud as an auditor in Honduras, sought asylum in 1992, claiming death threats. DHS…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2120
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sought damages resulting from a delayed delivery of perishable food items from Puerto Limón, Costa Rica to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The district court dismissed as time-barred by the statute of limitations in the…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2511
Justia Opinion Summary: The Belfast Project collected taped interviews of the recollections of members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the Provisional Sinn Fein, the Ulster Volunteer Force, and other paramilitary and political…
Date: July 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1663
Justia Opinion Summary: HSN sold through its website and television station about 70,000 "Esteban" guitars that it identified, inaccurately, as containing Fishman pickups. Esteban is the performance name used by musician Paul who, with his…
Date: July 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2031
Justia Opinion Summary: Over seven days in 2009, Ocean Bank authorized six apparently fraudulent withdrawals, totaling $588,851.26, from an account held by Patco, after the perpetrators correctly supplied Patco's customized answers to security…
Date: July 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1979
Justia Opinion Summary: The government sued the Haags to reduce tax liabilities ($1,620,224) to judgment. Mrs Haag asserted entitlement to "innocent spouse" relief 26 U.S.C. 6015(b)(1)-(2),(f)). The Haags brought a separate claimthat they had…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2213
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy or both, and other federal crimes, incident to years of participation in a criminal organization responsible for a large illegal gambling operation. The…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1864
Justia Opinion Summary: Quiles visited the federal courthouse in Puerto Rico to verify the status of civil cases he had filed pro se. Disgruntled that his cases had been dismissed and by his inability to obtain counsel, he dressed in a shirt…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1260
Justia Opinion Summary: After the government disclosed new information regarding its confidential informant, Rigaud moved to suppress evidence recovered in 2006 during the execution of a search warrant and sought an evidentiary hearing to…
Date: June 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1105
Justia Opinion Summary: After the company began to fail, plaintiffs, co-founders and shareholders of Environamics, which designed, manufactured, and sold pumps and sealing devices, sought investors to satisfy its debt. SKF learned that…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1737
Justia Opinion Summary: Ayala was born in 1957, shortly after Guatemala's president was assassinated. The decades that followed were tumultuous, with guerilla violence common until peace arrived in 1996. Her family suffered two deaths and two…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2300
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, FSRO filed a Demand for Arbitration against Fantastic Sam's Franchise Corporation, on behalf of its members, who are franchisees, holding individual license agreements with Fantastic Sams. FSRO alleged that the…
Date: June 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1444
Justia Opinion Summary: Aponte, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was admitted to the U.S. as a Lawful Permanent Resident in 1996. In 1999, she pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance. After she sought to reenter in 2003, DHS…
Date: June 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1535
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Portuguese national, was admitted into the U.S. in 1984 as a lawful permanent resident. Roughly a quarter-century later, Massachusetts authorities charged him with shoplifting and larceny, arising out of…
Date: June 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1291
Justia Opinion Summary: The Southeastern Massachusetts Gang Task Force obtained warrants to arrest Roderiques, age 16, for drug trafficking and to search for cell phones and paperwork relating to cellular phone ownership at a house that…
Date: June 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1393
Justia Opinion Summary: Starski claims that he had a business relationship with a Vietnamese enterprise (Sovico) and sought to facilitate a $1.5 billion debt swap between the governments of Vietnam and the Russian Federation; that Starski…
Date: June 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2217
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers, who incurred tax liability as a result of a failed business, had transferred real estate to a trust for the benefit of family members. The IRS determined that, with accrued interest, their indebtedness exceeds…
Date: June 19, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1889
Justia Opinion Summary: During 2000-2002, defendant and co-defendant were associated in five instances of depositing large bad checks (one for $15,000,000) in three different bank accounts (the one at issue in the name of a defunct…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1404
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff worked for the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. In 2006, Bonilla, PRPA's executive director, named the plaintiff to a trust position within the PRPA. At the time, the Popular Democratic Party held power in Puerto…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1614
Date: June 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1491
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, convicted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute multi-kilogram quantities of controlled substances, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 846. The First Circuit affirmed, rejecting various…
Date: June 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2106
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007-2008, Textron made public statements assuring investors of the strength and depth of the backlog of orders to carry it through difficult economic times. In January 2008 an officer referred to "unusually low…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1985
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff contracted to sell a furniture business to Mendoza in 2004. Westernbank provided partial funding and obtained a first mortgage. To secure a deferred payment of $750,000, Mendoza signed a mortgage in favor of…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2075
Justia Opinion Summary: The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles sought proposals from contractors to print and send registration renewal notices along with advertisements to raise revenue to defray costs. RMV would provide the contractor…
Date: June 1, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1092
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010d Goergen pled guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of children, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a). Over several years, Goergen arranged for and took still pictures and videos of three minor girls engaged in explicit…
Date: June 1, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1975
Justia Opinion Summary: After defendant had sexually-explicit online communications with a detective, posing as a 14-year-old, the detective researched defendant’s criminal history, which included convictions for public lewdness and disorderly…
Date: May 31, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2214
Justia Opinion Summary: Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, 1 U.S.C. 7, denies federal economic and other benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts and to surviving spouses from those couples, by defining "marriage"…
Date: May 31, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2247
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was a police officer with the Puerto Rico police force from 1991 until September 2007, shortly after he was indicted on charges of conspiracy to engage in robberies (Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. 1951(a)). At his trial,…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1506
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001 the Hotel hired plaintiff as a casino worker. Approximately six years into his employment, he filed a charge of sex and age discrimination with the EEOC. In his complaint under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-3(a),…
Date: May 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1302
Justia Opinion Summary: The trooper saw a minivan with what appeared to be a glinting blue light, like those mounted behind the windshields of police cars. Because Maine law prohibits such lights on civilian vehicles, the trooper gave chase…
Date: May 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1711
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Moldova, was admitted to the U.S. in on a non-immigrant cultural exchange visa. 2006. Instead of departing, he applied for asylum, citing his Roma descent and his membership in Moldova's…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2170
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2171
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2172
Date: May 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1578
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated negligence actions under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. 51, against two railroad defendants, a former employee, alleged cumulative, or wear-out, injuries to the neck, knees, left elbow…
Date: May 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2208
Justia Opinion Summary: Oxford contracted with Airlarr, to work on Airlarr's airplane at an estimated cost close to $70,000. The work was complete in 2007 and, in 2010, Airlarr sued for breach of contract, breach of express and implied…
Date: May 16, 2012
Docket Number: 08-1547
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute one or more kilograms of heroin, 21 U.S.C. 841, 846, and conspiracy to import one or more kilograms of heroin into the U.S., 21 U.S.C.…
Date: May 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2385
Justia Opinion Summary: FBI agents executed a search warrant at an apartment; the search was one of six that day involving an alleged domestic terrorism plot by "Los Macheteros," an organization dedicated Puerto Rican independence that has been…
Date: May 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1226
Justia Opinion Summary: A grower, having sold table grapes to defendant, obtained a reparation order of about $ 70,000 under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930, 7 U.S.C. 499a. The district court dismissed an appeal for failure…
Date: May 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2251
Justia Opinion Summary: A worker, injured at a construction site while working for a subcontractor, sued the developer. The developer submitted the claim to the insurer, which obtained a declaratory judgment that it was not required to…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2170
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001 BPPR sought a declaratory judgment under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101 after several music publishing companies contacted BPPR claiming that they owned and were owed royalties on music compositions that BPPR…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2171
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2172
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1217
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Vixamar and Saintfleur pled guilty to passport fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1542 and were sentenced to home confinement and probation. Vixamar agreed not to work at any healthcare job that gave her access to patient…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1614
Justia Opinion Summary: During the early 1990s, debtor Redondo entered into three construction contracts with the Authority: the Patillas project, construction of a bridge and access road; the Dorado project, replacement of a different bridge;…
Date: May 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1847
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Brazil, entered the U.S. without inspection in 1994 with his wife. They had two children, both U.S. citizens, then separated. In 2006 petitioner kicked open the door to his wife’s house, broke…
Date: May 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1917
Justia Opinion Summary: Jones started working for Walgreen in 1986. In 2004, she slipped on ice in front of a Walgreens' office. In March 2005, while on medical leave, Jones informed her supervisor that she hoped to return to work with…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1182
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered an Internet chat room that was being watched by an undercover law enforcement officer and offered the officer access to his pornography collection through a peer-to-peer file sharing program. Using his…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1412
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, the city purchased a house, built before 1978, to provide storage. The seller provided a lead paint inspection report, based on a 1996 inspection, indicating the presence of lead-based paint. When the city sold…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2301
Justia Opinion Summary: A doctor filed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 3729, against Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and doctors, claiming violation of the Act by including false statements in…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1195
Justia Opinion Summary: Training, simulating an arrest, took place at a police facility in San Juan without certified trainers. A requirement that weapons be emptied was not enforced and the highest-ranked officer gave the order that…
Date: May 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2053
Justia Opinion Summary: A proposed consent order from an FTC investigation indicated that U-Haul attempted to implement a scheme to collude with competitors, Budget and Penske, to raise prices for truck rentals. The FTC concluded that U-Haul's…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2277
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff's doctor prescribed, for shoulder pain, sulindac, a non-steroid anti-inflammatory, under the brand-name Clinoril; her pharmacist dispensed generic sulindac. She developed a hypersensitivity reaction, toxic…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1180
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1982, Jimenez was convicted of the parolable offense of second degree murder for killing a police officer and simultaneously acquitted of murder in the first degree, conviction of which would have carried no…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1504
Justia Opinion Summary: PRTC and T-Mobile entered into an interconnection agreement under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in 1999 and into a second agreement in 2001. The agreements provided that certain intrastate access services provided…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1889
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Hong Kong, came to the U.S. in 1999 and overstayed his visa. In 2010, an immigration judge ordered him removed after determining that he was ineligible for cancellation of removal because he had…
Date: April 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1208
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, convicted of first degree murder in Massachusetts, exhausted state appeals. No physical evidence linked him to the crime, but circumstantial evidence included his threats to kill the victim, testimony that the…
Date: April 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1559
Justia Opinion Summary: Puerto Rico has classified Coors as a large brewer under its beer tax schedule, taxed at a higher rate than small brewers, including local brewer Cervecería India. In 2006, Coors brought suit challenging this…
Date: April 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2257
Justia Opinion Summary: Aresty International Law Firm deposited a check for $197,750.00 from a Citibank-held account into a Citizens Bank-held account, received clearance to transfer the funds from Citizens, and instructed Citizens to wire the…
Date: April 25, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1545
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Cambodia, entered the U.S. on a non-immigrant visitor visa, overstayed, and timely applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. An immigration…
Date: April 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1329
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs are a dissident group, within a larger class of medical patient consumers in a case alleging fraud in overcharging for the medication Lupron. The patients, along with insurers and private health care…
Date: April 19, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2513
Justia Opinion Summary: While engaged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy action, the debtor brought claims against government officials and a police officer, seeking damages for an allegedly illegal search of his property. He did not amend his…
Date: April 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1073
Justia Opinion Summary: Named plaintiffs sought to represent potential classes of hospital employees, some covered by collective bargaining agreements and others not, claiming that they were deprived of compensation for work performed during…
Date: April 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1929
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, seeking to represent a class, alleged failure to compensate them for work performed during their meal break and before and after shifts, and for time spent attending training sessions, in violation of the…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1994
Justia Opinion Summary: Valerio, a citizen of Costa Rica, entered the U.S. illegally in 1991. Her companion paid $500 to obtain a birth certificate and Social Security card in the name of Rosa Hernandez, a person living in Puerto Rico. For…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1815
Justia Opinion Summary: For 20 years, George was a clerk-magistrate. In 1995, he was charged with conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 371, 1343, 1346 for selling blank search warrants, used to commit robberies. George…
Date: April 16, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1849
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs had a longstanding feud with neighbors, based on plaintiffs' "botanical menagerie" that served as a sanctuary for wild parrots. A marker tree spanned the boundary between the plaintiffs' and the neighbors'…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1847
Justia Opinion Summary: Castaneda, a Peruvian officer, was accused of participation in a massacre during Peru's conflict with the Shining Path guerrilla movement. He was acquitted of charges in Peru, but his name was associated with the…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2086
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, then 19, was arrested on an outstanding warrant. Upon searching him, police found bags containing small amounts of cocaine base and marijuana. He was charged with possession of cocaine base with intent to…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1750
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner entered the U.S. in 1988 as a visitor, overstayed, and, in 1990, married María, a fellow Colombian. The couple had two children before separating in 1995. In 1996, petitioner's father sought an immigrant visa…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1589
Justia Opinion Summary: UPRLS hired plaintiff as an assistant professor, with possibility of tenure after five years. During her probation, plaintiff, with a male professor, worked in the school's Legal Aid Clinic. Plaintiff's co-teacher had a…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1628
Justia Opinion Summary: GMG contracted with Amicas to develop and license computer programs to accept information from a radiology patient management system established by Sage and send information to a billing system established by Sage. The…
Date: April 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1069
Justia Opinion Summary: Former Massachusetts state senator Wilkerson, pleaded guilty to attempted extortion (18 U.S.C. 1951) based on her acceptance of money in exchange for favorable influence in her official capacity on issuance of a liquor…
Date: April 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1713
Justia Opinion Summary: After pleading guilty to stealing firearms and possessing stolen firearms, defendant received a sentence of 54 months' imprisonment, based, in part, on a finding that he qualified as a "prohibited person" who, because of…
Date: March 30, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1191
Justia Opinion Summary: Chen, a citizen of the People's Republic of China, entered the U.S. without inspection in 1996. In 1997, the INS instituted removal, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Chen sought political asylum and withholding of…
Date: March 30, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1426
Justia Opinion Summary: In August 2004, MMC began to look into filing a tax refund claim for reimbursement of FICA made on behalf of its medical residents in 2001. In March 2005, MMC discussed the matter with its accountants. On April 15, 2005,…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1447
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff began working for the police department in 1986. Although he was a member of NPP, one of Puerto Rico's two major political parties, he received promotions while NPP's main rival, PDP, dominated the executive…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1501
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a police department employee, made claims of sexual harassment and emotional abuse. The district court issued a scheduling order, closing discovery as of November 18, 2010. When defense counsel encountered an…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1634
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an Orthodox Jew, is serving a life sentence for murder without the possibility of parole, sought a transfer back to the prison in which he was previously held. Before the transfer, he regularly participated…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1657
Justia Opinion Summary: Companion was authorized to license space in Wal-Mart stores to companies that sell durable medical equipment and entered into licensing agreements with defendants. In 2007, defendants shut down operations. Companion…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1984
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury convicted defendant as a felon in possession of a firearm, the trial judge learned that a pocket-sized New Testament Bible was found in the jury deliberation room. The judge notified defense counsel, who…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2418
Justia Opinion Summary: OSHA fined the employer, a public works contractor, $33,700 for violations of safety regulations relating to the excavation of a trench. The “cave-in” provision, 29 C.F.R. 1926.652(a)(1) requires protective measures,…
Date: March 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1347
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff owned land near lots intended for development. The Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority planned to condemn most of plaintiff's land, in aid of the development. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss the…
Date: March 23, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2091
Justia Opinion Summary: Husband established two "multi-level marketing" companies (pyramid schemes) that supposedly sold health and dietary supplements, but actually sold very little. Wife recruited new members, primarily from an immigrant…
Date: March 23, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2184
Justia Opinion Summary: A disabled child, born in 1996, was a student in the Sutton public school system from 1999 until 2005, when his parent were dissatisfied with the individualized education program developed under the Individuals with…
Date: March 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1078
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Morocco, entered the U.S. in 2001 on a nonimmigrant visa. He overstayed and married a citizen in 2004. In 2006 the two had an argument that involved a physical altercation. Wife had to have brain…
Date: March 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1430
Justia Opinion Summary: An employee crashed a Verizon truck and admitted to snorting heroin earlier that day. When his supervisor visited his home to have paperwork completed, the encounter became hostile. Verizon fired him. He filed a…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1894
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base and ecstasy, 21 U.S.C. 841(a), 846. Due to prior state drug possession convictions, he was sentenced to life in prison. The…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2168
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a 60-year-old pro se plaintiff, received notice that his three appeals would be dismissed unless he paid fees or filed a request to proceed in forma pauperis. He called the clerk's office and stated that he…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1597
Justia Opinion Summary: A three-mile public recreational trail runs through 32 acres owned by the state and is used, in part, to access the state-managed Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area. In 1961 Maine purchased the land with federal…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1831
Justia Opinion Summary: Debtor had unsecured liabilities of almost $15,000 and anticipated disposable income of about $100 per month. He visited an attorney, who indicated that he would not file a Chapter 7 proceeding until the debtor paid the…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1830
Justia Opinion Summary: Debtors engaged the attorney to represent them in bankruptcy proceedings. They owed more than $115,000 in unsecured debt with no realistic prospect of payment. In a retainer agreement, he estimated that legal fees plus…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1208
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, petitioner a citizen of El Salvador, attempted to enter the U.S. without authorization and was placed in removal proceedings, where he initially denied that he was removable. He sought asylum, withholding of…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1460
Justia Opinion Summary: Siblings have previously filed multiple lawsuits in the Puerto Rico Commonwealth courts, claiming that under Puerto Rico inheritance law they were the rightful owners of property, including a farm and sugar mill. Each…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1589
Justia Opinion Summary: Vicor manufacturers electronic equipment, including power converters. Ericsson designs, manufactures and sells electronic equipment, including radio base stations (RBSs) used to operate cellular telephone towers and…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1616
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of Jordan, entered the U.S. with his family in 1997, when he was eight years old. In 2009, removal proceedings were initiated and petitioner conceded removability but applied for asylum, withholding…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2132
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was born and raised in Ethiopia in an influential family in the Oromo ethnic community. His relatives were active in the Mecha Tulema Association, outlawed by the Ethiopian government in 2004, and were…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1101
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, MDS purchased a vessel and executed a note in favor of FirstBank, secured by a preferred ship mortgage, under an agreement that required that they maintain insurance. In 2009, Customs and Border Protection…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1156
Justia Opinion Summary: Convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), defendant appealed his conviction and sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). The First Circuit affirmed, upholding denial of…
Date: March 15, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1436
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1175
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner,a citizen of Guatemala applied for special rule cancellation of removal under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, 111 Stat. 2160. An Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration…
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1477
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff began working as a letter carrier in 1980. In 1987, she tripped at work and injured her back. Her workers' compensation claim was allowed and she began to work four hours a day instead of eight. Plaintiff could…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1656
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Bangladesh, entered the U.S. in 1992 with his wife and son. They overstayed their visas. A daughter was born in 1993 in Los Angeles. Ten days later, petitioner filed an application seeking…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2413
Justia Opinion Summary: PBA is a commonwealth-created public corporation that plans and maintains of physical facilities related to government services. During a reorganization, PBA's board eliminated some positions and created new ones.…
Date: March 8, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2177
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, hired as a technician in 2000, transferred to sales in 2001. In 2006, he informed his supervisors and that he had become a Seventh Day Adventist and had a religious obligation to abstain from work on…
Date: March 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1025
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was 16 years old at the time of the 1986 shooting deaths of two men, but after a hearing in juvenile court, he was transferred for adult criminal proceedings. His first conviction was vacated in 1992. He was…
Date: March 5, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2428
Justia Opinion Summary: During his trial for the 1986 shooting death of an acquaintance, defendant unsuccessfully urged the jury to find that someone else could have shot the victim, that the killing was accidental, or that he had been too…
Date: March 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1665
Justia Opinion Summary: While walking through defendant's supermarket, plaintiff felt a sensation, as though he could not lift his foot, which caused him to lose balance and fall to the floor. No one witnessed the incident, observed anything…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2669
Justia Opinion Summary: After running from police, defendant was arrested and convicted of possessing an unregistered short-barreled shotgun in violation of the National Firearms Act. 26 U.S.C. 5861(d), 5871. He appealed, arguing that the…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2434
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a plea of guilty to 17 counts of transportation, distribution, and possession of child pornography, through use of the internet. The First Circuit rejected his appeal of denial of a motion to suppress.…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1034
Justia Opinion Summary: For 30 years, GE manufactured electric capacitors containing Pyranol, an insulation containing PCBs and stored scrap in drums. It sold the scrap to Fletcher, who used it as a paint additive. Fletcher purchased more than…
Date: February 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1897
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Rhode Island resident and employee of Safety, a Massachusetts corporation, was driving one of Safety's vehicles in Massachusetts as part of her job and was seriously injured in an accident caused by the…
Date: February 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1983
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant sells brokerage and investment products and services, typically to registered broker-dealers and investment advisers that trade securities for clients. One of its services, NetExchange Pro, an interface for…
Date: February 24, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1820
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant,convicted of 21 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against his two stepchildren, four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of indecent exposure and lewdness, exhausted direct…
Date: February 24, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1728
Justia Opinion Summary: After both plaintiff and her employer purported to terminate plaintiff's employment contract, the employer sought a declaratory judgment in the court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, concerning a release that it…
Date: February 24, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1913
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and to possess it with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(ii), and 846. The First Circuit affirmed, finding that the evidence was…
Date: February 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1337
Justia Opinion Summary: An 11-year-old child suffered long-term horrific abuse and, in 2005, was beaten nearly to death by her adoptive mother and stepfather. The child's legal guardian, brought suit against Carson Center and one of its…
Date: February 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1140
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Finding that he had three prior violent felony convictions, the district court imposed a 15-year sentence, the mandatory minimum sentence under the…
Date: February 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1216
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner is serving a life sentence in a Massachusetts state prison for first-degree murder. The state's highest court affirmed the conviction. A federal district court denied habeas relief. The First Circuit affirmed,…
Date: February 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1436
Justia Opinion Summary: A class representing purchasers of securities sued the company and two high-ranking officers, alleging that the company issued false or misleading public statements about demand for its products in violation of the…
Date: February 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1562
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was injured in 2007 while driving an automobile insured under an ASIC policy that indemnifies against injuries caused by negligent uninsured or underinsured motorists. After determining that the tortfeasors…
Date: February 16, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1353
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant arrived in the U.S. in 1985, at age three. He became a lawful permanent resident and submitted an Application for Naturalization (N-400). He orally went through the form at a Citizenship and Immigration…
Date: February 16, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2234
Justia Opinion Summary: The owner consulted with two architectural firms, T-Peg and VTW. T-Peg drew up a preliminary design then worked with the owner to refine the design. In 2001, T-Peg registered its design with the Copyright Office. …
Date: February 14, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1648
Justia Opinion Summary: More than 7,000 named plaintiffs brought suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), 2671-2680, asserting injuries because of the U.S. Navy's alleged negligence in emitting pollutants during military…
Date: February 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2053
Justia Opinion Summary: Peoples Federal, a community bank that operates exclusively in Eastern Massachusetts, was chartered in 1888 and became a federally insured savings and loan in 1937. It has used the term "Peoples" in its name and service…
Date: February 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1437
Justia Opinion Summary: Having lost his bid for a Maine Senate seat, plaintiff sued Republican party leadership for defamation libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and publicly placing him in a false light. The complaint…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1146
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant owned and operated a beauty salon in downtown Boston that was lightly damaged by a fire in 2005. Investigators concluded that defendant had set the fire in order to collect insurance proceeds, and he was…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1026
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs' father was killed in an auto accident when the driver of a vehicle in which he was a passenger, attempted to flee police officers. Asserting federal constitutional and state tort claims, plaintiffs filed suit…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1505
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, a new owner purchased the hotel and employed plaintiff, an employee since 1985 as executive housekeeper. Patel was the general manager; their relationship began to deteriorate in 2003. Plaintiff attributes the…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1511
Justia Opinion Summary: The "Big Dig" highway project, built largely with federal funds, has transformed vehicular travel in Boston. Defendant supplied concrete and, on occasion, secretly substituted substandard material for the concrete…
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2240
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought separate suits alleging unlawful retaliation by their corporate employers, which are private companies that act as contract advisers to and managers of mutual funds organized under the Investment…
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2433
Justia Opinion Summary: Following vacation of his original sentence for conviction as a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), and remand for resentencing, the district court sentenced defendant to a 10-year term. The First…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2286
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner entered the U.S. in 1992 without being admitted or paroled and filed an affirmative asylum application, asserting that he had been persecuted and had a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of his…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2357
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Guatemalan national, entered the U.S. illegally in 1997. DHS initiated removal about 10 years later, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). She applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1160
Justia Opinion Summary: After being extradited from Columbia, petitioner was convicted in federal court for his part in a drug conspiracy. He twice sought relief under 28 U.S.C. 2255, without success. He then sought relief under 28 U.S.C. 2241…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1196
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit previously rejected claims that Maine's laws regulating political action committees were unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Plaintiffs then challenged the law applicable to ballot question…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 08-1887
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, the doctor sued his employer (a hospital) in a Puerto Rico court, alleging that the hospital had discriminated against him because of his age. In 2004, one day after he was deposed in connection with that…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1702
Justia Opinion Summary: Airline insurance (USAUI) issued to Pace covered certain risks assumed by Pace in contractual arrangements with other companies, which generally consisted of charter programs. The policy referenced "legally obligated to…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2370
Justia Opinion Summary: A federal jury awarded Fortin $125,000 in damages against a police officer after finding that the officer negligently used force in arresting Fortin in 2007. In a post-judgment ruling, the district court reduced the…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1214
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Brazilian national, entered the U.S. illegally in 2006 and was apprehended by DHS, which initiated removal proceedings, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). Sh conceded removability and sought asylum and other…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1649
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was arrested for obstructing a police officer. Charges were dropped; he brought an action against the officers involved, alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. 1983. A jury ruled in favor of one of the officers.…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: 08-2292
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to two counts involving unlawful possession of ammunition and a firearm, a Glock Model 27, which is .40 caliber handgun capable of operating as a fully automatic machine gun (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1),…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1037
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, serving two life terms for first degree murder, exhausted state appeals and was denied habeas corpus. His trial counsel had conceded that petitioner committed the shootings, but attempted to establish…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1084
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, born in El Salvador, entered the U.S. illegally in 2006. The Department of Homeland Security brought removal proceedings, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). He conceded removability and filed an application for…
Date: January 20, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1969
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted conspiracy to distribute narcotics and possession with intent to distribute narcotics as a result of their participation in a drug point that operated within a public housing project in Guayama,…
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