2013 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, property owners, filed an action against Defendant, a bank, alleging eleven counts of state law violations for Defendant’s decision to deny Plaintiffs’ application for a loan modification under the Home…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in a Massachusetts state court, Petitioner was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Massachusetts Appeals Court (MAC) affirmed. The federal district court granted…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Albania, entered the United States illegally using a fraudulent passport. After Petitioner was charged with removal, Petitioner conceded his removability but filed an application for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess, possession of, and use of counterfeit access devices. Defendants appealed the denial of their motion to suppress evidence obtained in connection with the stop and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen of Nigeria, entered the United States using a false name and fraudulently obtained visa. After the government commenced removal proceedings, Petitioner filed for withholding of removal and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, entered the United States illegally and was charged with removability. Petitioner conceded removability but requested relief in the form of asylum, withholding of removal, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in Portland, Maine, Defendant was convicted of illegally distributing a substance containing a cocaine base. The district court sentenced Defendant to twenty years incarceration, the maximum jail term…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants in this consolidated appeal were gang members who were involved in a deadly drug conspiracy in Puerto Rico. Each Defendant was indicted for conspiring to possess and distribute illegal drugs within 1,000 feet…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was charged with aiding and abetting the depredation of federal property resulting in damage in excess of $20,000. Specifically, Appellant and two other defendants were accused of approaching the local office…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the People's Republic of China, was charged with being subject to removal. Petitioner conceded removability. Petitioner subsequently submitted an application for asylum, withholding of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought several claims against Defendant, her former employer. Several claims were dropped or dismissed, and only two discrimination claims went to trial. Plaintiff obtained a jury verdict in her favor on her…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered the United States from Ghana and received permanent legal resident status pursuant to a diversity visa. Five years later, Defendant applied for a diversity visa under the false name Willberforce Appiah.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant obtained a loan from a Bank for a home equity line of credit secured by a second mortgage on her home in Rowley, Massachusetts. Appellant later sold her home but did not notify the Bank of the sale. Appellant…

Justia Opinion Summary: When Plaintiff retained a Maine law firm to represent him in a legal action, he signed an attorney-client engagement letter that contained an arbitration provision. Plaintiff later sued the law firm and individual…

Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Travers worked as a skycap for Flight Services & Systems, Inc., a company that provides services to airlines, including JetBlue. Travers filed a putative class lawsuit against JetBlue and Flight Services, alleging…

Justia Opinion Summary: To shield himself from the adverse effects of losses while speculating in high-risk securities, Joseph Caramdare exploited a perceived loophole in certain annuities issued by Appellant. Charles Buckman accepted a cash…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of sending threats to injure another across state lines. Defendant appealed, arguing that the district court gave incorrect jury instructions on the meaning of…

Justia Opinion Summary: For several years, Defendant was engaged in a fraudulent scheme to obtain computer parts from several computer companies. After obtaining the computer parts, Defendant sold the parts online for profit. After a jury…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed two amended qui tam actions against her employer, a pharmaceutical company and its subsidiary (collectively, Appellees), under the federal False Claims Act (FCA), alleging that Appellees failed adequately…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Homeland Security instituted removal proceedings against Petitioner, a Guatemalan national, who had entered the United States without inspection. Petitioner applied for withholding of removal,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, entered the United States without admission or parole. In 2005, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service charged Petitioner as removable. After a hearing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1969. In 2008 and 2009, Petitioner pleaded nolo contendere in state court in two separate…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a sales representative who had CVS as a client at Allied Printing Services and at his subsequent employment at Strine Printing Company (SPC). While working for Allied, Plaintiff had surreptitiously helped…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, the jury returned a conviction finding Defendant guilty of wire fraud and mail fraud. The district court upset the conviction and ordered a new trial, concluding that the government's closing argument…

Justia Opinion Summary: The United States filed suit against Kathleen Haag and her husband seeking to reduce to judgment federal income tax liabilities for several years. The district court granted summary judgment to the United States,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this bankruptcy proceeding involving a turnover action and a revocation action, the bankruptcy court ruled (1) Debtor failed to maintain his profit-sharing plan in substantial compliance with applicable tax laws,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime pursuant to a plea agreement that contained a waiver-of-appeal provision. Appellant was sentenced to sixty months' imprisonment and a…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, four former San Juan Municipal Police Department officers (Appellants) were convicted of several charges arising from the excessive use of force against a citizen who was beaten to death while in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Springfield enacted two local ordinances that imposed new legal duties on (1) property owners to maintain property during the foreclosure process and provide a $10,000 cash bond per foreclosure to the City,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the FBI obtained a criminal complaint and warrant for Appellant's arrest. Several criminal charges were brought against Appellant, including sending letters to public officials threatening murder. The warrant…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder in state court. Petitioner's conviction was upheld on appeal. Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff invented the "Whirlwind" technology for cutting tools. Defendant sought to purchase the Whirlwind technology from Plaintiff. The two men signed a letter of intent that memorialized the parties' mutual intention…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Appellant pled guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Appellant was sentenced to a prison term plus supervised release, but the district court later revoked Defendant's term of supervised…

Justia Opinion Summary: Because Munce's Superior Petroleum Products, Inc. (MSPP) failed to comply with a state court order compelling it to bring its facilities into compliance with New Hampshire environmental law, $194,220 in contempt fines…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, natives and citizens of Russia, overstayed their visas and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). An immigration judge (IJ) denied Petitioners'…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted in 2012 for possession of a firearm by a felon based on his prior predicate conviction in 1995 of a state felony. Defendant moved to dismiss the count, arguing that he could not be classified as a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), Maine obtained federal funding to strengthen local workforces. Plaintiff was the executive director of the Local Area I Workforce Investment Board (LWIB). Plaintiff…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a plumbers and pipefitters union ("the Union"), which established employee benefits plans. Among the pension benefits promised to Union employees were "banked hour" benefits, which were retroactively…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a thirty-seven-day jury trial, Appellant was convicted of four terrorism-related counts and three counts premised on allegedly false statements and sentenced to a 210-month term of immurement. Defendant appealed,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Cadlerocks Centennial Drive, LLC entered into a loan secured by a mortgage on its property. Daniel Cadle executed a personal guaranty on the loan. The original lender subsequently assigned the mortgage and related…

Justia Opinion Summary: Verizon New England, Inc. ("Verizon") had a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with Local 2327, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO (the "Union") that was originally signed in 2003. When, in 2008,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant sued the United States for the negligence of its employees at the commissary at Fort Buchanan in Puerto Rico after she slipped and fell while strolling through one of the aisles. Appellant premised her action…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, entered the United States illegally. Petitioner later sought relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), asserting that he was likely to be tortured by gang members…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen and native of El Salvador, was an ex-member of a violent criminal street gang based in the United States. After Petitioner was charged as removable, Petitioner conceded removability and applied for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The district court sentenced Appellant to ten years in prison, finding that Appellant was responsible for a drug quantity that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was a bondholder who acquired German Agra Bonds issued in 1928. Under a 1953 treaty, the courts of the United States could be used for enforcement of Agra Bonds only under certain conditions, requiring prior…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Guatemalan national, applied for withholding of removal and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) commenced removal proceedings…

Justia Opinion Summary: After removal proceedings were instituted against Petitioner, a native and citizen of Ecuador, Petitioner conceded his removability but applied for withholding of removal and for protection under the Convention Against…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Kmart Corporation and Sears Holdings Corporation (collectively, Kmart), bringing a federal claim of racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. 1981 and a pendent state law claim of negligent…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted in Massachusetts Superior Court of first degree murder by reason of extreme atrocity or cruelty. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a school, was sued by two of the school's donors who sought a return of a monetary gift to the school, claiming that the gift had been induced by misrepresentations. The case settled, and Plaintiff sought…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, minors who were born with permanent brachial plexus injuries, sued through their mothers and next friends, alleging separately that their injuries were caused by the application of excessive traction during…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, natives and citizens of Albania, entered the U.S. in 2001 but ultimately overstayed their visas. Conceding their removability, Petitioners filed applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Smith, a schizophrenic trash collector, was induced into acting as a straw buyer for two overvalued residential properties in Massachusetts. Smith sued various entities and individuals involved in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the Chairman of the Trustees of the Rhode Island Bricklayers Benefits Funds (the Funds), sued Union Stone Inc., alleging that Union Stone had failed to pay the full amount of fringe benefit contributions due…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff faced foreclosure on her home mortgage after having fallen behind on her payments. The notice of foreclosure that Plaintiff received did not come from her lending institution but from a bank that had purchased…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was a former teacher in the town of Dracut, Massachusetts public schools. During the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, Appellant failed to appear at school. Appellant subsequently applied for Family…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was insured under three homeowners' policies issued to his parents (the Zamskys) by Plaintiff. Each policy covered a separate parcel of residential real estate owned by the Zamskys and required Plaintiff to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Brazilian citizen, entered the United States illegally. Petitioner then began working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to identify sellers of fraudulent immigration documents. Due to…

Justia Opinion Summary: On August 6, Appellant was arrested in Maine and charged by the State for firearm-related crimes. On August 26, the United States ("government") charged Appellant with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant sold home theater systems manufactured by Plaintiff, Bose Corporation, for use in the U.S. to customers abroad. Defendant, who was not an authorized reseller or distributor of Bose products, sold the systems…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon. The district court determined that Petitioner had two prior felony convictions for a crime of violence and a controlled substance offense and accordingly…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother, an Egyptian citizen, acted in violation of a court order when she, together with her two children, boarded an EgyptAir Airlines Company flight to Cairo, Egypt. The father of the children and Mother's former…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff refinanced his home mortgage and entered into a refinancing loan and mortgage agreement with IndyMac Bank, which assigned the mortgage to OneWest Bank. The mortgage was serviced by IndyMac Mortgage Services…

Justia Opinion Summary: A federal law enforcement officer made a lawful traffic stop of Appellant, but by the time the officer stopped Appellant, he and Appellant were outside the jurisdiction in which the officer was authorized to make…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Providence, Rhode Island enacted two ordinances to reduce tobacco use by young people. The Price Ordinance restricted the City's tobacco and cigarette retailers from reducing prices on tobacco products…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was a criminal defense attorney that represented a client in a criminal case relating to the discharge of sewage into public waters. After trial, the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the client's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued the servicer of his loan (Bank) in a putative class action, asserting that the Bank's requirement that he maintain flood insurance coverage in an amount sufficient to cover the replacement value of his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent was involved in lengthy removal proceedings that culminated in her filing of a motion to reopen with the immigration judge that raised ineffective assistance of counsel and due process claims. The Board of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit promotional money laundering pursuant to a plea agreement. Defendant stipulated to the amount of money laundered and received a prison sentence within the range of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant stole his older brother's identity to obtain five fraudulent mortgages. Defendant subsequently pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of identity fraud pursuant to a plea agreement. Under to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of the Dominican Republic, pled guilty in state court to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The Department of Homeland Security later ordered Petitioner's removal.…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of several drug offenses. Defendant was resentenced by the district court on remand. Defendant appealed the resulting sentence, claiming that the district court failed to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a pharmacist, accepted payments from "Internet pharmacy sites" for whose customers Defendant's employer, a mail-order pharmacy, filled orders. Eventually, Defendant was indicted on charges related to these…

Justia Opinion Summary: Brian Harnett worked as an account executive and salesman for Corporate Technologies, Inc. (CTI), which provided Harnett information technology solutions to sophisticated customers. When Harnett was hired, he signed an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was employed by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, LLC as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) group leader. In 2008, Plaintiff, member of the U.S. Navy, was called to active duty. During Plaintiff's tour of duty,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a teacher in the Manchester-Essex Regional School District until he was informed by the District Superintendent's intention to terminate his employment for inappropriate sexual conduct toward a student.…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a Hampton Inn & Suites renovation and construction in Rhode Island. Stonestreet Construction, as the construction manager and general contractor, entered into a construction contract with Weybosset…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff's property was insured by a standard flood insurance policy (SFIP) issued by Allstate Insurance Company, a private insurer participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Allstate issued…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on a single count of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. That same day, law enforcement officers interviewed Defendant at a proffer session, which was held pursuant to a written proffer…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to an eight-count federal indictment including charges of child pornography and using an interstate facility to attempt to persuade a person under eighteen to engage in a sexual act. After Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff began working for INSEC in 1988. In 2003, employees under her charge began complaining of misconduct, mistreatment, and abuse. INSEC responded with progressive disciplinary sanctions, ultimately terminating her…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Yaman children, ages 10 and 11, have lived with their mother since 2004, having lived with both parents before that. The mother and children have lived in the U.S. since 2010, but the habitual residence of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Monserrate and Figueroa were convicted of participating in a conspiracy to commit armed robbery on armored trucks in Puerto Rico, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1951(a) and were sentenced to 72 and 54 months' imprisonment,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Rosario, a member of the "Los Dementes" drug trafficking organization in Cataño and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. 846, and possession with intent to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Cano, a 40-year-old citizen of Colombia, was admitted to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident in 1981. Following a 1992 conviction for shoplifting and a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon in 1997, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Lie, a Christian and ethnic-Chinese citizen of Indonesia was charged with removability as a noncitizen who overstayed his visa. He conceded removability, but applied for asylum and withholding of removal. In…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, was convicted of unlawfully transferring a firearm around the same time that the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against him. An…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Ghanaian national who entered the United States without inspection, conceded removability after immigration authorities initiated removal proceedings. Petitioner sought adjustment of status under 8 U.S.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff borrowed money from Countrywide Financial and secured the loan with a mortgage on real property. The recorded mortgage was assigned to the Bank of New York Mellon (BONY), which also held the note on Plaintiff's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant in this case was a franchisor and Plaintiffs were its franchisees. After Plaintiffs sued Defendant, the district court certified a class, excluding those franchisees whose agreements with Defendant contained…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, Congress passed a statute known as the "stop-time rule," which provides that a noncitizen's years of physical presence are cut off when he is served with notice of the commencement of removal proceedings.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, Hotel Melia, Inc., operated the Hotel Melia in Ponce, Puerto Rico since at least the 1890s. Defendant, however, never registered the mark "Melia" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Plaintiff…

Justia Opinion Summary: After losing his job as a stockbroker and financial advisor and his accompanying health insurance, Appellant applied for and received subsidized health insurance for several years. Russell represented on each application…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an experienced real estate developer, defaulted on his personal-guaraty obligations after obtaining a loan for his limited liability company with a "materially false" personal financial statement (PFS).…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants Salvatore DiMasi, the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and Richard McDonough, a lobbyist, were convicted of several crimes, including honest-services fraud and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The parties in this case were a group of chess players and their opponent, the Puerto Rico Chess Federation. The chess players filed suit against the chess federation in Puerto Rico court, alleging violations of their…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Immigration and Nationality Act establishes that an individual "who entered the United States as a crewman" after 1964 is ineligible for cancellation of removal. Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant, a corrections officer, was convicted of drug and weapons charges for providing security for a drug transaction orchestrated by the FBI as part of a sting operation. The First Circuit Court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, Jimmy Carrasquillo-Rodriguez (Carrasquillo) and Jesus Pabellon Rodriguez (Pabellon), were convicted on drug and gun charges arising from a reverse sting operation set up by Drug Enforcement Administration…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was placed on disability leave from work. Appellant was covered under a long term disability (LTD) policy that her employer obtained from Medical Group Insurance Services (MGIS). The policy was written by Sun…

Justia Opinion Summary: Puerto Rico law operated to cause hundreds of thousands of motor vehicle owners to pay twice for liability insurance. Commonwealth law declared motor vehicle owners to be entitled to a refund of the excess premiums paid,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Plaintiffs refinanced their home by means of a loan from Downey Savings and Loan Association (Downey), a federal insured financial institution. In 2008, Plaintiffs' monthly loan payment doubled. Later that year,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, entered the United States illegally in 2000. Petitioner later admitted removability but sought cancellation of removal under section 203 of the Nicaraguan and Central…

Justia Opinion Summary: For nearly twenty years, Plaintiff, Condominium Associations, and several IDC development entities disputed the ownership and use of certain property in Rhode Island. IDC Properties constructed and Defendant, IDC…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute heroin, possessing with the intent to distribute heroin, conspiring to import heroin, and importing heroin into the United States. Defendant was…

Justia Opinion Summary: A New Hampshire court issued a warrant to search Defendant's home after a state trooper submitted a supporting affidavit detailing the trooper's suspicion that Defendant's home contained a marijuana grow operation. Based…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the People's Republic of China, sought asylum and withholding of removal. The immigration judge (IJ) denied relief and ordered Petitioner removed to China. The board of immigration…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Massachusetts corporation engaged in international asset recovery operations, filed a complaint against Defendants, the Republic of Ukraine and some of its agents and instrumentalities, for, inter alia,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, conceded the charges of removability for entering the United States by fraud and for remaining in the United States beyond the period of his authorized stay. The immigration…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Defendant, her former employer, alleging that Defendant fired her in retaliation for her hemorrhoids-induced absences in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Pakistan, filed an application for asylum and withholding of removal in which he also sought protection under the Convention Against Torture, alleging he was eligible for relief…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants - Santos-Rivera, Diaz-Correa, and Carrasquillo-Ocasio - were convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute drugs and drug possession for their rule in a criminal…

Justia Opinion Summary: About thirty years ago, the Municipality of Mayaguez and Corporacion Para el Desarrollo del Oeste (CPDO), a local development corporation, executed a contract under which Mayaguez ceded parcels of land to CPDO with the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Knowles owned rental property in Clinton, Massachusetts that was mortgaged with Fidelity Co-operative Bank (Fidelity) and insured by Nova Casualty Company (Nova). In 2008, a tropical storm brought heavy rain that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, current and former employees of Boston Medical Center (BMC), brought this wage-and-hour action against BMC, BMC's former president and COE, and BMC's former senior human resources officer, alleging that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the People's Republic of China, filed an asylum application in 1997. An immigration judge (IJ) denied Petitioner's application. The board of immigration appeals (BIA) dismissed…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Kenya, married a U.S. citizen in 2002. The couple divorced in 2006. Later, Petitioner Petitioner filed a Form I-751 petition to remove the conditions on his residency. Petitioner did…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff terminated Defendant from employment. Thereafter, Defendant began arbitration proceedings seeking severance compensation he felt was contractually due. After arbitration hearings had commenced, the hearings…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sought to open a Victoria's Secret franchise and sought assistance from Richard Domingo, an employee of Rekomdiv International. At the recommendation of Domingo, Plaintiff retained the law firm of Venable, LLP…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a native of Russia, assumed the name, identifying information, and life history of Fionghal MacEoghan for more than twenty years. After law enforcement officials discovered Defendant's appropriation of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of Senegal and a citizen of Guinea, filed an application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The immigration judge (IJ) denied Petitioner's application and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of carjacking resulting in death. After a penalty phase hearing, the jury recommended that Defendant be sentenced to death on both counts. The district court imposed a sentence of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and his company (Defendants) borrowed money from Trust by executing promissory notes in favor of Trust. One note said it was governed by Massachusetts law, and the others said they were governed by New York…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the withdrawal liability for a pro rata share of unfunded vested benefits to a multiemployer pension fund of Scott Brass, Inc. (SBI), a bankrupt company. SBI had withdrawal pension obligations to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, was placed in removal proceedings. Petitioner sought filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture, seeking…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Springfield passed an ordinance creating a single-parcel historic district encompassing a church owned by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield (RCB). Under the ordinance, RCB could not make any changes…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the Office of Professional Responsibility of the Department of Justice found Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn and others had withheld exculpatory information from two federal criminal defendants…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff served as the human resources director of two Puerto Rico governmental agencies. Plaintiff resigned one position and was terminated from the other. Plaintiff sued her former supervisors under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was charged with being a possession of a firearm and moved to suppress the firearm seized from him during a traffic stop. The district court denied the motion without a hearing, concluding that the seizure was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm without a plea agreement. Defendant so pleaded without reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress the firearm. Defendant was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a nonbinding plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to participating in a widespread drug-trafficking conspiracy. The district court sentenced Defendant to serve eighty-seven months in prison. Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of willfully damaging federal property, creating a hazard on federal property, and creating a nuisance on federal property after he badly soiled a federal courtroom. Defendant appealed, arguing…

Justia Opinion Summary: At the time of the criminal conduct at issue, Defendant was a twenty-nine-year-old physician and resident in psychiatry whose special interest was adolescent psychiatry. After pursuing a sexual relationship with a…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Defendant sold crack cocaine to an FBI confidential informant, the police searched her home. Based on the evidence obtained from the search, Defendant was convicted of three drug-related offenses and sentenced to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant attempted to smuggle approximately $543,000 from Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic. United States Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested Appellant and seized the cash, and Appellant was convicted after a…

Justia Opinion Summary: ROK Builders LLC (ROK) constructed a hotel for Moultonborough and had a mechanic's lien on the property. 2010-1 SFG Venture LLC (SFG) was the assignee of the construction lender and had a mortgage on the hotel. After…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner arrived in the United States more than twenty years ago seeking political asylum based on alleged persecution he suffered at the hands of a guerrilla organization that had the aim of overthrowing the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed suit against Appellee, an oil company, seeking to compel Appellee to remediate environmental contamination at a gas station he owned. After Appellee allegedly conceded that it would clean up Appellant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a judge issued a warrant for Plaintiff's arrest, Plaintiff was arrested. A magistrate judge ordered Plaintiff detained pending trial and transferred him to a federal prison, where he was incarcerated for nearly…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, entered the United States without inspection. After the United State initiated removal proceedings against him, Petitioner applied for relief in the form of asylum,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Verizon New England, Inc. was a party to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with six electrical workers unions. After Verizon and the unions were unable to reach a new agreement before the CBA expired, the union…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was withdrawing money from an ATM when Tortfeasor struck her with his car. Tortfeasor was insured under a policy written by Insurer to a limit of $100,000 for bodily injury to one person. Plaintiff and several…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed the district court's denial of his motion to suppress the firearm, arguing that it was obtained through an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was admitted to the United States as a permanent resident on a conditional basis based on her marriage to a United States citizen. After she divorced, Petitioner's status as a conditional permanent resident…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Plaintiff was suspended, he was discharged from his employment with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). An arbitrator ruled that the MBTA had lacked just cause to terminate him, and the MBTA…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, lawfully entered the United States as a visitor but overstayed his visit. Petitioner later conceded removability and sought relief in the form of asylum and withholding of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs commenced this action in federal district court challenging the constitutionality of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) use of Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) body scanners and enhanced…

Justia Opinion Summary: Sunarto Ang and his wife Tuti Erlina, citizens of Indonesia, overstayed their visas and applied to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for asylum. The DHS subsequently charged And and Erlina with removability. Ang…

Justia Opinion Summary: Doctor, a licensed podiatrist, was driving alone in her husband's vehicle when she was injured in a collision caused by an underinsured motorist. Doctor sought payment from Peerless Indemnity Insurance Co. and Peerless…

Justia Opinion Summary: These consolidated appeals comprised two putative class actions brought by skycaps affiliated with two major airlines. After Defendants, the airlines, each introduced a $2 per bag fee for curbside service for departing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was a native and citizen of the People's Republic of China. In 2002, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upheld the denial of Petitioner's application for asylum and withholding of removal. In 2011,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was a citizen and native of Jamaica who entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident. A decade later, Petitioner pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny in the state of Connecticut. The Department…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine and cocaine base and possession of cocaine base. The district court sentenced Appellant to 262…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant signed a loan agreement with Bank for a line of credit for his business (Business). Appellant later defaulted on the loan, and Bank brought a collection action against Appellant, his wife, their conjugal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Defendant appealed, asserting that he did not understand the criminal intent required as an element of the crime and that the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, who stopped paying their mortgage in April 2010, filed this try title action challenging the authority of Defendant U.S. National Bank Association to foreclose on their home pursuant to a March 2011…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant subsequently applied for postconviction relief, alleging that the prosecution failed to turn over…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pruco Life Insurance Company sought rescission of a life insurance policy, owned by the Paul E. L'Archevesque Special Revocable Trust on the life of Paul L'Archevesque, after it discovered that the policy application…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants in this case were a Puerto Rico legislator and a Commonwealth businessman who were charged with unlawfully exchanging favorable action on legislation for a trip to Las Vegas to attend a prize fight. After a…

Justia Opinion Summary: From 1999 to at least 2007, Defendant illegally downloaded and distributed copyrighted music without authorization. In 2007, a group of recording companies (collectively, "Sony") filed this action against Defendant under…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of seventeen counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Appellant appealed, arguing (1) the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, Lebanese citizens, were raised Muslim. While visiting the United States in 2005, Petitioners converted to Christianity. When they returned to the Ivory Coast, where they were living at the time, Petitioners…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a Jordanian national who entered the United States illegally. Once Plaintiff was placed in removal proceedings, he married his first cousin, a marriage that lasted one year. Plaintiff subsequently married…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint against polystyrene food service packaging manufacturers and two trade associations, claiming that Defendants refused in concert to deal with Plaintiff in a recycling business…

Justia Opinion Summary: While fleeing from the United States Coast Guard, Claimant and his crew tossed more than $8 million into the Caribbean Sea. The Coast Guard subsequently recovered the currency. The government filed this action seeking to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a female, brought federal and state claims alleging gender discrimination against the Town of Dennis, Massachusetts, the Town golf course, and several individuals after the golf course refused to let Plaintiff…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, Baldwin and Gladys Ihenacho, were the owners and operators of a neighborhood pharmacy. Defendants were convicted of dispensing and shipping drugs to customers pursuant to invalid online prescriptions for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of first degree murder. Appellant subsequently commenced this action under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking information from the FBI he believed would exonerate him. The government…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in this consolidated interlocutory appeal were defaulted mortgagors of Rhode Island real estate. Defendants were the corresponding mortgagees, Plaintiffs' agents or assignees, who allegedly held Rhode Island…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a company that sold aviation fuel at a Puerto Rico airport. Plaintiff filed this action Defendants, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA), Airport Aviation Services (AAS), and employees of those entities,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a prior suit, Appellees obtained a state court judgment against Appellant, Boston Property Exchange Transfer Company (BPE), for Defendant's financial misconduct. At the time of that judgment, BPE was about to begin…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerned the decade-long litigation of Relator's qui tam action against Defendant for alleged violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA). The claims arose from Defendant's efforts to promote the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against Defendant, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, alleging that, in retaliation for Plaintiff's anti-regulatory stance, Defendant used his oversight powers to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was terminated from his employment with Employer, ostensibly for his failure to properly investigate, document, and ameliorate the misconduct of an employee under his supervision. The termination occurred just…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with failing to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. After a competency hearing, the district court found that Defendant was mentally incompetent and committed him to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Boston College (BC) undertook research into the armed conflict surrounding the independence movement of Northern Ireland during the second half of the Twentieth Century. BC compiled extensive personal interviews and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved an insurance-coverage dispute governed by Massachusetts substantive law. Plaintiffs filed a claim with their insurance company after a storm caused a pile of soil to slide down a hill and into and over…

Justia Opinion Summary: When a tire company closed its plant in Puerto Rico, it offered its employees severance pay contingent upon the execution of general releases. Plaintiff, a former employee of the company, accepted the severance package…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, on behalf of the United States, brought a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (FCA) against Guidance Corporation and Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC), alleging they engaged in a kickback scheme to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a disparate screening claim in the U.S. district court alleging that she arrived at the emergency department of Hospital with an emergency medical condition as defined by the Emergency Medical Treatment…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a non-binding plea agreement, Defendant pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy with intent to distribute controlled substances. The district court imposed a 210-month incarcerative sentence after applying a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Pakistani native, fled Pakistan in 1993 as a result of threats against him from a subsidiary of the ruling Pakistan Mulsim League. Petitioner entered the United States as a non-immigrant visitor in 1999 but…

Justia Opinion Summary: CVS Corp. and Caremark Rx Inc. merged in 2007, creating CVS Caremark Corporation. In 2010, Plaintiffs filed this putative class action against CVS Caremark and certain of its current and former employees. The complaint…

Justia Opinion Summary: In an attempt to avert the foreclosure of her home, Plaintiff sought to modify the terms of her mortgage pursuant to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), a federal initiative that incentivizes lenders and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a police dispatcher with the Town of Camden Police Department for thirty-one years until his department was eliminated and he was laid off. In the year following Plaintiff's termination, at least two…

Justia Opinion Summary: The police, after seizing a cell phone from Defendant's person as part of his lawful arrest, searched the phone's data without a warrant. Based on information obtained from the cell phone, Defendant was charged with…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a thrice-convicted felon, and his confederates attended a backyard barbecue at which firearms were openly displayed. They subsequently reconvened at the scene of a planned robbery. The robbery was never…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to eight years' incarceration after she pled guilty to various crimes committed during her sixteen years on the run with wanted fugitive, James "Whitey" Bulger. Defendant challenged her sentence…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an employee of Defendant, filed claims against Defendant for unlawful employment retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Plaintiff alleged that she was subject to several adverse employment…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were five limited partnerships that owned multifamily housing rental projects in Maine. Plaintiffs entered into housing assistance payments (HAP) contracts with the Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing)…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute fifty grams or more of cocaine base, five kilograms or more of cocaine, one or more kilograms of heroin, and an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant received a life sentence for his role in a large-scale drug operation that sold heroin, crack, cocaine, and marijuana at a public housing project in Puerto Rico. Appellant pled guilty to several drug offenses…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an insurance company, filed an equitable action in the U.S. district court for Rhode Island seeking a declaratory judgment that a life insurance policy was rescinded ab initio due to the fraudulent…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted in the District of Massachusetts of aiding and abetting the making of a false claim against the United States in connection with his 2008 federal income tax return. Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: When Appellant's factoring business began experiencing serious financial troubles, Appellant allegedly defrauded a number of lenders to obtain more money to resolve her financial problems. After a government…

Justia Opinion Summary: This federal case sought confirmation of an arbitration award made at the first, non-liability stage of arbitration as to a contract, and which was filed approximately one month after the arbitral opponents had filed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant purchased nonrecourse notes (Notes) in the amount of two million dollars, issued by the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust Fund (PRCTF). The Notes were not registered under the Securities Act based on an exemption…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted in Massachusetts state courts on two counts of unarmed robbery and sentenced to concurrent terms of fifteen to twenty years' imprisonment. Defendant filed a motion for a new…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, who uses a wheelchair, was on the premises of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in San Juan when he was injured. After filing an administrative claim, Plaintiff sued the United States under the Federal Tort…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. Defendant was sentenced to a ten-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment based on the trial court's finding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was a probationary public employee of the Town of Smithfield, Rhode Island. The Town hired Appellant on the condition that he obtain his building official certification. After Appellant failed to obtain the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. At issue on appeal was whether the sentencing court erred in applying a two-level…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possessing child pornography. The district court sentenced Defendant to a term of imprisonment and supervised release and ordered Defendant to pay $3,150 in restitution to a…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of conspiring to commit wire fraud and committing wire fraud for his participation in a wire fraud scheme. Appellant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment followed by…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine and sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment to be followed by a supervised term of release. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in all…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the New Bedford district court entered a default judgment against Plaintiff, a resident of New Bedford, Massachusetts and an employee of the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department), in a suit filed by Law…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possessing firearms as a convicted felon, possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and using a stolen identity to purchase those firearms. The First Circuit…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants purchased nonrecourse notes (Notes) in the amount of two million dollars, issued by the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust Fund (PRCTF). The Notes were not registered under the Securities Act based on an exemption…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native-born citizen of the People's Republic of China, entered the U.S. without admission or parole. Six months later, Petitioner filed an affirmative application for asylum and withholding of removal,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Somascan filed suit against Philips Medical Systems, alleging that Philips had misrepresented the capabilities of the medical equipment it sold to Somascan and that the medical equipment did not meet the appropriate…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff applied for a special permit to open an adult entertainment establishment within an industrial district. By the terms of a City ordinance, adult entertainment was forbidden on sites within an industrial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant worked in a doctor's office in Maine first as a billing clerk and then as a billing manager. When Defendant began running the billing process on her own, she started carrying out an "upcode" scam wherein she…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a convicted sex offender, moved from the District of Columbia to Massachusetts without complying with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Defendant was subsequently arrested and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was hired by Employer in 2000 and began working as part of a five-person sales team. In 2009, Employer reduced the sales team to two employees and terminated Defendant. Plaintiff was fifty-five years old at the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an instructor in graphics who did not have a Ph.D., was denied a tenure-track position at the University of Puerto Rico. Three others, all of whom had Ph.D.s as the description required, did receive…

Justia Opinion Summary: This suit arose from a 2010 change to the certification and enrollment process for providers in the Commonwealth's Supplemental Educational Services program, funded under federal law. Appellant, a certified educational…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, applied to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for registration to manufacture marijuana for clinical research. An ALJ recommended that the DEA granted…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first degree murder based on extreme atrocity or cruelty. The jury rejected Defendant's insanity defense. After unsuccessfully filing a motion for a new trial and a motion…

Justia Opinion Summary: This action arose out of Plaintiffs' alleged breach of a conservation restriction appurtenant to their Hudson, Massachusetts home. Plaintiffs and members of the Hudson Conservation Commission clashed over Plaintiffs'…

Justia Opinion Summary: The United States Postal Services (USPS) terminated Plaintiff's employment contract after discovering, through a sting operation, that Plaintiff had stolen mail containing money. The Postal Service Board of Contract…

Justia Opinion Summary: Relator brought a federal False Claims Act (FCA) suit against Millennium Laboratories of California (Millennium) and several physicians, alleging that Millennium encouraged physicians to bill the government multiple…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, four defendants (Defendants) were convicted of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute narcotics and one count of conspiracy to use or carry firearms in furtherance of a drug…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was a Marine Corps veteran who worked as a civilian employee with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Defendant was convicted of fraud in connection with his own receipt of veterans benefits. Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: A federal grand jury indicted Defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant moved to suppress the gun on the ground that the search that resulted in the discovery of the gun derived from an unlawful…

Justia Opinion Summary: After exhausting her administrative remedies, Plaintiff, together with her husband and their conjugal partnership, sued Employer under Title VII, alleging sex discrimination in the form of hostile-work-environment…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant purchased a stolen handgun. Two days later, Defendant returned the gun in exchange for the money he paid. Based on the time he possessed the weapon, Defendant was indicted and convicted of one count of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who had a 1994 conviction for criminal sexual assault, failed to register as required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) when he moved to Puerto Rico in 2010. Defendant also had…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the former proprietor of a now-defunct bar and restaurant in Wrentham, Massachusetts, sued the Town of Wrentham and several town officials, alleging that Defendants maliciously imposed excessive regulatory…

Justia Opinion Summary: Aetna, Inc. filed a coordinated complaint with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (together, Kaiser) and Guardian Life Insurance Company (Guardian) against Pfizer, Inc. and Warner-Lambert…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal by Harden Manufacturing Corporation and others (together, Harden plaintiffs) arose from multidistrict litigation concerning the off-label marketing of Neurontin, an anticonvulsant drug manufactured by Pfizer,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (together, Kaiser), Aetna, Inc. and Guardian Life Insurance Company (Guardian) filed a coordinated complaint against Pfizer, Inc. and Warner-Lambert Company…

Justia Opinion Summary: Former employees (Plaintiffs) of a failed bank taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sued Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR), a bank that subsequently acquired the failed bank's…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellants were each convicted under 18 U.S.C. 1347 and 1349 for making fraudulent claims to, and obtaining payment from, insurance companies participating in Massachusetts' no-fault automobile…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a vehicle pursuit, an officer of the Yarmouth, Massachusetts Police Department shot and killed Andre Martins. Plaintiff, individually and as administratrix of Martins' estate, brought a civil rights action against…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was Puerto Rico's controlled access law, which authorized gated communities, called urbanizations, which could control access to public streets within their confines. In 2004, Appellants, religious…

Justia Opinion Summary: Biolitec, Inc. (BI), a U.S.-based subsidiary of Biolitec AG (BAG), sold medical equipment to Plaintiff AngioDynamics, Inc. (ADI) and agreed to indemnify ADI or any patent infringement claims. Patent infringement claims…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed this ERISA action against Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (Sun) after Sun reduced his disability payments under an ERISA-qualified plan (Plan) because he was also receiving disability compensation…

Justia Opinion Summary: Four corporations acknowledged they owed the federal government more than $24 million in taxes and penalties, but before the IRS could collect its dues, the corporations transferred all of their assets to other entities.…

Justia Opinion Summary: During Appellee's chapter 13 bankruptcy, Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) filed a proof of claim based on Appellee's allegedly unpaid student loans. Appellee objected to the claim because she believed her…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, her son Kyle, and Kyle's girlfriend Catherine lived together. In 2008, Kyle was the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident in New Hampshire. Defendant was among the police officers who responded to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Brothers Thomas and Michael Tessier allegedly swindled brothers Frederick and Thaddeus Jakobiec and the estate of their mother out of millions of dollars. This lawsuit covered the Tessiers' theft of almost $100,000 in…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, federal agents, acting without a warrant, placed a global positioning system (GPS) tracker on a car used by Craig Sparks. The agents located the car at the scene of a bank robbery and chased down the car on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was granted conditional permanent residency in the U.S. on the basis of her marriage to a U.S. citizen. Petitioner and her husband then began divorce proceedings. Petitioner subsequently sought to remove the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an Egyptian-American, filed a workplace discrimination suit against the Mohegan Council, Boy Scouts of America alleging that he was denied career advancement opportunities on account of his religion of Islam…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were former employees of the Puerto Rico Administration of Juvenile Institutions. After an election that produced a regime change, Plaintiffs were ousted from their positions, notwithstanding solid…

Justia Opinion Summary: A drug interdiction in Caribbean waters by the United States Coast Guard ended with the arrest and indictment of multiple defendants, including Appellant. The Coast Guard determined that the vessel was "without…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, both Chinese nationals, shipped tens of millions of dollars worth of sophisticated electronic components from the United States to China with little regard for whether the parts they sold were…

Justia Opinion Summary: James "Whitey" Bulger was the leader of a criminal organization in Boston from 1972 to 1999. An indictment returned by a federal grand jury charged Bulger with a number of federal offenses, including violations of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to one count of importing codone. The guilty plea was based on an incident in which, based on tips from three confidential informants (CIs), federal agents apprehended Defendant at the Canadian…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant bought a custom-made yacht with the help of a loan from Barclays Bank. When Defendant stopped making payments on the loan, Barclays repossessed the yacht and sold it pursuant to the Florida UCC. Barclays got…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a plea of guilty to distributing cocaine base pursuant to a binding plea agreement. More than seven months later, Defendant filed a motion to vacate his guilty plea, which the district court denied. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought two citizen enforcement actions under the Clean Water Act (CWA) against Defendants pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 1365(a). The suits were dismissed without prejudice due to defects in the service or contents of…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of bank burglary. In sentencing Defendant, the district court applied a sentencing guideline intended for cases of robbery, rather than the burglary guideline Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an international affairs specialist at the Puerto Rico State Department, filed a complaint against the Department, ten of its employees, the Commonwealth (collectively, the State Department defendants), and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for drug-trafficking charges. Through a succession of court-appointed attorneys, Defendant filed motions to suppress certain evidence and to dismiss the indictment on speedy trial grounds. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Matrix Construction Co. was a South Carolina corporation with its principal place of business in South Carolina. Matrix was the general contractor on a project to renovate schools in South Carolina. Matrix hired Contract…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were United States citizens injured in a 1997 terrorist attack in Jerusalem that Hamas orchestrated. Plaintiffs sued the Islamic Republic of Iran, alleging that Iran had provided material support to Hamas and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (Count One), distribution of a controlled substance, and possessing and providing contraband to a…

Justia Opinion Summary: An investigation of gang-related drug trafficking by the FBI led to the arrest of Appellant, a key supplier of crack cocaine in his community. Defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from the behavior of Appellant, an attorney, during a case in which he made accusations against opposing counsel. After the trial in the case, the trial court held that sanctions were warranted because…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, Massachusetts residents, bought a three-dwelling in Massachusetts, financing the entire purchase price with two mortgage loans from Plaza Home Mortgage (Plaza). After the collapse of the housing market,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts submitted an environmental impact statement (EIS) with its relicensing application in 2006. Before relicensing occurred, an earthquake and tsunami occurred off the coast…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty in a New York court of assaulting his wife Megan and sentenced to time served. At approximately the same time, the court entered a protection order prohibiting Defendant from approaching or…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, an engineer for battery producer Electric Vehicles Worldwide (EVW), was convicted of submitting false invoices and conspiring to defraud the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in connection with federal…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Plaintiff refinanced the mortgage on her single-family home in Massachusetts. Plaintiff's promissory note was delivered to one party (the lender) and then transferred. The mortgage itself was granted to a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a warrant, federal agents searched Defendant, a suspected drug dealer, in his apartment in Warwick, Rhode Island, where the agents found drugs and drug paraphernalia. After Defendant consented to a search of…

Justia Opinion Summary: William H. Kopke, Jr., Inc. (Kopke) brought an administrative proceeding pursuant to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against The Alphas Company, Inc. (Alphas), alleging that Alphas had accepted…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a pro se complaint against two entities she claimed illegally foreclosed her home once she defaulted on her mortgage payments. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Leonard Giguere served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Giguere was injured in a landmine explosion, causing a hernia that affected the arrangement of some of his internal organs. Four decades later, Giguere…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Ecuador, entered the United States without being admitted or paroled. When Petitioner was placed into removal proceedings, she applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were several dismissed or demoted employees of the State Insurance Fund Corporation, a public corporation that administered Puerto Rico's workers' compensation program. Before the adverse employment actions…

Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute about the payment of a penalty imposed on them by the IRS arose out of Plaintiffs' underlying joint personal income tax liability for the tax year 1994. After the IRS audited Plaintiffs for that year, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a nurse working for Employer, was injured during a horseback riding accident. Plaintiff's employment was later terminated. Plaintiff filed a complaint against Employer, alleging Employer retaliated against her…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought this putative class action under sections 11, 12, and 15 of the Securities Act, alleging that a prospectus and registration statement (the offering documents) issued by AMAG Pharmaceutical, Inc. in…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of violating and conspiring to violate the federal wire-fraud statute, a law that criminalizes a scheme to defraud involving an interstate-wire communication. Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: A Massachusetts corporation and its principals sued their quondam accountant and his firm (collectively, Defendants), alleging that Defendants negligently advised them to file amended corporate and personal tax returns…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Petitioner pled guilty to conspiracy-to-commit larceny stemming from a scheme in which Petitioner stole from the dorm rooms of his college classmates. At the time, Petitioner was a lawful permanent resident.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Father and Mother were the biological parents of Child, a girl born in Puerto Rico in 2009. In 2011, Mother and Child moved to the United Kingdom, where they stayed with Father. In 2012, Mother absconded to Puerto Rico…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and sought to surrender their home. When Plaintiffs' mortgage lenders (collectively, Beneficial) refused to foreclose or otherwise take title to the residence, Plaintiffs…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1989, Appellant was tried and convicted of murder in a Massachusetts state court. After serving fourteen years of his sentence, Appellant moved for a new trial on the ground that exculpatory evidence had been withheld…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, a federal grand jury indicted co-defendants Carolyn Kravetz and Boris Levitin on charges stemming from a scheme to defraud restaurant franchisor Dunkin' Brands Inc. Defendants pled guilty in February 2010. Jim…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of conspiracy to both possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The convictions stemmed from a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Employee, a scientist formerly employed by a University, claimed her supervisor (Supervisor) sexually harassed her. Employee complained about the harassment, but University dismissed Employee's complaint. Employee…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to conspiring to possess narcotics with intent to distribute. Although his plea agreement contained a waiver-of-appeal provision, Defendant nevertheless attempted to appeal. Defendant's principal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The district court sentenced Defendant to five years in prison. The sentence was well above the top of the applicable guideline…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, entered the United States without inspection in 1992. In 1995, an immigration judge (IJ) adjudged Petitioner deportable and gave her until 1996 to voluntarily…

Justia Opinion Summary: The police investigation of a hit-and-run resulted in the arrests of Robert and Mario Robinson, father and son, and the seizure of Robert's car. All of the charges against both Mario and Robert were eventually dismissed…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff here was Boston Gas Company and Defendant was Century Indemnity Company, one of Boston Gas's insurers. Environmental contamination was later found at many of Boston Gas's former gas plant sites. Boston Gas…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of attempted possession of at least five kilograms of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) the district court erroneously allowed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: For approximately a decade, Global NAPs, Inc. (GNAPs) had been engaged in litigation with Verizon New England, Inc. The dispute arose over access fees the companies owed each other. Verizon prevailed in the dispute in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested and charged with one count of possessing firearms and ammunition after having been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9). As a predicate offense…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a partner in a medical practice where she served as a staff anesthesiologist. When Plaintiff's dependence on opioids came to light, her employer had in force a group employee benefit plan, underwritten and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, a Pakistani native and his family, sought refuge in the United States in 2009 after the Taliban began attacking Awami National Party (ANP) activists. Petitioner was an active member of the ANP. Later in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Media Power Group, Inc. (MPG) owned four radio stations in Puerto Rico, branded "Radio Isla." Segments of several disputed songs were broadcast during various news and talk show programs on Radio Isla. Latin American…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to unlawfully distribute Oxycodone, Oxycontin, Suboxone, Larzepam, and Ativan. The First Circuit Court of Appeals…

Justia Opinion Summary: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received funds appropriated by Congress under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. In 2006, HHS contracted with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Darryl Tavares and Eddie Jones were both convicted of conspiracy to knowingly transport an individual in interstate commerce with the intent that such individual engage in prostitution. Tavares was…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of having, among other things, engaged in a scheme to conceal and avoid her company's employment tax liability. The district court determined that Defendant was responsible…

Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayer owned fifteen acres of land in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Taxpayer obtained a commitment from Bank to make a loan to fund development on the land. The commitment stipulated that the loan would be made to Taxpayer or…

Justia Opinion Summary: At the turn of this century, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law that created fixed and floating buffer zones around abortion clinics. The First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected several challenges to the law's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, Building #19, Inc., was an off-price retail store that acquired products and resold them at discounted prices in stores in New England. Defendant advertised in newspapers around New England, and the ads often…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a freelance photographer, took a photograph of a man, who called himself Clark Rockefeller, and the man's daughter. Later, it was discovered that the man had abducted his daughter and that his real name was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was an attorney who litigated a case against the nations believed to be behind a 1972 terrorist attack on Puerto Ricans at an Israeli airport. Defendant and the American Center for Civil Justice (the Center)…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Liberia, filed for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Petitioner conceded his removability, and the immigration judge (IJ) scheduled a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were Puerto Rico pension plans that owned shared in closed-end investment funds (the Funds) advised by UBS Trust Company of Puerto Rico (UBS Trust). In 2008, UBS Trust, acting as the Funds' investment adviser,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was a Salvadoran national who entered the United States without inspection. After the Department of Homeland Security placed him in removal proceedings, Petitioner conceded removability and cross-applied for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Upon an investigation by the Maine Bureau of Insurance (Bureau) and the Maine Attorney General's Office (AG's Office) into the questionable business practices of Bankers Life and Casualty Company (Company), Appellant,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1984, following the denial of his motion to suppress, a jury convicted Petitioner of one count of conspiracy to possess marijuana, and the sentencing court sentenced Petitioner to four years incarceration. After…

Justia Opinion Summary: NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, which operated a nuclear power plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire, applied to renew its operating license. NextEra submitted a required environmental report that concluded that offshore wind…

Justia Opinion Summary: Removal proceedings were initiated against Petitioner as an alien who entered the United States without inspection. Although he conceded removability, Petitioner indicated that he intended to use the proceeding to obtain…