2015 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 1 - 500 of 568
Date: December 31, 2015
Docket Numbers: 15-1207, 15-1208, 15-1209, 15-1219
Justia Opinion Summary: Three putative class action complaints alleged that Defendants engaged in deceptive marketing and advertising about the health benefits of certain “barefoot” running shoes. The district court preliminary approved a…
Date: December 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1858
Justia Opinion Summary: The government initiated deportation proceedings against Petitioner, a lawful permanent resident who was convicted of a removable offense. Petitioner filed an N-600 application for citizenship with U.S. Customs and…
Date: December 29, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1667
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff’s late father was formerly employed as a mechanic by the City of Boston. Plaintiff brought this lawsuit on behalf of her father’s estate, alleging that the City and her father’s supervisors discriminated…
Date: December 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2188
Justia Opinion Summary: LimoLiner Inc. contracted with Dattco, Inc. to repair a luxury motor coach that LimoLiner owned. LimoLiner later filed this action in Massachusetts state court alleging breach of contract, misrepresentation, negligence,…
Date: December 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1944
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm in a school zone. The First Circuit reversed the conviction one count two on…
Date: December 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2287
Justia Opinion Summary: Under Part A of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) disburses funding to combat HIV/AIDS infection in metropolitan areas that are home to more…
Date: December 21, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2418
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was a convicted drug trafficker who, at the time of this opinion, was serving a sentence of more than eighteen years. Appellant filed a 28 U.S.C. 2255 petition claiming that his trial counsel provided…
Date: December 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2164
Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Gadbois (Relator) filed this qui tam action in the District of Rhode Island alleging PharMerica Corp. had violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and several parallel state statutes. Relator then filed a seconded…
Date: December 16, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1128
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint against Defendant, a medical doctor, alleging claims based on medical negligence, Defendant’s failure to obtain informed consent, and battery. The district court granted…
Date: December 15, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1745, 14-1756
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a company that provides skycap services to airlines, was defending against a class action lawsuit when Plaintiff, one of the skycaps that Defendant had employed, brought an individual suit against Defendant,…
Date: December 11, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2462, 14-1127
Justia Opinion Summary: The convictions of Karapet Dzhanikyan and Ronald Martinez arose out of a year-long wiretap investigation of a suspected drug trafficker. After a jury trial, Dzhanikyan was convicted of one count of conspiring to…
Date: December 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2318
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1991, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) placed Petitioner in deportation proceedings. In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took action in Petitioner’s case. By that time, Congress had…
Date: December 11, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1449
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered into a plea agreement with the United States to several drug-related offenses. The district court sentenced Defendant at the bottom of the guidelines range to a term of imprisonment of 262 months. In…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2279
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant, a former Massachusetts state trooper, was convicted of knowingly participating in the use of extortionate means to attempt to collect an extension of credit. The First Circuit affirmed,…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1744
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, two former managers of Dunkin’ Donuts stores in Massachusetts, filed this action claiming that they were improperly denied overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The defendant employers moved…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1859
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. The Presentence Investigation Report calculated the guidelines sentencing range as forty-one to fifty-one months.…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1963, 14-1964, 14-2074
Justia Opinion Summary: These interlocutory appeals were from a district court order that, inter alia, compelled a law firm (Mintz Levin) to produce documents relating to a fraud allegedly committed by David Gorski in his operation of Legion…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2357
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Petitioner, a citizen of Jamaica, was convicted of third-degree assault under a Connecticut statute. The Department of Homeland Security later placed Petitioner in removal proceedings. Permanent resident…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1823
Justia Opinion Summary: An organization called Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA) brought this lawsuit challenging Harvard College’s consideration of race in its undergraduate admissions decision. An opposing group of current and…
Date: December 8, 2015
Docket Numbers: 15-1080, 15-1117
Justia Opinion Summary: James Hopkins and John Flannery, two former employees of State Street Bank and Trust Company, were charged with violations of 15 U.S.C. 77q(a), 15 U.S.C. 78j(b), and 17 C.F.R. 240.10b-5 for engaging making material…
Date: December 8, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1157
Justia Opinion Summary: Mark Galvin was the guarantor of a defaulted promissory note on a loan secured by an interest in a Cessna 421C aircraft. The note and security agreement were assigned to Harley-Davidson Credit Corp. After the borrower…
Date: December 8, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1553
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, Perfect Puppy, Inc. signed a lease to use a City of East Providence building for a “Puppy Sales store.” Less than two months later, the East Providence city council formally passed an ordinance banning dog and…
Date: December 7, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1019, 14-1196, 15-1125
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged in a sixty-count indictment with offenses arising from “masterminding one of the most avaricious frauds in Rhode Island history.” Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to one count…
Date: December 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1933
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of the murder of his wife. Eight days later, Defendant was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of making false statements to a federal officer. One week later, a…
Date: December 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2244
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, Plaintiff’s co-worker at a mental health facility in Norton, Massachusetts, issued an order, pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123, 12, authorizing Plaintiff to be seized from her home and brought to a hospital…
Date: December 7, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1115
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was formerly employed by the Civilian Health Promotion Services Program at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts. After the government contractor that employed Plaintiff terminated her employment,…
Date: December 7, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1143
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first degree murder. The Massachusetts trial court denied Appellant’s motion for a new trial, and the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed his conviction. Appellant later filed a…
Date: December 7, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1197
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was indicted for second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. During jury selection for Appellant’s trial, the Massachusetts state prosecutor exercised peremptory challenge to strike three black…
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1185
Justia Opinion Summary: Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were acting on an alleged tip that undocumented aliens were employed at the Michael Bianco, Inc. factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts when they raided the factory.…
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1616
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of passport fraud, one count of false representation to the Social Security Administration, and one count of theft of public money. The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s…
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2161
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against two Town of Wareham police officers, the police chief, and the Town, claiming (1) the officers arrested him without probable cause and used excessive force in pushing him into a…
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2250
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against officials at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth after the university had commenced termination proceedings against him, alleging, inter alia, claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for…
Date: November 20, 2015
Docket Number: 12-1257
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Defendant was indicted on one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with intent to distribute and two specific-offense counts of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. The indictment did…
Date: November 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1815
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of transportation, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The First Circuit affirmed on appeal. Appellant later filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28…
Date: November 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1970
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Guatemalan national, entered the United States without inspection. Two years later, federal authorities instituted removal proceedings against him. Petitioner conceded removability and cross-applied for…
Date: November 20, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1165
Justia Opinion Summary: For more than a decade, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has paid directly to qualified attorneys who bring Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims a fee of no more than twenty-five percent…
Date: November 18, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2026, 14-2079
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aiding and abetting a bank robbery and conspiring to commit a bank robbery. At sentencing, the district court applied a weapon enhancement and an obstruction of justice…
Date: November 18, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1372
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants, Boston police officers, made a warrantless entry into a dwelling in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Plaintiff, the only person inside, was eventually arrested. Plaintiff was eventually…
Date: November 18, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1416
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 168 months imprisonment. In 2012, while he was serving his 2002 sentence, Defendant pleaded guilty to a separate…
Date: November 18, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1657
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Employee was fired from his employment with Employer on the grounds that Employee failed to “meet job performance standards.” Employee subsequently sued Employer, claiming that Employer did not have cause to…
Date: November 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1316
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were employees of Puerto Rico National Processing Service Center (PR-NPSC), run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit alleging that FEMA’s actions in implementing a…
Date: November 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2556
Justia Opinion Summary: The government filed a juvenile information against Y.C.T. alleging two acts of delinquency. The government filed a motion for a discretionary transfer of Y.C.T. to the district court’s criminal jurisdiction. A…
Date: November 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1676
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess and distribute illegal drugs near a public housing facility and of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The…
Date: November 13, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1437
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, acting in the capacity as the executor of the estate of Marion Bingham, brought this lawsuit against Supervalu, Inc., alleging that Supervalu acted as an insurer of one of its subsidiaries and violated Mass.…
Date: November 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1303
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a straight guilty plea to illegal possession of firearms after having been previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than one year and illegal possession of firearms…
Date: November 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1690
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, married a U.S. citizen and acquired status as a conditional lawful permanent resident. Petitioner and her spouse subsequently filed an I-751 joint petition…
Date: November 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2022
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to nine counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. The district court accepted the plea. Ten days before the scheduled sentencing hearing, Defendant…
Date: November 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1110
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance (crack cocaine). Based on the inadvertent admission of evidence that had previously been ruled inadmissible, Defendant…
Date: November 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1194
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Defendant was…
Date: October 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1671
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a straight guilty plea to several firearm-related and drug-related offenses. The district court sentenced Defendant to a total of 100 months’ imprisonment. Defendant appealed, challenging his sentence…
Date: October 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1957
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing, the district court increased Defendant’s base offense level…
Date: October 30, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2020, 14-2040
Justia Opinion Summary: After two separate jury trials, Defendant was convicted of one count of possession of child pornography and one count of false declaration before the court. The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding (1)…
Date: October 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2249
Justia Opinion Summary: Massachusetts state police confiscated firearms owned by Russell Jarvis and James Jarvis, Massachusetts gun owners, and transferred custody of the confiscated firearms to Village Gun Shop, Inc. (the Gun Shop), which…
Date: October 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1783
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute. The First Circuit vacated Defendant’s conviction on appeal and remanded for a new trial after finding non-harmless…
Date: October 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1930
Justia Opinion Summary: The decedent, who owned property in Rhode Island, entered into a reverse mortgage with Financial Freedom providing that the full amount of the debt would become due and payable upon the borrower’s death. Financial…
Date: October 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1588
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of carjacking and of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Defendant was sentence to a term of 420 months’ imprisonment. Defendant appealed,…
Date: October 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2057
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was fired from Servicios Legales de Puerto Rico, Inc. (SLPR), a non-profit legal services organization where she had worked for nearly twenty-eight years. Plaintiff was sixty-three years old at the time she was…
Date: October 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2165
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant’s vehicle was stopped and searched by officers with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Maine Police, and the Portland Police Department. The search involved the use of a drug-sniffing dog and resulted in…
Date: October 20, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1799
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, who was serving a 235-month sentence as an armed career criminal under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), sought certification to file in the district court a second or successive motion to vacate his…
Date: October 14, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1885
Justia Opinion Summary: In federal court, Appellant entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in a multi-defendant drug conspiracy case. Pending sentencing in his federal case, Appellant pled guilty to three state…
Date: October 14, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2155, 13-2500, 14-1040, 14-1078
Justia Opinion Summary: Four appellants were jointly tried and convicted of conspiring to import cocaine and heroin into the United States and conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin on board a vessel subject to the…
Date: October 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1088
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices of Puerto Rico freight services. Defendant was sentenced to sixty months’ imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding…
Date: October 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2042
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Honduras who entered the United States illegally, pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife in violation of Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. 17-A, 207(1)(A). Petitioner was subsequently charged with…
Date: October 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1651
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was admitted to Harvard Combined Orthopedics Residency Program, one of the country’s most prestigious orthopedic residency programs. Mid-way through the fourth year of her residency, Plaintiff was placed on…
Date: October 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1901
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant plead guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, to a ten-count information charging him with various acts of wire fraud and tax evasion. The district court imposed a ninety-six-month incarcerative sentence on the…
Date: October 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2118
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs - Springfield Terminal Railway Co., Pan Am Systems, Inc., and David Fink, the former President and CEO of Pan Am, the parental corporation of Springfield - sued Defendants - several media defendants - in…
Date: October 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1404
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing a machine gun. After a sentencing hearing, the district court imposed an above-guideline seventy-two-month imprisonment term, a…
Date: October 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1688
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to bank robbery. After a sentencing hearing, the district court sentenced Defendant to 180 months’ imprisonment, a downwardly variant sentence. Defendant appealed, challenging the district…
Date: September 30, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2546
Justia Opinion Summary: Employer terminated Employee for engaging in sexually inappropriate workplace conduct. Employee sued Employer and the company’s Puerto Rico Human Resources manager (collectively, Defendants), claiming unjust termination…
Date: September 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1821
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2251(a). Appellant was sentenced to 300 months of imprisonment. Appellant subsequently appealed the…
Date: September 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2144
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee worked for Employer as a salesman. Employer is incorporated and headquarters in Kansas. The employment contract contemplated that Employee, a Massachusetts resident, would work from Massachusetts. Employer…
Date: September 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2145
Justia Opinion Summary: Relator filed a qui tam action on behalf of the United States, twenty-five states, and the District of Columbia, naming his former employer as the defendant and asserting several claims under the False Claims Act (FCA)…
Date: September 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1793
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant was convicted of one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. At the sentencing hearing, the district court adopted the recommendation of the presentence report, which was based…
Date: September 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1894
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in state court, Appellant was convicted of the second-degree murder of his grandmother. Appellant was sentenced to life in prison. Appellant's conviction became final in 1985. Appellant subsequently…
Date: September 23, 2015
Docket Numbers: 12-2372, 12-2381
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was one of 110 defendants charged in a two-count indictment with drug and firearms offenses arising from a drug ring operating in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Appellant, along with most of the other high-level members…
Date: September 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1260
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Appellant pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. The district court imposed a sentence of 240 months’ imprisonment, an upward…
Date: September 21, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1938, 13-1945, 13-1946
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Appellants - Paul A. DeCologero, Paul J. DeCologero, and John P. DeCologero, Jr. - were convicted of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and related crimes. In 2011, all…
Date: September 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2198
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, who legally entered the United States on a visitor visa, adjusted his status to that of a conditional permanent resident based on his marriage to Nadine Woodley Davis (“Woodley”), a United States citizen.…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1525, 13-1683, 13-2420, 13-2460
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Russell Rose and Kelvin Frye were convicted of conspiring to distribute arising from their respective roles in a Cape Cod-based drug-distribution conspiracy. The First Circuit affirmed the convictions…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2352
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The district court imposed a 220-month term of imprisonment under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2251
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Petitioner pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and identity fraud. The federal district court ordered Petitioner to pay restitution and to serve a term of probation but did not impose any…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2306
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, Jason Davis received a punitive damages award in a federal civil rights action that he brought against six state employees, who were held responsible for restraining and beating him in a state mental hospital.…
Date: September 16, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2547
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States Department of Education (DOE) Secretary decided through an administrative proceeding that International Junior College of Business and Technology, Inc. (International) could not participate in certain…
Date: September 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1159
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, was ordered removed in absentia. Petitioner filed a pro se motion to reopen, which the Immigration Judge (IJ) denied. Almost fourteen years after he was ordered removed,…
Date: September 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1421
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether an ordinance in the City of Portland, Maine that prohibited standing, sitting, staying, driving, or parking on median strips violated the First Amendment. The district court ruled in…
Date: September 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1566
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to various charges stemming from his role in a conspiracy to provide identification documents to undocumented aliens in the United States. The sentencing judge sentenced Defendant to a total of…
Date: September 8, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1555
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was the target of a grand jury investigation into an alleged scheme to defraud investors regarding the salvaging of a sunken vessel. The government moved to compel the production of documents from Appellant’s…
Date: September 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1508
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The federal district court imposed a seventy-eight month sentence. The First Circuit affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded,…
Date: September 4, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1528, 13-1602
Justia Opinion Summary: A few decades ago, an oil spill occurred on property in Salem, Massachusetts that was owned by Peabody Essex Museum. The pollution from the spill migrated to the land of a down gradient neighbor, Heritage Plaza. In 2003,…
Date: September 2, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1376, 14-1377
Justia Opinion Summary: The litigation resulting in these consolidated appeals stemmed from disputes within the Cohen family. Maurice placed his assets the “Maurice Trust,” and after he died, the trust assets were passed to trust (“the QTIP…
Date: September 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1617
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count each of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and of possessing with intent to distribute cocaine base. Defendant appealed, arguing primarily…
Date: September 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1246
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Laura Sheedy refinanced property she owned. For the transaction, Sheedy executed a promissory note and mortgage in favor of Washington Mutual Bank (WAMU). The mortgage was eventually assigned to Deutsche Bank…
Date: August 28, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1793
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of crimes stemming from his involvement in a racketeering drug enterprise that resulted in the murder of two innocent bystanders. The district court imposed a sentence of 360 months imprisonment,…
Date: August 28, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1665
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The district court imposed an upwardly variant sentence of sixty months imprisonment - two times the top of…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Numbers: 11-2328, 12-1442, 12-2412
Justia Opinion Summary: After a joint trial, Defendants - Ramon Lanza-Vazquez (Lanza), Luis R. Nieves-Canales (Nieves), and Rafael Galan-Olavarria (Galan) - were convicted and sentenced for their participation in a drug distribution conspiracy.…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1999
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who had previously been convicted of first degree child molestation under Rhode Island law, was convicted in federal court of failing to register as a sex offender under the federal Sex Offender Registration…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2266
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Plaintiff filed suit seeking money damages against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging that, in 1998-1999, he was wrongfully detained and deported as an unauthorized alien despite his…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1817
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of crack with intent to distribute. Defendant appealed, arguing that the district court committed reversible error by refusing to instruct that jury that, if it…
Date: August 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2031, 13-2088
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was convicted of illegal reentry into the United States as a previously removed alien. On appeal, Appellant moved to dismiss the indictment on the ground that the…
Date: August 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2285, 13-2289, 13-2291, 13-2320
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants Jose Laureano-Salgado, Pedro Ramirez-Rivera, and Ismael Cruz-Ramos were convicted of multiple drug and gun offenses. Defendants were all sentenced to life in prison. The First Circuit (1)…
Date: August 26, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2520
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of attempted carjacking resulting in death, aiding and abetting the same, and use of a firearm resulting in death. The district court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment…
Date: August 25, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2343, 13-2344, 13-2350
Justia Opinion Summary: The Soto family - Carmen and Pedro and their son, Steven - operated a real estate business in Massachusetts that they used to orchestrate several fraudulent real estate transactions. The Sotos were each convicted of…
Date: August 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1003
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was an associate at a Boston law firm (Defendant) when he was informed that his Defendant would not advance him for further consideration as a partner. Plaintiff filed an action pursuant to Title VII in federal…
Date: August 24, 2015
Docket Numbers: 11-2160, 12-1814
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendants, former police agents of the Puerto Rico Police, were convicted of conspiracy to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate persons in the town of Arecibo in the exercise of their constitutional…
Date: August 24, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1209, 13-1651
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Heang Ouch and Morcos Hanna sought to represent a putative class of borrowers who had not kept up with their mortgage loan payments. The borrowers’ loan servicers made a number of contractually-mandated…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2098, 13-2101
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants, Angel Paz-Alvarez (Paz) and Luis Marrero-Marrero (Marrero), were convicted for their participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the jury was properly instructed as…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1499
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was serving a state sentence in a Massachusetts state facility when the federal government indicted him in the District of Rhode Island with a number of gun and drug offenses. The government brought Appellant…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1698
Justia Opinion Summary: Norbero Colon Lorenzana (Colon) was working for South American Restaurant Corporation (SARCO), a franchisee and operator of Church’s Chicken locations in Puerto Rico, when he suggested to his superiors the concept for a…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1789
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed claims individually and on behalf of three putative classes against Defendant seeking damages and injunctive relief under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Prior to the parties’ agreed-upon deadline…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2168
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a helicopter pilot, was forced to land a Bell 407 helicopter when the helicopter’s engine suddenly quit working. Plaintiff sued Defendants, alleging that the flameout was caused by false overspeed solenoid…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2347
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint against the Municipality of Carolina in the federal district court of Puerto Rico alleging gender-based employment discrimination and retaliation. Before trial, Carolina extended to Plaintiff…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-8015
Justia Opinion Summary: In the underlying putative class action, counsel for the named plaintiffs obtained a collection of records owned by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Chase). Plaintiffs sought to rely on the documents to pursue claims sounding…
Date: August 19, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1917
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of Jordan, was ordered deported in 1997. In 2002, Petitioner married a United States citizen. Petitioner’s wife filed a Form I-130 petition on Petitioner’s behalf for an immigrant visa. In 2009, the…
Date: August 19, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1320
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner brought this habeas corpus petition after he was released from federal custody, arguing that the Bureau of Prisons violated his right to due process when it failed to hold an in-person hearing before revoking…
Date: August 19, 2015
Docket Number: 15-9003
Justia Opinion Summary: Creditor extended to Debtor a line of credit, and Debtor granted Creditor, pursuant to an agreement, a security interest in payments due to Debtor under an insurance policy. The agreement provided that Maine law governed…
Date: August 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2518
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants in this case were three shipping operators who pay a fee to Puerto Rico to conduct business out of the Port of San Juan. The Commonwealth supplied each company with cargo-scanning technology, required them to…
Date: August 17, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1622, 14-1724
Justia Opinion Summary: The National Labor Relations Board entered an order requiring NSTAR Electric Company, an electric and gas company, to bargain with a Union that seventeen of the company’s dispatch-center workers voted to join. The Board…
Date: August 17, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1954, 14-1971
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought suit against his employers in the District of Puerto Rico, alleging, inter alia, violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The employers moved to dismiss the complaint, asserting that a…
Date: August 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1710
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of the Dominican Republic, was served with a Notice to Appear charging him with being removable from the United States for overstaying a nonimmigrant visa. The Notice to Appear explained that…
Date: August 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1947
Justia Opinion Summary: Fuad Atieh, a Jordanian national, was placed in removal proceedings. Fuad subsequently married Jamileh Khudari, a U.S. citizen. The couple later divorced. Thereafter, Fuad married Raniah Atieh, a U.S. citizen. Two months…
Date: August 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1832
Justia Opinion Summary: Homeowners hired Benchmark Construction Services, Inc. to renovate their Massachusetts home. The homeowners hired an architect to design the renovation plans, and the architect hired a decorative painter to apply…
Date: August 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1929
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The district court sentenced Defendant to serve forty-eight months in prison followed by a three-year term of supervised…
Date: August 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1999
Justia Opinion Summary: An Immigration Judge found that Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, was removable because he obtained immigration benefits by fraud or material representation and because he entered the United States without…
Date: August 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1264
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff worked for the Town of Camden for thirty-one years prior to being laid off. The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the police union and the Town provided for recall of qualified employees based on…
Date: August 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1932
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). Under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), Defendant faced a mandatory minimum sentence…
Date: August 5, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1991
Justia Opinion Summary: Hector Luis Roman-Oliveras (Roman) was dismissed from his job after working for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) for over twenty years. Roman, along with his wife and mother, brought suit against PREPA…
Date: August 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1541
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, property owners, entered into an oral contract with Defendant, a construction firm, for the assembly of a prefabricated house on a lot that they owned. The parties subsequently entered into a second oral…
Date: August 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1696
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, applied for withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The Immigration Judge (IJ) denied…
Date: August 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1881
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Honduran national, applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The Immigration Judge denied all of Petitioner’s claims for relief and ordered him…
Date: July 31, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1562
Justia Opinion Summary: In this Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, Appellants filed a complaint in a Puerto Rico superior court against the Trustee in bankruptcy and other defendants. The Trustee removed the state case to the bankruptcy court.…
Date: July 31, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1739
Justia Opinion Summary: Labonte Drywall Company signed a statewide agreement with Union, which allowed Labonte Drywall to hire Union carpenters for its business. The agreement required Labonte Drywall to allow an audit of its records. After…
Date: July 31, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1845
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, was placed in removal proceedings in 1997. Petitioner filed applications for asylum and withholding of removal. In 1998, an immigration judge denied in part the applications…
Date: July 30, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2224, 13-2276, 13-2284
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants - Juan Laureano-Perez, Jeffrey Cummings-Avila (Cummings), and Christopher Laureano-Perez (Christopher) - were convicted of various narcotics possession, conspiracy, and firearm charges arising out of their…
Date: July 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1316
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were employees of Puerto Rico National Processing Service Center (PR-NPSC), which is now closed, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit alleging that FEMA’s…
Date: July 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1176
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Sonia Velez-Velez, a Popular Democratic Party (PDP) member, lost her job with the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority after an election returned the opposing political party, the New Progressive…
Date: July 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1182
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of Guatemala who entered the United States unlawfully, requested asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and voluntary departure. The immigration judge…
Date: July 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1962
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a series of shifting employment arrangements between Plaintiff and Defendant, TSI Semiconductors America, LLC (TSA). In 2009, Plaintiff began working for Tejas Silicon, Inc. under a written employment…
Date: July 24, 2015
Docket Numbers: 15-1193, 15-1597
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose out of the settlement of a securities class action brought on behalf of the purchasers of certain common stock of a corporation. Those who objected to the settlement and appealed the rejection of their…
Date: July 22, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2138
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs held licenses from the Puerto Rico Treasury Department (Treasury) authorizing them to own and operate “adult entertainment machines” (AEMs). Special Treasury task-force agents later seized AEMs belonging to…
Date: July 21, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1367
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Uganda, was served with a notice to appear in immigration removal proceedings. Petitioner petitioned for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations…
Date: July 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1405
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, Quality Cleaning Products (QCP) entered into a distribution agreement with SCA Tissue North America (SCA) that designated QCP as a non-exclusive, authorized Puerto Rican distributor and wholesaler of SCA’s…
Date: July 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1764
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of receipt and possession of child pornography. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the child pornography statutes under which Defendant was charged were not…
Date: July 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1934
Justia Opinion Summary: In Sprint Commc’ns, Inc. v. Jacobs, the Supreme Court revisited the doctrine of abstention enunciated in Younger v. Harris. That doctrine requires federal courts, in the absence of extraordinary circumstances, to refrain…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1202
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of knowingly possessing one or more matters which contained visual depictions of one or more minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The First Circuit…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2180
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a supervisor at the Programmatic Area of the Department of Education’s Special Education Center in Bayamon when the New Progressive Party came to power in Puerto Rico. Plaintiff claimed that, as a result of…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2366
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a sales representative for Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc., brought this claim of retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 alleging that her supervisor subjected her to a hostile work…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1262
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with commerce by threats or violence. In sentencing Defendant, the district court imposed an above-the-range sentence of 168 months in prison. Defendant appealed,…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1425
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a naturalized United States citizen, alleged that, in 2009, she was unlawfully detained in violation of her Fourth And Fifth Amendment rights when she was imprisoned for 24 hours pursuant to an immigration…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1444
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 115 months imprisonment. Defendant sought to vacate his guilty plea because the district court failed to meet the…
Date: July 16, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2204
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a youth with no prior record, was convicted of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. Defendant’s convictions were largely…
Date: July 16, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-2237, 13-2369
Justia Opinion Summary: Dr. Ross Greene developed a method of treating children with explosive behaviors known as the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) approach and advanced this method through his work at the Massachusetts General Hospital…
Date: July 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1335
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The parties jointly agreed to recommend a sentence of eighty-four months’ imprisonment. The…
Date: July 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1922
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Maine dairy farmer, had a business dispute with Defendant, his neighbor, and the former Commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture (DOA). Soon after taking office, the Commissioner recused himself…
Date: July 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2324
Justia Opinion Summary: Arborjet, Inc. (Plaintiff), which manufactures and sells an emamectin benzoate solution used to protect trees from pests called TREE-age, granted Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements, Inc. (Defendant) an exclusive…
Date: July 16, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1059
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed this putative class action against Defendants - Nisource Corporate Services Company and AGL Resources, Inc. - alleging that Defendants engaged in deceptive business practices by disguising credit sales of…
Date: July 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1279
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Kenyan national, married a U.S. citizen, who filed an I-130 visa petition seeking to classify Petitioner as a spouse of a U.S. citizen. Thereafter, Petitioner applied for adjustment of his immigration…
Date: July 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2113
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Jose Lopez-Diaz, a medical doctor, was convicted of health-care fraud, conspiracy to commit health-care fraud, and aggravated identity theft for using personal information gathered from the patients…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1038
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with, inter alia, five counts of unlawful production of child pornography. Defendant entered into a non-binding plea agreement obligating the government to recommend an aggregate sentence of…
Date: July 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1632
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, a jury convicted Appellant of felony murder, intentional obstruction of commerce by robbery, and unlawfully carrying and using a firearm during a crime of violence. On his third appeal, Appellant argued, among…
Date: July 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1546
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was charged with possessing an unregistered shotgun with a barrel measuring less than eighteen inches. Appellant moved to suppress the sawed-off shotgun and his statements about it, arguing that his…
Date: July 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1561
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was indicted on one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of transporting child pornography. The district court denied Appellant’s request for a Franks hearing, as well as Appellant’s motion to…
Date: July 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1742
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent was the widow of an employee of Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI). The decedent was stationed in Tbilisi, Georgia when he died in an automobile accident while traveling by taxi to shop for groceries.…
Date: July 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2112
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against his employer asserting a claim for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, Plaintiff alleged that his employer engaged in commerce within the meaning…
Date: July 6, 2015
Docket Numbers: 15-1218, 15-1221, 15-1271, 15-1272
Justia Opinion Summary: Puerto Rico may not authorize its municipalities, including public utilities, to seek federal bankruptcy relief under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. In 2014, the Commonwealth attempted to allow its utilities,…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1690
Justia Opinion Summary: On two consecutive days in March 2012, Defendant engaged in a total of six acts of violence, all at gunpoint. Defendant was charged with numerous Puerto Rico offenses and, under federal law, being a felon in possession…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2137
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to fraud. The district court sentenced Defendant to 120 months imprisonment and granted eighteen months credit for time served. The applicable Guidelines Sentencing…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1369, 14-1371
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty, in separate plea agreements, to unlawfully possessing a machine gun and aiding and abetting another individual in the unlawful possession of automatic firearms. The guidelines ranges for each of…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1917
Justia Opinion Summary: Le Fort Enterprises, Inc., which provides cleaning services to homeowners in and around Boston, Massachusetts, employs twenty-nine housekeepers. Some of the housekeepers decided to attempt to unionize. The National Labor…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2058
Justia Opinion Summary: Sauer Incorporated alleged that Carrie Lawson incurred a debt by knowingly receiving a fraudulent conveyance from her father that was designed to prevent Sauer from collecting a judgment against him. After Lawson filed…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2115
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the correct interpretation of two different state statutes concerning defects in real estate titles. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee filed this action to avoid a mortgage held by a bank that…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Numbers: 10-1974, 10-2042, 10-2055, 10-2057, 10-2129
Justia Opinion Summary: After a three-month jury trial, the five defendants in this case were convicted as members of an extended drug conspiracy. When voir dire was conducted in this case, Defendants’ family members and friends were excluded…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1513
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, on their own behalf and on behalf of their minor children Valerie and Jesus, brought an action against a Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) superintendent, a PRPD regional director, a PRPD district…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1980
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to illegal reentry into the United States. The district court sentenced Defendant to fifty-seven months of imprisonment. Specifically, the district court (1) determined that the applicable…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2129
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of a felony requiring his removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed an order that Petitioner be removed. Petitioner petitioned for review, arguing that because Padilla v. Kentucky…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1149, 14–1244
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted in two separate indictments for drug trafficking crimes. The cases were consolidated, and Defendant pled guilty to count one in both indictments pursuant to a plea agreement. The district court…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1233
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Maine limited liability company, sought a preliminary injunction in state court that would forbid Defendant, one of Plaintiff’s former independent contractors, from publishing any company-owned content on…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1431
Justia Opinion Summary: After his arrest on state charges, Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, was placed in removal proceedings. Petitioner filed an adjustment of statute application and also applied for a waiver, claiming hardship…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1463
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a family-owned retail clothing and footwear business with two stores in Massachusetts, had sold Nike footwear for approximately twenty-eight years before Nike notified Appellant that it was terminating the…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2145
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking offense and was sentenced to seventy-two months imprisonment. Defendant appealed, arguing that his counsel provided ineffective assistance and that his case should be…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2154
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of securities fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to conceal assets and make fraudulent transfers, concealment of assets, fraudulent transfer, uttering coins, and money laundering.…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1187
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and his two co-defendants pleaded not guilty to attempted carjacking and the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Defendant subsequently entered into a plea agreement with the government pursuant to…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2267
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, twenty graduates from medical schools outside of the United States, failed the Puerto Rico Medical Licensing Examination (the PRMLE), which made them ineligible to receive a medical license in Puerto Rico.…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1903
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff entered into a salvage contract with Defendant to obtain help when his boat went aground one night. Plaintiff later attempted to rescind the contract, claiming that he signed the contract under duress and…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1089, 14-1091
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Defendants were convicted of, among other closely related charges, federal program bribery under 18 U.S.C. 666. The First Circuit vacated the convictions, holding that the jury had received improper instructions…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1357
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. After he was sentenced, Appellant appealed, arguing that the district court erred by inadequately explaining its reasons…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1382, 14-1774
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, who each managed Chinese restaurants in Maine where undocumented immigrants were employed, pled guilty to conspiracy to harbor and aiding and abetting the harboring of illegal aliens for commercial advantage…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2050
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Petitioner was convicted in a Massachusetts state court of living off or sharing the earnings of a minor prostitute. In 2013, Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 in…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2116
Justia Opinion Summary: At 4 a.m. one night, Plaintiff broke into his estranged wife’s apartment to talk about their relationship. The woman reported the break-in and provided a description of the car Plaintiff was driving. Defendant, a police…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2151
Justia Opinion Summary: Debtor filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court appointed a Trustee and confirmed Debtor’s Chapter 13 plan, which contained a tax return production requirement. When the Trustee received…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2348
Justia Opinion Summary: While keeping perishable foodstuffs at Economy International Systems, Inc., a cold-storage facility, Appellants lost more than one million dollars when the walk-in freezers at Economy malfunctioned. Appellants sought…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1042
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of interstate stalking with the intent to harm or kill his estranged wife and her boyfriend. Defendant was sentenced to 100 months’ imprisonment. The First…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1448
Justia Opinion Summary: Claiming that they were uncertain as to which entity held an enforceable mortgage on their home, Plaintiffs brought actions against numerous potential mortgagees, seeking “interim relief,” “quieting of title,” and…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1563
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm. The district court sentenced Defendant to sixty months’ imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the government improperly…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1869
Justia Opinion Summary: This suit arose after American Airlines began charging passengers $2 per bag to use curbside check-in services. A class of skycaps - airport porters who assist passengers with curbside check-in - working at airports…
Date: June 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2497
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant in this case was a Medicare-approved provider of durable medical equipment. After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of four counts of health-care fraud. The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction and…
Date: June 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2551
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of cocaine trafficking. During sentencing, the district court followed neither the recommendation in the pre-sentence report nor the recommendation in the plea agreement on the…
Date: June 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1943
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an employee of a nursing facility (Defendant), was informed that she was terminated for diverting drugs from patients. Plaintiff filed suit, alleging that Defendant violated Maine’s Whistleblowers’ Protection…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2084
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of tampering with a federal witness, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and related crimes. Because the acts for which Appellant was convicted…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1618
Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2006, Sparkle Hill, Inc. and its vice president and owner (collectively, Sparkle Hill), received an unsolicited advertisement on Sparkle Hill’s fax machine from Interstate Mat Corporation (Interstate). Nearly five…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1766
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner unlawfully entered the United States, was detained at the Arizona border, and failed to attend his deportation hearing. An immigration judge (IJ) ordered Appellant to be removed from the country. Petitioner…
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1991
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2182
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2030
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of aiding and abetting the production of child pornography, reserving his right to appeal whether his alleged mistake of age of the victim could be raised as a…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1328
Justia Opinion Summary: The parents of a minor son filed a medical malpractice suit on their own behalf and on behalf of their son (Plaintiffs) against the Physician who delivered their son and the Hospital where the delivery took place.…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1106
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an attorney, filed a lawsuit against the Narragansett Indian Tribe alleging breach of contract. Plaintiff alleged that the Tribe contractually waived the sovereign immunity that would otherwise have prevented…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1305
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of wire and mail fraud. The district court calculated Defendant’s sentencing range under the Sentencing Guidelines at thirty to thirty-seven months but imposed a…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1991
Justia Opinion Summary: An employee of Progression, Inc. suffered a serious work-related injury. Progression, a corporation headquartered in Massachusetts, had two insurance policies from two different insurers that covered this work-related…
Date: May 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2182
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Plaintiff, a private middle school in Canaan, New Hampshire, received a demand letter asserting a claim concerning events that allegedly occurred during the 1967-1968 academic year. In response, Plaintiff asked…
Date: May 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1186
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second jury trial, Defendant was convicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) there was no probable cause…
Date: May 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1227, 14–1250
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants were convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud, and misuse of a government seal, as well as conspiring to commit these crimes. The First Circuit affirmed the convictions, holding that the…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Numbers: 10-1434, 11-1416, 12-1538, 12-1711
Justia Opinion Summary: A multi-count indictment alleged that the four appellants in this case and their forty-three co-defendants participated in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Following a joint trial, the appellants were convicted and…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2216
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor and possessing child pornography. The probation office calculated a guideline sentencing range between seventy and eighty-seven months imprisonment and a…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1124
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The conviction stemmed from a search of Defendant’s apartment by police pursuant to a search warrant that resulted in the police…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1174
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a warrant to search Appellant’s home, vehicle, and workplace, the police seized a computer, hard drive, and compact disc that were found to contain sexually explicit images and videos depicting minors.…
Date: May 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1367
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of sixty months’…
Date: May 18, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2340
Justia Opinion Summary: In two separate murder trials in Puerto Rico’s courts, jurors convicted a group of individuals based in large part on the testimony of a single witness. When that witness later recanted her testimony, the Commonwealth…
Date: May 18, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1597, 14-1598
Justia Opinion Summary: Since 2001, Cape Wind Associates, LLC has attempted to acquire the necessary permits and approvals for a wind power generation facility in Nantucket Sound. Under a settlement agreement, NSTAR Electric Company agreed to…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1593, 13-1601
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Junior H. De La Cruz-Feliciano and Sandri Rigo were convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms of cocaine and aiding and abetting the same. The First Circuit affirmed,…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2305
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of drug conspiracy and two counts of murder. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court did not err…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1036
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) the prosecutor impermissibly commented on the court interpreter’s translation of certain testimony…
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1369
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and more than 280 grams of crack. Defendant did not admit that he was responsible for a particular quantity of either form of drug.…
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1989
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, a New York resident and her boyfriend, were both employed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Following an encounter between Plaintiffs and Defendant, a local police chief, Defendant…
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2228
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant submitted at least ten fraudulent claims to his insurers for lost, stolen, or damaged produce and sought reimbursement. In sum, the ten claims totaled over $490,000, yet Appellant received payments totaling…
Date: May 5, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1730
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in knowing possession of a firearm. The district court imposed a sentence of 100 months’ imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court (1) did not…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2003
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The district court sentenced Defendant to a fifty-one-month term of imprisonment, at the top of Defendant’s Guidelines imprisonment…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2299
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin. The First Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding that the district court (1) did not violate the Confrontation…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1007
Justia Opinion Summary: Before Defendant was under suspicion on federal child pornography charges, the Puerto Rico police carried out two searches that resulted in the seizure of various electronic devices. After the Puerto Rico police had…
Date: April 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1105
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possessing child pornography and violating supervised release. The district court imposed consecutive 150- and 24-month sentences and a life term of supervised release. The First Circuit…
Date: April 24, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2549
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, the decedent was killed in a helicopter crash. The decedent’s widow and children (collectively, Appellants) filed a products liability action against the helicopter’s manufacturer and repair company. The jury…
Date: April 24, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1217, 14-1787
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of El Salvador living in the United States, was charged with removability. Petitioner sought relief from removal by requesting review of an earlier denial of his application for Temporary Protected…
Date: April 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1863
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers claimed a $220,800 charitable deduction on their 2003 and 2004 returns that corresponded to the purported value of a historic preservation facade easement on their Boston home, which they donated to the Trust…
Date: April 22, 2015
Docket Numbers: 12-1300, 12-2220
Justia Opinion Summary: Jorge Correa-Osorio and Denise Shepard-Fraser (together, Defendants) were convicted of cocaine offenses. Both Defendants sought reversal of their convictions but for different reasons. The First Circuit affirmed both…
Date: April 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1059
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for violating 18 U.S.C. 922(n), which makes it unlawful for a person who is under indictment for a certain category of crime to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been transported in…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2543
Justia Opinion Summary: Invoking diversity jurisdiction, Defendant removed this action from state court to federal court. At the time of removal, Plaintiff had not yet formally served Defendant. The district denied Plaintiff’s motion to remand…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1156
Justia Opinion Summary: A police detective applied for a warrant to search Defendant’s home. The warrant application was supported by an affidavit in which the detective attested that he had probable cause to believe Defendant was hiding…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1585
Justia Opinion Summary: This putative class action was brought on behalf of ten foster children in the custody of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). The complaint alleged that DCYF’s failings exposed foster…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2059
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought this complaint under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), alleging (1) the administrator of his former employer’s executive severance plan denied him severance benefits after improperly…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1310
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted on several state charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) affirmed. The SJC rejected Petitioner’s due process challenge to the…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1613
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Appellant pleaded guilty to Count I of a four-count indictment charging him with various drug crimes. The plea agreement contained a clear waiver of appeal provision. In sentencing…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2209
Justia Opinion Summary: After Plaintiff defaulted on a mortgage loan secured by her property, a complaint was filed in the Massachusetts land court as a preliminary step to foreclose on Plaintiff’s house. Plaintiff subsequently filed this case…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1293
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was eligible for disability benefits through an employee welfare benefit plan underwritten by Aetna Life Insurance Company. Appellant successfully applied for long-term disability (LTD) benefits under his plan…
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2362
Justia Opinion Summary: An unidentified caller informed law enforcement officers that, as he was driving, he had observed a pistol being openly passed between the passengers of the the car in front of him. Acting on the information, police…
Date: April 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1674
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of drug-trafficking and one count of money laundering. Defendant was sentenced to a 168-month term of imprisonment, a sentence that was at the bottom of his Guidelines imprisonment…
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1368
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of a rifle in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. As a result of his plea, Defendant faced a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of sixty months in prison. The district court…
Date: April 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1001
Date: April 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1580
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in a Massachusetts state court, Petitioner was found guilty of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, third offense, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Petitioner appealed,…
Date: April 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1050
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of failing to register as a sex offender. Defendant was sentenced to twenty-one months in prison and seven years of supervised release. The terms of Defendant’s supervised…
Date: April 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1297
Justia Opinion Summary: When the government of Puerto Rico changed hands after the November 2012 General Elections, the government passed laws to “reorganize” different agencies. One of those laws was Law 180-2013, which made the position of…
Date: April 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1912
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a life insurance agent with the New Life Insurance Company for more than forty years. In 2009, Plaintiff was informed that his agent contract would be terminated. In 2012 and 2014, Plaintiff filed two…
Date: April 3, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1543
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, the government returned an indictment charging Appellees and sixteen others with drug-related crimes. After a jury trial, Appellees, along with one other defendant, were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute…
Date: April 3, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1550, 13-2013
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Bulgaria, was found by an immigration judge (IJ) to be removable under the alien smuggling provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act by easing or facilitating what Petitioner…
Date: April 3, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2205
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Defendant pleaded guilty on a weapon charge. The district judge sentenced Defendant, who in 1997 was convicted of committing four murders, as an armed career criminal to twenty years’ imprisonment. Defendant…
Date: April 3, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1050, 14-1052
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, current and previous employees of the Puerto Rico State Insurance Fund Corporation (SIFC), filed two similar lawsuits alleging that Defendants, the SIFC and its administrators, selectively enforced Puerto…
Date: April 3, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1466
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an inmate at the Bristol House of Correction, filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Appellees, both of whom were staff nurses at the correctional institution, alleging that the medical treatment…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1048, 13-1118
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of thirty-three counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering arising from his role in a mortgage fraud scheme. The district court imposed a below-Guidelines…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2136
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to import over five kilograms of cocaine into the United States and conspiracy to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine. The sentencing court imposed a…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2176
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit a drug trafficking offense and three counts of criminal use of a communications facility to facilitate a trafficking offense. Defendant was…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2384
Justia Opinion Summary: After the government of Puerto Rico changed hands in 2012, the legislature enacted a law repealing Reorganization Plan No. 1-2011 and abolished four positions that the Plan had created. The legislature also enacted other…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1001
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties in this case were two law firms that disputed how to split attorneys’ fees due them as a result of their mutual clients’ recovery (Plaintiffs) in the personal injury lawsuit that gave rise to this action. The…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1370
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff obtained an Standard Flood Insurance Policy from Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company that afforded flood coverage for Plaintiff’s home. The Policy excluded coverage for damage occurring in a “basement.” After a…
Date: March 30, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2490
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a veteran of the Puerto Rico Police Department, was convicted of aiding and abetting an attempt to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance…
Date: March 30, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1018, 14-1289
Justia Opinion Summary: The American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) asked the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to display a pair of paid, private advertisements on the trains, buses, and transit stations that the MBTA…
Date: March 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1286
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal was the third time the First Circuit opined on United States’ prosecution of Defendant for mail and wire fraud. The Court first affirmed a district court order setting aside a jury verdict of guilty in favor…
Date: March 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1450
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a participant in a disability plan (Plan), which was insured and administered by Defendant under ERISA. The Plan limited long-term disability (LTD) benefits to twenty-four months for a disability caused or…
Date: March 25, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2259
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a member of a prominent political family allegedly involved in the Rwandan genocide, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice based on false statements she made in connection with her application…
Date: March 25, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2387
Justia Opinion Summary: Home Orthopedics Corp. was a medical equipment supplier based in Puerto Rico. Raul Rodriguez, the president of another home medical supplier in Puerto Rico, attempted to collect a consulting fee Home Orthopedics agreed…
Date: March 25, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1950
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant, a member of a prominent political family allegedly involved in the Rwandan genocide, was convicted of two counts of procuring citizenship illegally by making false statements to the…
Date: March 20, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2007
Justia Opinion Summary: Advanced Flexible Circuits (AFC) entered into negotiations with GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies GmbH and GE Sensing, Division of Caribe GE International of Puerto Rico, Inc. (collectively, GE) for AFC to manufacture…
Date: March 20, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1494
Justia Opinion Summary: Upon Defendant’s return from Puerto Rico from Colombia by airplane, heroin was discovered in hidden compartments of Defendant’s laptop computer and Sony Playstation game console. Defendant was indicted for possession…
Date: March 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1393
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant confessed to robbing a federal credit union and was convicted for this crime. Prior to trial, Defendant twice moved to suppress his confession, arguing that it was coerced in violation of his Fifth Amendment…
Date: March 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1403
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of a stolen firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(j). The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in (1) admitting…
Date: March 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1644
Justia Opinion Summary: First State Insurance Company and New England Reinsurance Corporation (collectively, First State) entered into several reinsurance and retrocession agreements with a reinsurer, National Casualty Company (National). First…
Date: March 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1405
Justia Opinion Summary: Jorge L. Vaello-Carmona worked for Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. from 1991 until his dismissal in 2009. In 2011, Vaello-Carmona filed a complaint against Siemens alleging disability discrimination and unlawful…
Date: March 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1136
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States by participating in a sham marriage to secure a change in her immigration status. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the indictment as time-barred…
Date: March 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1423
Justia Opinion Summary: Relators’ daughter was being treated by counselors at Arbour Counseling Services in Lawrence, Massachusetts when she was prescribed a medication for her purported bipolar disorder. The daughter experienced an adverse…
Date: March 16, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1973
Justia Opinion Summary: Kenneth Jones filed this qui tam action pursuant to the False Claims Act alleging that, in submitting a grant application to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Dr. Ronald Killiany and Dr. Marilyn Albert (together,…
Date: March 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1072
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and to failing to report the importation of more than $10,000 in United States currency. At sentencing, the district court adopted the…
Date: March 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1909
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant, a former flight attendant, was convicted of giving false information regarding a bomb threat on an airplane. The statute Defendant was accused of violating requires the government to prove…
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2278
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former pretrial detainee at the Somerset County Jail (SCJ), filed this action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging that various correctional and administrative officers at SCJ violated his rights under the First,…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1626
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff obtained a $23 million judgment in New York against a New Jersey corporation ("Corporation") with its principal place of business in Massachusetts. Plaintiff sought to secure payment on that judgment by…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2525
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. The district court sentenced Defendant to one year in…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1252
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was associated with Appellee, Raymond James Financial Services, as a securities broker. After Appellee decided to terminate Appellant’s contract, Appellant brought an arbitration proceeding before the Financial…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1603
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff obtained a $23 million judgment against a Corporation. Plaintiff sought to secure payment on that judgment by filing suit in federal district court against the Corporation’s president and its corporate parent,…
Date: March 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2260
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a retired employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), filed a civil action in the district court pursuant to Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision, alleging several claims. The district court granted…
Date: March 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1936
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to violating the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act. Defendant was sentenced to a thirty-month prison term, to be followed by a twenty-year term of supervised release. Defendant…
Date: March 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2140
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant and three other individuals robbed a hotel and casino in Puerto Rico. Appellant subsequently pleaded guilty to possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. In sentencing Appellant,…
Date: February 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1748
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of a number of crimes arising out of a carjacking and murder. At trial, Defendant sought to introduce the testimony of the mother of an alleged co-conspirator. The mother was prepared to testify…
Date: February 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2537
Justia Opinion Summary: When the Department of Homeland Security commenced removal proceedings against Petitioner, a Dominican national, Petitioner conceded removability and applied for voluntary departure. While the immigration proceedings…
Date: February 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1068
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a customer service employee at a Bank. When Plaintiff could no longer endure disparate treatment due to her bisexuality she received at the Bank, she stopped reporting to work. The Bank then terminated her…
Date: February 27, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1170
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged with multiple crimes arising out of the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. After jury selection commenced, Petitioner filed his third motion to change venue,…
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Number: 12-1991
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and an accomplice piloted a boat used to import cocaine. Both Defendant and his accomplice pled guilty to importing cocaine to the United States. The district court sentenced Defendant to 135 months’…
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1633, 13-1657
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Jose Luis Rodriguez-Martinez (Rodriguez) and Joel Santini-Mendez (Santini) were convicted of aiding and abetting the attempted possession of narcotics with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting the…
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