Where an attorney argued during a plea withdrawal hearing against his client’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea, that conflict of interest warrants a new hearing with conflict-free counsel. Background Tekoa Glover raises two independent claims for relief from his ...
Read More »Labor/Employment – County must pay winning party’s attorneys’ fees
Where Montgomery County transferred a blind employee to her requested customer service position at a countywide call center after a jury found its failure to do so amounted to discrimination, she was entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and ...
Read More »Commercial – Antitrust pharmaceutical class decertified
Where a class of pharmaceutical buyers claimed two manufacturers allegedly reached an anticompetitive settlement in a patent dispute, the district court erred in focusing on whether denial of certification would result in “multiple individual trials” when it certified a class. ...
Read More »Constitutional – City may ban females from going topless
Where the court previously held that protecting the portion of society that disfavored public display of female breasts furthers an important governmental interest, and the Supreme Court has not held otherwise, Ocean City’s ordinance prohibiting women from going topless was ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Warrantless search of impounded vehicle justified
Where there was probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle at the scene, a search is also justified after the vehicle has been impounded and immobilized as long as probable cause still exists. Background Anthony Caldwell appeals ...
Read More »Immigration – Ex-gang members not a ‘socially distinct’ group
Where a citizen of El Salvador argued that former members of MS-13 were socially distinct from former members of the gang who leave for moral reasons, the administrative record did not support this argument. Background German Alexander Nolasco, a native ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Short transcript fails to explain special conditions
Where the sentencing court’s explanation of five supervised release conditions consisted of only two sentences, it failed to adequately explain its reasons for rejecting the defendant’s non-frivolous arguments and, therefore, abused its discretion. Background Santario Boyd pleaded guilty to a ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Ban on social networking accounts upheld
Where a sex trafficking defendant lured women into prostitution using social media, her vagueness challenge to a ban on using social networking accounts was rejected. There was a “commonsense” meaning of the condition, she heard the probation officer’s explanation, could ...
Read More »Civil Rights – State expert rule inapplicable in federal court
A detainee’s claim against prison officials for lack of meaningful medical treatment was improperly dismissed. Although state law requires certification from a medical expert before filing a medical negligence claim in state court, that requirement does not apply in federal ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Child abuser’s above-guidelines sentence affirmed
Where the district court explained why it imposed a 327-month sentence on the child abuser and pornographer, and why it imposed a lifetime term of supervised release, the sentence was affirmed despite the fact it was 65 months above the ...
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