2015 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 501 - 568 of 568
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2296
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the former head chef at the Villa Cofresi Hotel, was at least forty years old at the time he was suspended and then fired. Plaintiff filed suit in federal court against the Hotel and its general manager under…
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2358
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, and three specific offense counts reflecting…
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1290
Justia Opinion Summary: In this putative class action against the manufacturer of Lexapro, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Plaintiffs claimed that Lexapro’s FDA-approved drug label misleads California consumers by omitting material efficacy…
Date: February 18, 2015
Docket Numbers: 12-2035, 12-2037, 12-2041
Justia Opinion Summary: Three criminal defendants (“Defendants”) were indicted and convicted for conspiracy to import cocaine. Defendants appealed their convictions and sentences. The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court,…
Date: February 18, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1328, 14-1350, 14-9002, 14-9003
Justia Opinion Summary: The four debtors involved in these bankruptcy appeals all failed to timely file their Massachusetts income tax returns and failed to pay their taxes. Each debtor eventually filed his late tax returns but still failed to…
Date: February 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1365
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and aiding and abetting possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On appeal, Defendant sought to vacate his…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1061
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of five drug-related counts and one firearm-related count arising from his role in leading a conspiracy to distribute drugs in Puerto Rico public housing projects. The district…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1471
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of armed robbery and armed burglary. The state trial judge found Petitioner to be a habitual offender and sentenced him to life in prison. On appeal, the state appellate…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1743
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A). The district court imposed a 108-month prison sentence. Defendant appealed.…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2055
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of multiple firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) and the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Appellant had previously been convicted of multiple crimes…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2379
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered into a plea agreement pursuant to which he pleaded guilty of conspiring to distribute substantial quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Based on facts developed in a presentence investigation…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1056
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, removal proceedings were commenced against Petitioner, a Guatemalan national. Petitioner conceded removability and cross-applied for discretionary relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1681
Justia Opinion Summary: Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, LLC (SSR) applied for a license to place a casino in certain areas of Massachusetts. Caesars Entertainment Corporation and three Massachusetts affiliates (collectively, Caesars) were the…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1126
Justia Opinion Summary: Father was a citizen of Argentina. Mother was a U.S. citizen and permanent resident of Argentina. While living in Argentina, the parties had a child. After the parties separated, they reached a child custody agreement…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1259
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a baseball coach, was convicted of three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography. The district court sentenced Defendant to 480 months in prison. The First…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1281
Justia Opinion Summary: T&N Limited (T&N), an asbestos manufacturer, chose to address the liability it faced after the deadly qualities of asbestos were discovered through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan (the Plan). Then Plan…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1296
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute less than 100 grams of heroin and four counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute heroin.…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2064
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Appellant pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge. Consistent with the agreement, defense counsel sought a 120-month sentence at sentencing. The government argued for the agreement’s…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2268
Justia Opinion Summary: Due to his 2002 state-court conviction for indecent assault Defendant was required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Defendant later pleaded guilty to one count of failure to…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2491
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Catlin (Syndicate 2003) at Lloyd’s (“Catlin”) issued to San Juan Towing and Marine Services (SJT), a ship repair company based on San Jan, Puerto Rico, a marine insurance policy to cover SJT’s floating drydock.…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1502
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs here were a class of entities and individuals who purchased the stock of Abiomed, Inc. Plaintiffs brought suit against Abiomed and two of its officers (collectively, Defendants), alleging that Defendants…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1676
Justia Opinion Summary: Rosaura Building Corp. (“Rosaura”) filed a lease contract petition form offering its building as property for Head Start classrooms. The Mayor of the Municipality of Mayguez rejected the contract. Rosaura brought a civil…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2075
Justia Opinion Summary: A grand jury indicted Defendant for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and more than twenty-eight grams of cocaine base. After a two-day jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiring to possess…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1011
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (“Department”) directly awarded federal grant funds to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (“Planned Parenthood”). New Hampshire Right to Life filed a lawsuit…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1414
Justia Opinion Summary: This shareholder derivative suit was one of several suits alleging that Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, a major gun manufacturer incorporated in Nevada, made misleading public statements in 2007 about demand for its…
Date: February 3, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1769
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a student at Brown University, was suspended for three semesters after a number of students and staff submitted complaints regarding his behavior. Appellant filed an eleven-count complaint in the district…
Date: February 2, 2015
Docket Numbers: 12-1213, 12-1216
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9). The indictments listed Defendants’ previous convictions under Maine’s misdemeanor assault statutes as…
Date: February 2, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2170
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The district court imposed an above-Guidelines prison sentence of seventy-two months because of the seriousness of…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1070
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted in state court of murder in the first degree. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction. Petitioner subsequently filed several motions for a new trial…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1086
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was fired from his place of employment after his employer (Defendant) learned that Plaintiff had consistently falsified his time cards over the course of several years, costing the company “1.25 hours of labor…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1179, 14-1229
Justia Opinion Summary: A tractor-trailer was involved in an auto collision that caused serious bodily injury. The owner of the tractor (Owner) obtained primary insurance for the tractor through Old Republic Insurance Company (Old Republic).…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1229
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1295
Justia Opinion Summary: In United States v. Eirby, the First Circuit held that the strict liability offense of engagement in a sexual act with a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old minor by a person at least ten years older constitutes a crime of…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1521, 14-1522
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the dispute over settlement agreements between AstraZeneca, which sells a heartburn drug called Nexium, and three generic drug companies that sought to market generic forms of Nexium. The named…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 12-1743
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a former officer with the Puerto Rico Police Department, was charged with multiple drug-related and firearm-related charges for his participation in fifteen drug transactions that were part of an FBI sting…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1243
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to failing to register in Puerto Rico as a sex offender. The district court sentenced Defendant and stated that any appeal had to be filed within fourteen days of entry of judgment. Defendant took…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1786
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a town official for the town of Raymond, claimed that Michael Reynolds, a fellow town official, told the sheriff’s department that Plaintiff had driven while intoxicated, that the reports were false, and the…
Date: January 22, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1521, 14-1522
Justia Opinion Summary: AstraZeneca, which sells a heartburn drug called Nexium, and three generic drug companies (“generic defendants”) that sought to market generic forms of Nexium, entered into settlement agreements in which the generic…
Date: January 20, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1336
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in this case were fourteen maintenance, domestic, and warehouse workers who were abruptly fired from the Puerto Rico executive mansion shortly after Luis Fortuño-Burset (“Fortuño”), the newly-elected governor,…
Date: January 20, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1620
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute various controlled offenses, possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, and possessing firearms in…
Date: January 20, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1893, 14-1285
Justia Opinion Summary: Federal authorities instituted removal proceedings against Petitioner, a Chinese national. Petitioner failed to appear at the scheduled hearing, and an immigration judge (IJ) entered an order of removal in absentia.…
Date: January 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1817
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant had leased the same apartment at a San Juan, Puerto Rico housing cooperative (Cooperative) for several years. While living at the cooperative, Appellant received benefits under the Section 8 federal housing…
Date: January 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1276
Justia Opinion Summary: Even after receiving investments from four investors of over $20 million from 2001 to 2005, Access Cardiosystems, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005. Four investors filed a third amended complaint…
Date: January 6, 2015
Docket Numbers: 12-1610, 13-1263
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Appellant guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. Appellant was tried a second time on the drug trafficking charge after the First Circuit concluded that…
Date: January 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1076
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 2007, Defendant was convicted of two drug trafficking counts. At sentencing, the sentencing judge made a drug quantity finding and increased the mandatory minimum sentence for each count. Defendant…
Date: January 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1557
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was services that Maine Medical Center provided to Medicare/Medicaid “dual-eligible” patients, that is, patients covered by both Medicare and the state-administered Medicaid insurance program,…
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