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Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[09/08] US v. Diaz-Jimenez
In a prosecution of defendant for being present in the United States illegally, district court's imposition of a sentence of 21 months' imprisonment is reversed and remanded as there was a serious breach of the plea agreement that defendant be recommended a sentence at the bottom of the guidelines range of 18 months, and the defendant is also entitled to be resentenced by a different judge.

[09/08] Mitts v. Bagley
Defendant's petition for habeas relief from his capital murder conviction is granted where: 1) the holding of the Supreme Court of Ohio was contrary to clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States in Beck v. Alabama, because Beck compels that proper instructions must make clear that the jury does not have to complete its death deliberation before considering a life sentence, and thus, defendant's due process rights were violated; and 2) district court's conclusions as to ineffective assistance of counsel are affirmed.

[09/08] US v. McGill
Defendant's firearm possession sentence is affirmed where, contrary to the government's contention, defendant's prior felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun was not a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act.

[09/08] Grider v. Auburn
In an action by plaintiffs who owned a bar/restaurant in Auburn, Alabama, against City of Auburn and City employees under state tort law and 42 U.S.C. section 1983 for violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, claiming that the City and its agents filed false bribery charges and selectively enforced regulatory laws in order to harm plaintiffs' business, a denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity is affirmed in part where, absent the offering of funds, there was no bribery and no arguable probable cause for defendant-officer to arrest plaintiff. However, the order is reversed in part where plaintiffs lacked evidence that the city defendants conspired with the officer to maliciously prosecute plaintiff.

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Family Law

[09/02] In re Jose C.
Juvenile court's order terminating mother's parental rights and freeing the child for adoption is affirmed where: 1) trial court did not err in finding that the child was likely to be adopted; and 2) juvenile court did not err in failing to consider "presumed father" status for the grandfather.

[09/02] In re H.S.
Juvenile court's orders adjudicating minors to be dependent children and removing them from parental custody are affirmed as the tern "new evidence" in section 388 means material evidence that, with due diligence, the party could not have presented at the dependency proceeding at which the order, sought to be modified or set aside, was entered, and here, the father's section 388 motion relied on a expert opinion that was based not on any new evidence, but on the same evidence available to the experts who testified at trial. Further, to allow the belated new opinion evidence to support a section 388 motion would be contrary to the public policy calling for promptness and finality of juvenile dependency proceedings in order to protect the best interests of the child.

[09/02] In re A.L.
In dependency proceedings, trial court's dispositional order that minor child be returned to the custody of her mother and an order of family enhancement services is affirmed where: 1) because parental custody of the child was not disrupted by the dispositional order, and the child was not placed in foster care, there is no current need to "reunify" this family; and 2) father has made no showing that the "family enhancement" services ordered for him were not reasonable or did not constitute child welfare services or services provided by an appropriate agency.

[08/31] In re A.M.
An order declaring a father's minor children dependents of the juvenile court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300(f) is affirmed where: 1) substantial evidence supports the court's section 300(f) jurisdictional finding that the father caused the death of a minor child through neglect; and 2) after considering all of the evidence and having the opportunity to observe the demeanor of witnesses, the juvenile court was in the best position to make the credibility findings concerning the father's statements.

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