Plea Colloquy Supports ACCA Sentence

Carrier Covers Part of Lead-Paint Judgment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 8, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Insurance, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

In determining insurance coverage for a Baltimore child who won a $850,000 judgment for lead paint injuries against two defendants – a realty company and the property owner that bought the house in which the child lived – the 4th Circuit says the realty company’s insurance contract requires the carrier to pay 40 percent of [...]

No Bivens-Type Claim for Terrorist

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 25, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Convicted terrorist Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, and his mother, may not sue for legal and equitable relief based on Padilla’s prior military detention as an “enemy combatant”; the 4th Circuit upholds the district court decision refusing plaintiffs’ request for a declaration that defendant government officials’ policies were unconstitutional, an order enjoining Padilla’s future designation [...]

Investor Should Bring Derivative Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 9, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Corporate, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

An investor who suffered losses in 2007 when his 100,000 shares of Wachovia stock plunged from $56.65 per share price to below $1 cannot bring an individual suit based on defendant corporate officers’ alleged fraud about Wachovia’s financial health; the 4th Circuit says the investor does not qualify for any exception to the general rule [...]

Pat Down Upheld for Gas-Station Watcher

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 14, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Search & Seizure

Police who observed defendant at 4:40 a.m. near a gas station that had been robbed previously, in an area outside surveillance-camera range, apparently stalking the gas-station attendant, had reasonable suspicion to perform a stop-and-frisk and the 4th Circuit upholds the pat down, admission of the gun in defendant’s pocket and his conviction for possession of [...]

Black Lung Benefits for Widow Under PPACA

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 14, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A widow wins survivor’s benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act without having to prove her coal miner husband died from pneumoconiosis, because the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act says an eligible survivor of a miner receiving benefits at the time of death is automatically entitled to survivor benefits; the 4th Circuit rejects petitioner’s [...]

Traffic Stop Before Warrant Execution OK

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 13, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Search & Seizure

A police affidavit detailing police discovery of marijuana packaging and residue in a trash pull outside defendant’s residence supported issuance of a search warrant for defendant’s home, and the police effort to safeguard defendant’s wife and young children during execution of the search warrant, by first detaining defendant in a traffic stop and searching the [...]

4th Circuit panel overturns S.C. murder conviction

By The Associated Press
Published: December 1, 2011
Tags: Criminal, Federal Courts, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

(AP) A federal appeals court has tossed out the conviction of a South Carolina man who has spent most of the last 29 years on death row, ruling his trial attorneys failed to challenge forensic evidence that could have exonerated him in the slaying of a 75-year-old widow. In a 2-1 ruling on Nov. 22, [...]

Parents’ Petition Denied for ‘Alien Smuggling’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 2, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A Guatemalan mother and father who entered the U.S. illegally engaged in “alien smuggling” when they followed a pattern of sending each of their four children several thousand dollars at a hotel in Mexico, for the children’s subsequent illegal arrival in the U.S.; the 4th Circuit upholds the Board of Immigration Appeals’ conclusion that the [...]

Unpaid Bodyguards with Guns Are ‘Employed’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 26, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Defendant members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who carried guns to protect their national vice president, a convicted felon, were in possession and “employed for” a convicted felon, even without tangible compensation, and the 4th Circuit says the district court erred in dismissing weapons charges under 18 U.S.C. § 922(h) on the ground that there [...]