Jurors Can Be Struck for Translation Hesitation

Debtor Can’t Deduct Payments from Income

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 13, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Bankruptcy, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A chapter 13 debtor who planned to turn over to secured creditors two ATVs, for which she paid $163 per month, should have accounted for that additional income in calculating her projected disposable income, and the 4th Circuit reverses a district court order upholding the bankruptcy court decision that debtor could deduct the monthly payments [...]

No ‘Safety-Valve’ Sentence for Heroin Importer

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 7, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A native of Ghana and Dutch citizen discovered to have ingested 998 grams of heroin for importation into the U.S. as he returned from Ghana was not eligible for a minimum sentence under the “safety valve” statute for his conviction under 21 U.S.C. § 952(a), the 4th Circuit says. The district court concluded defendant was [...]

Restrictive covenant different from noncompete, court says

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 17, 2012
Tags: Contract, Federal Courts, Judge Dennis W. Shedd, Judge Leonie Brinkema, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

An Alexandria federal judge was too quick to pull the trigger on a petroleum distributor’s suit to enforce a restrictive covenant meant to keep a service-station operator from selling a different brand of gasoline. The trial judge awarded summary judgment to the service-station operator, including fees and costs, when BP Products North America Inc. tried [...]

Purchase Contract Noncompete Not Too Broad

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 16, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Contract, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

The 4th Circuit reverses summary judgment for defendant service-station operator in plaintiff fuel distributor’s suit to enforce a restrictive covenant that was part of a Purchase Sale Agreement and deed and prohibited the service-station operator from selling non-BP branded products or offering certain automotive services; in a 2-1 split, the panel majority says Virginia courts [...]

No Bankruptcy Court OK, No Jurisdiction

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 15, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Bankruptcy, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

The 4th Circuit upholds a district court’s dismissal of claims by former officers of debtor corporation against the trustee’s law firm, hired to pursue an adversary action against the officers and sued by the former officers for invasion of privacy, breach of fiduciary duty and civil conspiracy; the trial court did not err in applying [...]

No Privacy Violation in Camera Seizure

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 1, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

The 4th Circuit upholds summary judgment for the government in a photojournalist’s suit alleging the government’s seizure of her camera and photographs violated her rights under the Privacy Protection Act; the government established probable cause under the “suspect exception” to base its search warrant on information that plaintiff might have participated in vandalism of the [...]

Court Upholds Denial of Civil Commitment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 12, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

The 4th Circuit affirms a district court finding that the government failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that Clyde M. Hall is a “sexually dangerous person” under the civil commitment procedure in 18 U.S.C. § 4248. Hall had a history of physical, emotional and sexual abuse as a child. He was banished from [...]

ALJ Can Reject Sole IQ Test

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 12, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge William B. Traxler Jr., Social Security

An administrative law judge can reject findings that a claimant is mentally retarded even if there is only one set of test scores in the record; the 4th Circuit joins the majority of federal appeals courts in this view, and upholds the ALJ’s rejection of this claimant’s application for supplemental security income benefits, in light [...]

No Brady Violation on Bullet Studies

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 29, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A North Carolina death-row defendant convicted of kidnapping and murdering three women in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge cannot win post-conviction relief on a claim that the government failed to disclose before trial two FBI studies that undermined the government’s use of Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis that linked bullets used in the women’s murder and [...]