Claims by a defendant convicted of conspiracy in a luxury car scheme that a judge’s jury instruction constructively amended the indictment against him in violation of the Fifth Amendment, was rejected, as the instruction did not alter the element of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris

Despite an affidavit asserting jurors made racially tinged statements, the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that interviewing jurors would not likely reveal evidence that racial animus was a motivating factor in the vote to convict defendant ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A gag order imposed by the district court overseeing suits against the owners of hog farms breached basic First Amendment principles. Background Hundreds of plaintiffs have alleged that nearby hog farms associated with Murphy-Brown LLC are a private nuisance. Plaintiffs ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

After Congress set a specific deadline for the Department of Energy to remove a specific amount of plutonium from South Carolina, the district court correctly determined that it was required to order the DOE to remove the plutonium. Affirmed. Congress ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Robert B. King

Even if an expert witness favored defendants in black lung cases, violated applicable standards, and misled coal miners and the Black Lung Benefits Act tribunals, that witness – like other witnesses – is entitled to absolute immunity from plaintiffs’ RICO ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Practice Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The Court of Federal Claims, and not federal district court, has jurisdiction over an employee health plan’s suit seeking a refund under the Affordable Care Act. Background The Electrical Welfare Trust Fund is a self-administered, self-insured employee health and welfare ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Although the defendant argued that the government’s failure to disclose information about an oil valve used to conduct illegal discharges was a Brady violation,  the information was not material and the convictions for failure to maintain accurate records and for ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority defeated a challenge to its use of toll funds for metro services to Dulles airport. Background Appellants here have raised a variety of constitutional and statutory challenges to Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority’s ability to use ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Because the district court would have imposed the same sentence on an undocumented immigrant convicted of sexual battery and illegal reentry, the error made in the process was harmless. Background Macias-Maldonado illegally entered the United States in 2006. In January ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

A man sentenced to 132 months in prison for possession and distribution of heroin failed to get his conviction overturned. Background A jury convicted Tacarlos Miller of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and distribution of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion