A defendant claiming the relevant law had changed after his sentence was not entitled to habeas relief because, in fact, the law had not changed. Background Jermaine Moss was tried in a Florida federal district court for two drug offenses ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Albert Diaz

North Carolina’s ban on the unauthorized practice of law is not constitutionally infirm as applied to a trade association because it does not restrict the association’s speech, association or related rights and does not violate the state’s Monopoly Clause. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Albert Diaz

Testimony from a Department of Homeland Security intern about how he extracted cellphone data was not improper opinion testimony, and did not require expert testimony for authentication purposes. And the district court did not commit plain error by concluding a ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Albert Diaz

The court joined its sister circuits in holding that, where a party obtains a judgment against an insured, and then sues that insured’s carrier, that second suit is not a “direct action” within meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). Furthermore, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Albert Diaz

The dismissal of a church’s suit was vacated, allowing it to pursue claims against Baltimore County alleging it discriminated against the church on religious grounds in violation of a federal statute and the Constitution by denying it permission to operate ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Albert Diaz

Where a church’s petition to operate on property made substantial efforts to comply with the applicable zoning laws and was not opposed by the relevant authorities, the denial of the petition after objections from the surrounding community constituted religious discrimination. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Albert Diaz Zoning

Evidence from defendant’s cellphone should have been suppressed at trial because the police did not have a reasonable justification for their delay in obtaining a search warrant, but hearsay testimony was properly admitted because the defendant actively caused the declarant ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Albert Diaz

A stormwater utility charge imposed by the City of Roanoke was considered a fee, rather than a tax, even though the charge was enacted by the legislature, applied to a large group of landowners and benefited the public at large, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Albert Diaz Municipal

A man convicted of felony abduction in 2012 won vacation of a removal order based on the court’s finding that he was admitted to the United States in 2002, and the felony removal statute requires the crime be committed within ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Albert Diaz

The district court did not err in increasing the sentence of a defendant who argued that the good behavior requirement of his prior sentence is not a “criminal justice sentence” because it lacks a custodial or supervisory component. Virginia law ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Albert Diaz