Where the defendant argued his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to move to suppress incriminating statements made in violation of Miranda, an evidentiary hearing was required to determine whether he was in custody at the time of his ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Where an individual convicted in 1993 for misdemeanor assault and battery of a family member has demonstrated good behavior during the following 27 years, the prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) from possessing a firearm continues to apply because Congress ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Because it is uncertain whether the Supreme Court of Virginia would conclude that common law robbery can be committed by means of threatening to accuse the victim of sodomy, and that question is determinative on whether the defendant qualifies as ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Although a fuel supplier had already entered into a settlement agreement with a vessel charterer who failed to pay for fuel, that settlement did not prevent the supplier from enforcing a maritime lien against the vessel. Background Addax Energy SA ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge Barbara Milano Keenan Judge G. Steven Agee

Although a website operator began using “ipad” three years before Apple released its iPad in 2010, because Apple acquired use of the mark from another company that predated the website operator’s use, the mark obtained secondary meaning and Apple qualified ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Intellectual Property Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Where the defendant convicted of carjacking and brandishing a machine gun challenged the evidence that he intended to cause harm, the fact that he pointed the machine gun at the two carjacking victims and threatened that they could either help ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Where 12 Virginia voters showed the legislature had used race as the predominant factor in constructing 11 districts and the use of race was not justified by a compelling state interest, they were awarded over $4.1 million in attorneys’ fees ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Barbara Milano Keenan U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the debtors filed suit within one year of the defendant’s alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, it was timely. Because the statute of limitations runs from the date of each “violation,” the fact the defendant had ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Consumer Protection Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

A sentencing enhancement for use of a dangerous weapon in an assault on law enforcement officers could not be based on the defendant’s attempted but unsuccessful use of his teeth and skull to bite and “head butt” the police. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

In a case involving a farm warehouse fire, where the carrier’s denial of full coverage was not supported by the case law, the policy language or the facts, the family farm was entitled to recover its prejudgment interest on the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Barbara Milano Keenan