Where the magistrate judge failed to advise the defendant of his potential exposure to a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence by pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, and the defendant demonstrated there was a “reasonable probability” he ...

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

Where the NAACP’s Enumeration Clause challenge to the “methods and means” to be used in the 2020 census was ripe by the time it sought leave to reintroduce the claims in February 2019, the district court’s contrary conclusion was legal ...

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

Where the defendant made a series of online threats against police officers generally, as well as threats that he was on a “manhunt” for three particular officers, the search warrant was adequately supported. And where he failed to establish that ...

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

Where police shot at a man 29 times in his dwelling after officers armed with assault rifles entered the home with a warrant to search for drugs and failed to identify themselves as police,  the facts showed an officer’s use ...

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

Where a company licensed the use of a trademark without disclosing that the company itself was under a license to use that mark, and failed to disclose the license at any point during the discovery process, barring the company from ...

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

While members of the Double Nine Goon Syndikate failed in their challenge to their convictions because the district court did not err in empaneling an anonymous jury, in its evidentiary rulings or in its jury instructions, four of the defendants ...

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

A company president is not personally responsible for a multi-million dollar judgment because he was never personally named in the complaint. However, the president might be liable for sanctions because of his conduct during the discovery. Background In December 2010, ...

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

A defendant properly received a sentencing enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act, or ACCA, because his prior state convictions for common law robbery and accessory before the fact of armed robbery both qualify as violent felonies. Background In 2009, ...

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

Where the government allowed a jury to be empaneled and began presenting testimony despite the fact that a subpoenaed witness had not appeared in court, as required, for the first two days of trial, and a mistrial was granted on ...

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

A subcontractor that alleged a prime contractor for the Air Force conspired with another company to deprive it of work failed to establish tortious interference and aiding and abetting claims. The case was remanded. Background In 2004, the Air Force ...

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