Although the jury found for the plaintiff on her claim under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and awarded her $50,000, the evidence was not enough to permit a reasonable jury to conclude the company’s proffered rationale for firing her ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Judge Julius N. Richardson

A pro se prisoner’s claim that his rights were violated was supported by the failure of prison officials to explain the need to check his mail for contraband outside of his presence. Because the infringement of his First Amendment rights ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Counsel incorrectly advised the defendant that if he pleaded guilty to fraud charges he would be preserving all his appeal rights, including the ability to appeal the denial of a motion to suppress. The trial judge’s colloquy did not correct ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Although a Swiss corporation argued the missing party, a British Islands entity, was not indispensable to resolution of claims involving performance under fuel contracts, its own complaint confirmed the missing party was necessary and indispensable. Because joining the missing party ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Practice Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Where the defendant’s prior conviction for robbery under Maryland law qualified as a predicate violent felony and his prior Maryland conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute constituted a “controlled substance offense” under the Sentencing Guidelines, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

The warrantless forensic searches of defendant’s electronic devices lacked the requisite nexus to the recognized historic rationales justifying the border search exception. Background In April 2015, a minor alerted law enforcement officers that Raymond Idemudia Aigbekaen and another man had ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Although the defendant’s statement admitting possession of a gun was involuntary, his motion to suppress failed because prior to any involuntary admissions, the police believed he possessed a weapon, had probable cause to search the car and would have inevitably ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Where the district court wrongly concluded that the defendant’s prior conviction for conspiracy qualified as a controlled substance offense under the Sentencing Guidelines, the defendant was not entitled to resentencing because the defendant failed to raise his objection before the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Where a prisoner’s three separate civil rights actions against corrections employees were dismissed on the same day, the prisoner could appeal the dismissals in forma pauperis because a dismissal does not count as a “prior occasion” under the Prison Litigation ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

The Board of Immigration Appeals acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it upheld the decision of an immigration judge denying asylum to a victim of domestic violence whose uncontroverted testimony established that the police in her home country frequently ignored her ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Diana Gribbon Motz