Where a jury awarded $22.35 million to a healthcare investor because he was defamed by a biotechnology company, but the jury did not receive evidence sufficient to support the award, the award was vacated and the case was remanded for ...

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

Where there is a historic right of access to judicial documents because they provide the public with insight into the functioning of the judicial process, two Virginia courts were ordered to provide “contemporaneous’’ access to newly filed complaints.. Background Courthouse ...

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

Where the defendant’s use of the N-word constituted “abusive language” under Virginia’s “fighting words” statute, but the government offered no evidence that two African American individuals responded violently to the hateful slur or that a reasonable person in their positions ...

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

Where French trial and appellate courts previously declared the French Republic, and not a California company, is the rightful owner of the domain name France.com, the French Republic was immune from France.com’s trademark and cybersquatting suit. Background In 1994, a ...

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

Where the owner of a blood testing laboratory and two lead salespersons were repeatedly warned that paying commissions to independent contractors might violate an anti-kickback statute, but they went ahead and paid physicians for drawing patients’ blood and processing the ...

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

Because the Virginia legislature has conferred broad authority on local governing bodies to engage in anticompetitive conduct in the EMS vehicle services market, antitrust claims against the City of Richmond, stemming from its denial of an ambulance company’s permit to ...

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

Where a defendant challenged his convictions stemming from his involvement with MS-13, the court joined other circuits in finding the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits imposition of cumulative punishments for § 924(c) and § 924(j) convictions based on the same conduct. ...

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

Where the police went to the private home of the defendant’s girlfriend believing he might be there, but lacked probable cause to conclude that he lived there, their entry without a warrant required suppression of the evidence and his convictions ...

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

Attempted Hobbs Act robbery is not a “crime of violence” because it may be committed without the use or attempted use of physical force. This decision splits from three other circuits, which held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as ...

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

Where the defendant in a wrongful death action brought by a woman whose husband’s exposure to asbestos caused his death from mesothelioma, argued the jury was improperly instructed on causation and the trial court erred by refusing to reduce the ...

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