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

Where the district court set aside the defendant’s convictions for money laundering and other charges and ordered a new trial, and the order vacating the convictions was reversed, the case was remanded because of the court’s failure to specify why ...

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

Where a broker executed trades on investors’ portfolio margin accounts in clear violation of a rule of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., or FINRA, the arbitration panel did not manifestly disregard the law by imposing liability against the broker, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Although the orders authorizing wiretaps simply identified a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division as the authorizing official, and there are six persons who hold that title, because the specific official was named in the applications, which accompanied ...

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

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