Where a direct action brought by the company was resolved in a broad release, and there was no evidence of collusion or bad faith, a derivative action asserting identical or similar claims arising out of the same underlying facts was ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Commercial Judge G. Steven Agee

Defendants convicted of using a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in murder failed in their arguments that statements by co-defendants violated the Confrontation Clause and/or were generally inadmissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. Moreover, given the scope ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

A defendant’s argument that the district court declined to specify the evidence supporting its finding he committed violations while in prison on drug charges failed because transcripts showed the court relied on the testimony of multiple witnesses and a video. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

While there was no error in sentencing an individual to 276 months’ imprisonment and a term of lifetime supervised release after he pleaded guilty to knowingly traveling in foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

Where a prison disciplinary proceeding that resulted in the revocation of 20 days of an inmate’s “good-time” credits contained no probative evidence to support his conviction, his due process rights were violated, requiring that his good-time credits be restored. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge G. Steven Agee

Where the government changed its position regarding the standard of review in a letter submitted the day before oral argument, this “eleventh-hour” submission was rejected. In a case of first impression, it was found that the district court had the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS,  application of the law that was in effect when an Alien Relative petition brought by an immigrant and his wife was adjudicated, rather than the statute that was in effect when the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge G. Steven Agee

Where an opinion issued by the Attorney General, holding that immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA, lacks authority to administratively close a case, was contrary to the plain language of the regulations and would upend settled ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge G. Steven Agee

Where the trial court improperly excluded an expert who would have provided testimony material to the defendants’ defense, two defendants convicted of drug conspiracy charges are entitled to a new trial. Background A federal jury convicted Benjamin Galecki and Charles ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

Because a sentencing judge who denied the victim’s request for restitution erred by not articulating how he balanced various competing factors, the victim will have another opportunity to argue he should be awarded restitution as part of the drunken driving ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee