Justia U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in December, 2011
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Defendant was convicted of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contended that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized in the course of a police search of his person. The police search included an officer's use of a knife to cut a sandwich bag containing suspected narcotics off defendant's penis, an act performed at night on a public street. The court concluded that the manner in which the search was conducted was unreasonable and, therefore, that the district court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress. Accordingly, defendant's conviction was vacated and the case remanded. View "United States v. Edward" on Justia Law

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Defendant was convicted of producing a false identification document that appeared to be issued by or under the authority of the United States government in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1028(a)(1). Defendant subsequently appealed. The court concluded that: (1) as applied to defendant, section 1028(a)(1) was not unconstitutionally vague; (2) the district court properly instructed the jury to use a "reasonable person standard" to determine whether defendant's ID "appeared to be" government-issued; (3) the Government produced sufficient evidence that defendant produced the ID, and that venue was proper, such that the district court properly denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal; and (4) it was not necessary to charge defendant with "aiding and abetting" in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2(b). Accordingly, the judgment was affirmed. View "United States v. Jaensch" on Justia Law

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This case arose out of a contract entered into by Iraq's Ministry of Defense (IMOD) and Wye Oak for the refurbishment and disposal of Iraqi military equipment. At issue was whether, for purposes of analyzing subject matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. 1602-11, a foreign state and its armed forces were separate legal persons. The court concluded that, for jurisdictional purposes, they were not. Therefore, the court held that Wye Oak's claim against Iraq alleging breach of contract entered into by IMOD fell within the FSIA's commercial activities exception. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's denial of Iraq's motion to dismiss Wye Oak's claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. View "Wye Oak Technology, Inc. v. Republic of Iraq" on Justia Law

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Plaintiff brought suit against her former employer, alleging that the employer violated Maryland law when at the time of her termination, it failed to pay her for unvested shares earned through the employer's long-term profit sharing plan. The district court granted the employer's motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). The court affirmed the district court's holding that New Jersey law applied to the contract because the Maryland statute was not a fundamental public policy of Maryland and that the unvested shares were not wages under New Jersey law. Even if Maryland law applied, the unvested shares were not wages under the Maryland statute and thus were never owed to plaintiff. View "Kunda v. C.R. Bard, Inc." on Justia Law

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Appellant, a former shareholder in Wachovia, sought to recover personally for the decline in value of his shares of Wachovia stock during the recent financial crisis. The district court dismissed the suit, concluding that appellant's complaint stated a claim derivative of injury to the corporation and that he was therefore barred from bringing a direct or individual cause of action against defendants. The court held that because appellant's varied attempts to recast his derivative claim as individual were unavailing, the judgment of the district court was affirmed. View "Rivers, Jr. v. Wachovia Corp., et al." on Justia Law

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Defendants, Nancy Bell and her daughter, pled guilty without a plea agreement to several counts arising out of a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone pills. On appeal, defendants challenged the drug quantities from which the district court calculated their base offense levels under the Sentencing Guidelines, primarily because (1) Bell obtained the pills with a valid prescription and consumed some of the pills herself, and (2) the evidence of actual drug trafficking consisted of co-conspirator testimony of uncertain reliability. The court held that because the district court failed to explain adequately its methodology for calculating drug quantity and otherwise made findings sufficient to permit appellate review of defendants' sentences for procedural reasonableness, the court vacated the judgments and remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Bell; United States v. Gibson" on Justia Law

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Defendant appealed his drug trafficking and firearm convictions. Defendant contended that the district court erroneously admitted into evidence a jacket recovered from the vicinity of the arrest. Defendant also contended the district court compounded its error by declining to exclude expert evidence concerning DNA testing performed on the jacket, together with evidence documenting the jacket's handling and custody during the testing process. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that admission of the jacket into evidence satisfied the Fed. R. Evid. 901(a) threshold. The court also held that if the district court's admission of an expert's report constituted error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Summers" on Justia Law

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Defendant pled guilty under a conditional plea agreement to knowing possession of a firearm not registered to him. Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence. The court held that the district court did not err in refusing to suppress the evidence obtained during the search of his home; in denying defendant's request for a hearing challenging the veracity of the search warrant; and in sentencing defendant. Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "United States v. McKenzie-Gude" on Justia Law

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This appeal arose out of a case involving an allision, collision between a moving vessel and a stationary object, between a USACE vessel and a private yacht, the Marquessa, owned and operated by appellants. Appellants appealed from the district court's award of damages in their favor, arguing that it was infirm in various respects. The court held that the district court did not err in applying the doctrine of constructive total loss; the district court reasonably credited testimony establishing a market value for the Marquessa; there was an insufficient basis in the record for determining the fact or extent of the alleged damage to the antennas and computers; and the district court did not err in amending its initial judgment to account for appellants' stipulation. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court was affirmed. View "F.C. Wheat Maritime Corp. v. United States" on Justia Law

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Plaintiff commenced an action under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., seeking a declaratory judgment that he was entitled to rescind a financing transaction and an award of statutory damages. At issue was whether a lender violated TILA in providing a notice to a borrower who was refinancing his mortgage of the right to rescind the transaction, using a form of notice substantially similar to Model Form H-8 in the Appendix to Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. pt. 226, rather than using Model Form H-9, which was designed for refinancing transactions. The court agreed with the district court and affirmed the dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim where Model Form H-8 included all of the information required by TILA and Regulation Z to advise borrowers of the right to rescind a consumer credit transaction, including a financing transaction. View "Watkins v. Sun Trust Mortgage Inc." on Justia Law