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

Articles Posted in April, 2013
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This case involved the government's efforts to civilly commit respondent under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, No. 109-248, 120 Stat. 587. Because the district court did not clearly err in concluding that respondent did not have a serious mental illness, the court affirmed the district court's finding that respondent was ineligible for civil commitment. Consequently, the court need not address the district court's findings with regard to whether respondent lacked volitional control. View "United States v. Springer" on Justia Law

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Defendant appealed his convictions and sentence for several crimes related to an investment scheme that resulted in nearly $100 million in losses for investors. The court reversed defendant's money laundering convictions because they were barred by the "merger problem" identified in United States v. Santos; affirmed the remainder of his convictions; and although the court found no error in defendant's sentence, in light of the court's reversal of the money laundering convictions, the court vacated his sentence and remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Abdulwahab" on Justia Law

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Country Vintner sued Gallo, under North Carolina law over the wholesale distribution of an Argentinian wine. At issue on appeal was what expenses related to electronically stored information (ESI) were taxable under the federal taxation-of-costs statute, 28 U.S.C. 1920(4). The district court entered an order taxing only the costs of converting electronic files to non-editable formats, and transferring files onto CDs. The court agreed with the district court's finding that only the conversion of native files to TIFF and PDF formats, and the transfers of files onto CDs, constituted "making copies" under section 1920(f), and that none of Gallo's expenses constituted fees for exemplification. View "The Country Vintner v. E & J Gallo Winery" on Justia Law

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Sprint entered into interconnection agreements with incumbent local exchange carriers (CenturyLink Plaintiffs) providing for the mutual exchange of telecommunications traffic pursuant to the provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 151 et seq. When Sprint began to withhold payments under the agreement, CenturyLink brought a breach of contract claim in federal district court. The court held that the 1996 Act did not require a State commission to interpret and enforce an interconnection agreement (ICA) in the first instance; neither the text of the 1996 Act nor prudential considerations compelled federal deference to State commissions in the first instance; the district court judge's ownership of shares in plaintiff did not constitute a financial interest in plaintiff for purposes of 28 U.S.C. 455(b); the district court did not violate the recusal statute and therefore did not abuse his discretion in deciding that neither recusal nor vacatur was appropriate; when viewed in conjunction with the ambiguity in the ICA's coverage of voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic over Feature Group D (FGD) trunks, the parties' course of dealing reinforced the court's conclusion that the district court did not err in entering judgment for plaintiff on its breach of contract claim; and, in the face of ambiguity, the court construed the relevant provisions of the North Carolina ICA against Sprint and in favor of plaintiff. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Central Telephone Co. v. Sprint Communications Co." on Justia Law

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Defendant was convicted of conspiring to possess fifty grams or more of cocaine base with intent to distribute. On appeal, defendant challenged his conviction and sentence. The court found that defendant's conviction was well supported by substantial evidence; the district court committed no error in its pretrial evidentiary rulings; however, the court vacated defendant's sentence and remanded the case for resentencing because defendant was ineligible for the ten-year mandatory minimum sentence imposed. View "United States v. Allen" on Justia Law

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In this case, a federal jury found that the defendant properties were subject to civil forfeiture. The jury found that each property derived from the proceeds of a health care fraud and money laundering scheme committed by Dr. Mert Kivanc - the son of Turan and Duygu Kivanc (Claimants). The court concluded that the district court correctly denied Claimants' motion to dismiss based on the statute of limitations; the district court did not err in denying Claimants' motions to permit Turan and Dr. Kivanc to testify remotely from Turkey; the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting Dr. Kivanc's statements and two documents at issue; the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to give Claimants' proposed jury instructions; and Dr. Kivanc's statements and transfer of defendant properties to Claimants and money to Turan were sufficient evidence of his intent to conceal his unlawful activities to withstand Claimants' Rule 50 motion. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Kivanc" on Justia Law

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South Carolina requested a waiver of its maintenance-of-effort condition under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(18), for approximately $67.4 million for its fiscal year 2010. The Secretary granted the waiver in part, but denied it to the extent of the $36.2 million. South Carolina subsequently filed this petition for review, challenging the Secretary's denial of its request for a full waiver and its request for a hearing. The court concluded that the Secretary's action in partially denying the request for a waiver was a determination made with respect to the eligibility of the State for funding and that therefore the court had jurisdiction to consider the State's petition for review. The court also concluded that the Secretary's denial of the State's request for a full waiver was a determination that South Carolina was not eligible to receive a grant in the amount of $36.2 million and that therefore the Secretary was required to provide the State with notice and an opportunity for a hearing before he made a final determination with respect to the waiver request. Accordingly, the court granted the petition for review and remanded for further proceedings. View "SC Dept. of Educ. v. U.S. Sec. of Educ." on Justia Law

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Plaintiff, an employee of NGA with a top secret security clearance, informed the NGA of his marriage after the investigation for his security clearance had been completed but before he had begun work. The NGA conducted a reinvestigation into his security clearance and then revoked the security clearance. Plaintiff commenced this action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 500 et seq., against the NGA and its Director to reverse the NGA's decision, to reinstate his security clearance, and to award him back pay, benefits, and attorneys' fees. The district court dismissed the complaint, concluding that it did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to review a security clearance determination. The court concluded that plaintiff's speculative and conclusory allegations of constitutional violations were essentially recharacterizations of his challenge to the merits of the NGA's security clearance determination and that the court did not have jurisdiction to review such a determination. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Hegab v. Long" on Justia Law

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Petitioner, a citizen of Peru, petitioned for review of the BIA's reversal of the IJ's grant of his application for withholding of removal. Petitioner contended that the BIA applied the wrong standard when evaluating whether government officials would acquiesce to his torture and that its conclusions were not supported by substantial evidence. The court concluded that the BIA's decision conformed to the willful blindness standard and the court need not remand the case to allow the BIA to correct its analysis. In light of petitioner's waiver of his relocation argument and the court's determination that the State Department's country report and the circumstances of petitioner's past torture supported the BIA's findings, the court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA's conclusion that it was not more likely than not that the government would acquiesce to petitioner's torture upon his return to Peru. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Suarez-Valenzuela v. Holder, Jr." on Justia Law

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Defendant, an interventional cardiologist, appealed his conviction and sentence for health care fraud and making false statements in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care services. The convictions arose from a scheme to defraud insurers by submitting claims for medically unnecessary coronary stent procedures. The court found that, although proof of a physician's failure to meet medical standards, by itself, could not sustain a conviction for the federal offense of health care fraud, the evidence was sufficient in this case to support the jury's verdict. The court found no reversible error in defendant's remaining arguments and affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. McLean" on Justia Law