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

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence of child pornography contained on a hard drive recovered at his home. Defendant challenged the warrant allowing the FBI to deploy the Network Investigative Technique (NIT) to locate users accessing a child pornography website. The court held that even if the warrant was unconstitutional, the district court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress because the Leon good faith exception applied. In this case, there was no indication that the magistrate judge wholly abandoned its judicial role, or that the affidavit lacked an indicia of probable cause, or that the FBI agent mislead the magistrate judge with falsehoods or reckless disregard for the truth. The agent detailed the investigatory difficulties posed by the dark web and devoted several pages to explaining the NIT's mechanism. View "United States v. McLamb" on Justia Law

The Fourth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Eden Park in an action alleging claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, plaintiff alleged that Eden Park failed to compensate her for all the time that she worked and failed to pay her overtime wages. The court held that the district court failed to make a finding as to whether Eden Park's in-kind compensation conformed to the requirements under 29 U.S.C. 203(m) and its implementing regulations. Furthermore, the district court failed to assess all the pertinent facts in determining the reasonableness of the employment agreement under 29 C.F.R. 785.23. Accordingly, the court remanded for further proceedings. View "Balbed v. Eden Park Guest House, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed a putative class action against Saber, alleging that defendants failed to deliver contractually promised care and failed to comply with certain state law requirements. After removal to federal court, the district court granted plaintiffs' motion to remand to state court based on the forum selection clause in plaintiffs' contracts. The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded for further proceedings and factual development on the question of whether all of the defendants were bound by the forum selection clause contained in the contracts executed by plaintiffs. In this case, although the plain language of the forum selection clause precluded removal, a question remains as to whether all of the defendants were alter egos or otherwise bound by the clause. View "Bartels v. Saber Healthcare Group, LLC" on Justia Law

Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, 135 S. Ct. 547 (2014), did not undermine Palisades Collections LLC v. Shorts, 552 F.3d 327, 331 (4th Cir. 2008). In this case, Home Depot filed a Petition for Permission to Appeal the district court's order remanding to state court. The Fourth Circuit deferred ruling on the petition pending consideration of the merits of the appeal. The court held that the Supreme Court has not called into question Palisades's conclusion that an additional counter-defendant is not entitled to remove under 28 U.S.C. 1441(a) or 1453(b), nor has it abandoned Shamrock Oil’s definition of "defendant" in the class action context. See Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Sheets, 313 U.S. 100, 108 (1941). The court held that Palisades applied to Home Depot. The court also held that the district court properly declined to realign the parties and correctly remanded to state court. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.. View "Jackson v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc." on Justia Law

The Fourth Circuit granted the Government's motion to dismiss defendant's appeal because his appeal was time-barred. The court rejected defendant's argument that the Government was tardy in filing the motion to dismiss and that delay effectively cures any failure to observe the requirements of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure on his part. The court held that the Government's motion to dismiss was timely and thus, the Government's motion to dismiss defendant's untimely appeal should be granted. In this case, defendant did not address the application of Local Rule 27(f) in his briefs and he never identified any prejudice he suffered by virtue of the timing of the Government's motion to dismiss. View "United States v. Hyman" on Justia Law

The Fourth Circuit granted the Government's motion to dismiss defendant's appeal because his appeal was time-barred. The court rejected defendant's argument that the Government was tardy in filing the motion to dismiss and that delay effectively cures any failure to observe the requirements of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure on his part. The court held that the Government's motion to dismiss was timely and thus, the Government's motion to dismiss defendant's untimely appeal should be granted. In this case, defendant did not address the application of Local Rule 27(f) in his briefs and he never identified any prejudice he suffered by virtue of the timing of the Government's motion to dismiss. View "United States v. Hyman" on Justia Law

This appeal arose out of litigation by family members of United States sailors killed in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole against the Republic of Sudan for its alleged support of Al Qaeda. The district court denied Sudan's motion to vacate default judgments entered against it. The Fourth Circuit reversed the district court's order, holding that plaintiffs' method of serving process did not comport with the statutory requirements of 28 U.S.C. 1608(a)(3), and thus the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over Sudan. The court remanded to the district court with instructions to allow Kumar the opportunity to perfect service of process. View "Kumar v. Republic of Sudan" on Justia Law

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Crazy Horse's motion to compel arbitration. In this case, Crazy Horse pursued a merits-based litigation strategy for three years and actively sought to obtain a favorable legal judgment. The court held that Crazy Horse's conduct was at odds with the Federal Arbitration Act's, 9 U.S.C. 1-16, goal of facilitating the expeditious settlement of disputes. The court explained that Crazy Horse did not seek to use arbitration as an efficient alternative to litigation. Rather, Crazy Horse used arbitration as an insurance policy in an attempt to give itself a second opportunity to evade liability. View "Degidio v. Crazy Horse Saloon and Restaurant" on Justia Law

The offense of unlawful wounding under West Virginia law is a crime of violence under Section 4B1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines. The Fourth Circuit held that unlawful wounding is categorically a crime of violence under the force clause because it applies to a defendant who shoots, stabs, cuts, or wounds any person. Therefore, the statute's text dictates that the minimum conduct required for conviction of unlawful wounding must at least involve physical force capable of causing physical injury to another person. Because the district court concluded that unlawful wounding did not qualify as a crime of violence in this case, the court vacated defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Covington" on Justia Law

The Fourth Circuit affirmed defendant's convictions for four counts of sex trafficking by use of force, fraud, or coercion and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. The court held that evidence was provided to support each element of defendant's convictions. In this case, the court did not have the power to reweigh the evidence or to second guess the jury's credibility determinations. The court also held that the district court carefully considered relevant factors in differentiating between types of sexual history evidence. Therefore, the district court's decision to strike some of the evidence was fair and the court did not abuse its discretion. View "United States v. Maynes, Jr." on Justia Law