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The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Brian David Hill's appeal from the denial of his federal habeas corpus motion because he failed to obtain a certificate of appealability. The court found that Hill did not make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right as required by statute.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal from a district court's denial of a state prisoner's habeas corpus petition because the petitioner failed to obtain a certificate of appealability. The court held that Williams did not make a substantial showing that his constitutional rights were denied, a statutory requirement for appellate review.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Donald Ray Hurst, Jr.'s conviction and sentence while dismissing his appeal regarding the reasonableness of his lifetime supervised release term. The court remanded the case solely to correct a clerical error where a recommended vocational training provision was omitted from the written judgment.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed Arkeem H. Nellon's appeal from a district court's procedural dismissal of his habeas petition because he failed to obtain a certificate of appealability. The court independently reviewed the record and found Nellon did not make the requisite substantial showing that the procedural ruling was debatable or that his underlying claim involved a constitutional right.
The Sixth Circuit reversed the dismissal of ERISA claims alleging that pension plans used outdated mortality data to calculate benefits for married participants. The court held that the statutory requirement for actuarial equivalence prohibits the use of unreasonable, inapplicable actuarial assumptions that fail to reflect modern life expectancies.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed Matthew Scott Dowell's appeal as frivolous because his post-judgment motions were filed more than one year after the judgment. The court held that such untimely motions are unauthorized and lack a jurisdictional basis.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed an 84-month prison sentence for a defendant convicted of dogfighting conspiracy and felon-in-possession of a firearm. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing an upward variance based on the extreme cruelty of the offense and the defendant's history of fatal drug distribution.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a plaintiff's claim that the City of Corpus Christi selectively enforced building codes against her historic property in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The court held that the plaintiff failed to plead sufficient facts to establish a municipal policy or custom of discrimination under Section 1983.
The Fifth Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw after determining the defendant's appeal raised no non-frivolous issues. The court dismissed the criminal appeal and excused counsel from further responsibilities.
The Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pro se appeal challenging a mortgage foreclosure involving dozens of defendants. The court held that the appellants forfeited most claims by failing to address them in their brief and that their remaining fraud and RICO allegations were barred by res judicata and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.
