Case Summaries
Family Law
Criminal Law & Procedure
Family Law
[07/22]
In re Esmeralda S.
Juvenile court's order terminating defendant-mother's parental rights to her child is affirmed over claims of error that: 1) defendant's due process rights were violated when the juvenile court appointed her a guardian ad litem; and 2) the juvenile court did not properly inquire into her and the minor's father's possible American Indian ancestry for purposes of complying with Indian Child Welfare Act.
[07/18]
In re Brandon T.
Order terminating mother's parental rights over her child is affirmed where: 1) there was sufficient evidence that the minor was specifically adoptable by his relative caretakers; 2) the Indian Child Welfare Act does not require more than one expert at a section 366.26 hearing; 3) there was sufficient evidence that continued custody would result in serious emotional or physical harm to the minor; and 4) mother was not prejudiced by a lack of evidence in regard to prevailing social and cultural standards of the minor's tribe.
[07/18]
Duran v. Beaumont
Dismissal of a motion for the return of petitioner's daughter to Chile is affirmed where, for purposes of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, petitioner had only access rights, not custody rights, leaving the district court without jurisdiction to order the return of the child.
[06/30]
Harper v. Division of Family Services
In a parental right adjudicatory proceeding, the court's decision to terminate respondent's parental rights and transfer of the minor to the Division of Family Services is affirmed where: 1) there was clear and convincing evidence to terminate parental rights; and 2) the state was able to prove that termination of parental rights was in the minor's best interest.
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Criminal Law & Procedure
[07/23]
Meza v. Livingston
In an inmate's suit against state prison officials raising claims under the Fourteenth Amendment, denial of summary judgment for defendants is affirmed for lack of jurisdiction where an appeal of the district court's alleged failure to address defendants' Eleventh Amendment immunity claims was an unreviewable interlocutory appeal.
[07/23]
US v. Clark
Convictions for possession and conspiracy to distribute cocaine are affirmed where: 1) evidence of prior drug relationships was properly admitted; 2) evidence of the details of a physical attack in which defendants were not involved was not prejudicial; 3) a photo intended to be used to impeach a witness was properly excluded; 4) a prior statement of a witness was properly excluded as irrelevant; and 5) the prosecutor's characterization of a defendant's anticipated closing argument as a "standard" argument made by drug defendants was improper, but did not prejudice defendant.
[07/23]
Gil v. Reed
In an inmate's negligence, malpractice, and civil rights suit against prison medical staff, summary judgment for defendants is reversed where the record contained sufficient evidence to show genuine issues of material fact on: 1) inmate's Eighth Amendment claim that prison staff were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs; and 2) whether defendants had met the standard of care, using the state-law standard as required by the Federal Tort Claims Act.
[07/22]
Fratta v. Quarterman
Grant of a habeas corpus petition in a capital murder case is affirmed, and request for a certificate of appealability on other issues is denied, where: 1) the admission at trial of the custodial confessions of codefendants violated the Confrontation Clause; 2) the fact that out-of-court statements of a coconspirator are admissible under state evidentiary law is not sufficient to meet the requirements of the Confrontation Clause; 3) the admission of the out-of-court statements of a coconspirator at defendant's trial violated the Confrontation Clause; and 4) the error was not harmless.
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