1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March, 2010, Federal Case law

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Federal Courts - 1st Circuit Court of Appeals - March 1 - March 3, 2010

Douglas v. Kosinski (In re Kosinski), BAP NO. MB 09-037, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Where the creditor only showed that his reliance on the debtor's financial projections for a night club investment was justifiable, rather than objectively reasonable, the creditor did not prove each of the elements of a claim under 11 U.S.C.S. ? 523(a)(2)(B), and to prevail the creditor would have to proceed under 11 U.S.C.S. ? 523(a)(2)(A).

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Jimenez v. Rodriguez-Pagan, No. 09-1135, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: The appellate court decided like the district court that the case should have been resolved in the Puerto Rico judicial system, but not because of the probate exception or Fed. R. Civ. P. 19, but rather because of exceptional circumstances that satisfied Colorado River's demanding test for abstention.

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Martinez-Rodriguez v. Guevara, No. 08-1086, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Agents were entitled to qualified immunity as to an arrestee's Fourth Amendment claims because, inter alia, he was present at a meeting involving discussions of future drug transactions, he had established telephone contacts with the two police officers being investigated, and he interacted with the other officers during their meeting.

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PowerShare, Inc. v. Syntel, Inc., No. 09-1625, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Although motions to stay were not dispositive under Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a), a district court's review of a magistrate's recommendation on a non-dispositive motion that turned on a question of law was plenary. Because the parties' agreement as a whole admitted of only one reasonable interpretation, their dispute was subject to arbitration.

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United States v. Ekasala, No. 09-1075, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Defendant sentence was affirmed; district court declined to impose a lighter sentence because of the serious nature of the offense, possessing and distributing a relatively large amount of oxycodone on three separate occasions. The fact that the district court did not weigh the mitigating factors more heavily did not make the sentence unreasonable.

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United States v. Ramnath, No. 09-1223, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Drugs, baggies, a cutting agent, and a scale found in defendant's apartment combined to confirm that defendant was, as he admitted, a sophisticated drug dealer, and provided probative evidence of his intent when he undertook to supply another known dealer with commercial quantities of crack cocaine and were admissible under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b).

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United States v. Rodriguez-Velez, No. 07-2813, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 1, 2010, Decided
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Overview: A motion for judgment of acquittal was properly denied where the evidence, taken as a whole, strongly supported a conclusion that defendant, in violation of 21 U.S.C.S. ?? 841(a)(1), 846, entered into a tacit accord to supply a drug point with drugs and that he intended by his actions to further the conspiracy's overarching drug-distribution goal.

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United States v. Aguirre-Gonzalez, No. 08-1276, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 2, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Although a district court indisputably erred when it concluded that appellants were not victims of defendant's fraud entitled to restitution under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, 18 U.S.C.S. ? 3771; nonetheless, appellants could not challenge the district court's restitution order because they were not parties to the criminal proceedings.

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Fed. Ins. Co. v. Commerce Ins. Co., No. 09-1156, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 3, 2010, Decided
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Overview: A landlord's insurer failed to prove that a "Responsibility for Damages" provision in a residential lease overcame the presumption that the landlord's insurance was held for the mutual benefit of itself and its tenants; thus, the insurer's subrogation claim for expenses paid to cover damages for a fire negligently started by a tenant was barred.

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United States v. Diaz, No. 08-1766, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, March 3, 2010, Decided
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Overview: A juror's note barely intimated that jurors had violated a prohibition on discussing the case, let alone engaged in inappropriate deliberation. Although the use of the pronoun "our" suggested a conversation among at least two jurors, the note requested clarification of a legal principle and gave no indication of a discussion of the case.

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