Justia U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of LINA upholding LINA's denial of life insurance benefits to plaintiffs, beneficiaries of two policies. The court concluded that LINA properly denied coverage to plaintiffs as the insured's death fell within the policies' explicit exclusion for accidents involving the operation of a vehicle while intoxicated. The court held that the plain meaning of the word "vehicle" as used in the policies was unambiguous and broad enough to encompass a boat. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to LINA. The court also affirmed the modification of the discovery order. View "Green, et al. v. Life Ins Co. of N. America" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed her conviction for possessing with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. The court affirmed the district court's judgment because the evidence at issue did not amount to an improper drug courier profile and because the court recognized that defendant's knowledge argument was foreclosed by the court's precedent. View "United States v. Medeles-Cab" on Justia Law

Whitehouse appealed a second time from a ruling of the Tax Court disallowing a significant portion of a tax deduction claimed for a historic conservation easement. The easement burdened the Maison Blanche building in New Orleans with a number of restrictions and affirmative obligations, all revolving around maintaining the appearance of the ornate facade. Whitehouse claimed a charitable contribution deduction for the easement. The Commissioner allowed a deduction for less than the amount Whitehouse claimed and further assessed a gross undervaluation penalty. The court affirmed the tax court's second valuation; vacated the tax court's enforcement of the gross undervaluation of the penalty because the tax court clearly erred in applying it; and remanded for entry of judgment. View "Whitehouse Hotel Ltd. Prtnshp., et al. v. CIR" on Justia Law

GE Plaintiffs filed suit against Worthington under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (TUFTA), Tex. Bus. & Comm. Code 24.009(a), seeking to void transfers that Worthington received from the GE Plaintiffs' predecessor-in-interest, allegedly with notice of the transfers' fraudulent nature. The jury found in favor of the GE Plaintiffs and the district court entered judgment for the amount of the transfers. The court concluded that the factual commonality in this case did not suffice to count the contractual dispute settlement against TUFTA's limit on recovery for a single avoidance "claim," or to render Citibank a joint tortfeasor for one-satisfaction rule purposes. Accordingly, the district court did not err in denying Worthington a settlement credit for the settlement proceeds that the GE Plaintiffs received from Citibank. The court rejected Worthington's argument that the district court erred as a matter of law in interpreting TUFTA's good faith defense as an objective standard. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "GE Capital Commercial, Inc., et al. v. Wright & Wright, Inc." on Justia Law

This appeal arose from an insurance coverage dispute concerning an industrial accident that occurred on a decommissioned platform in the Outer Continental Shelf. The key issue on appeal was whether the district court entirely disposed of any one claim against Continental. The court need not conclusively determine whether Tetra and Maritech have asserted one claim or two against Continental because, even if the court were to construe their request for a declaration on Continental's indemnity obligations as a single claim, it was clear that the district court did not fully dispose of that one claim. Accordingly, the court dismissed for want of jurisdiction. View "Tetra Technologies, Inc., et al. v. Vertex Services, L.L.C." on Justia Law

Plaintiff and her husband filed suit against Wal-Mart after she fell while entering through an automatic sliding door at a Wal-Mart store and sustained injuries. At issue on appeal was whether the district court erred when it granted summary judgment to Wal-Mart based on its conclusion that the defect in the door threshold was not unreasonably dangerous as a matter of law. The court concluded that the district court erred in extending Mississippi's so-called "categorical exemption" to defective thresholds; the fact that the alleged defective condition changed suddenly and without warning was sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that it created an unreasonable or unusually dangerous condition; and plaintiffs point to evidence in the record indicating that Wal-Mart may not inspect the doors to ensure they are functioning correctly and that despite an internal policy calling for daily inspections, the assistant manager of the store had no knowledge of that policy. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Wal-Mart and the dismissal of both plaintiffs' claims, remanding for further proceedings. View "Cox, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty of being illegally present in the United States after removal. The court affirmed the district court's application of a sixteen-level crime-of-violence enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) based on his Texas conviction of indecency with a child. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Elizondo-Hernandez" on Justia Law

Defendant challenged his conviction and sentence for passing an altered obligation of the United States with intent to defraud. Defendant attempted to pass a forged $100 bill at a Dollar Tree. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support a finding that the Government's exhibit 2 was the bill that was passed to the Dollar Tree and, therefore, the district court did not err in admitting the counterfeit bill into evidence; the district court did not plainly err regarding the in-court identifications of the witnesses at trial; there was no plain error because defendant was handcuffed during the testimony of a witness; the district court properly imposed a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2B5.1(b)(2)(A) for manufacturing or producing counterfeit obligation or possessing or having custody of or control over a counterfeiting device or materials; and challenges to his indictment and sentence as violating the rule set forth in Alleyne v. United States were rejected. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Davis" on Justia Law

Petitioner was denied special rule cancellation of removal under section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), Pub. L. No. 105-100, 203(a)(1), 111 Stat. 2160, 2196, because the BIA considered his 1992 Virginia conviction for "carnal knowledge of a child between thirteen and fifteen years of age" an aggravated felony as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(A). The court concluded that petitioner's conviction under the Virginia statute necessarily means that he also has been convicted of the generic offense of sexual abuse of a minor, an aggravated felony within the INA. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Contreras v. Holder, Jr." on Justia Law

Bluebonnet appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Wells Fargo on Bluebonnet's claim for rescission of contract. The court concluded that Bluebonnet has not demonstrated a genuine factual issue as to whether there is an error vitiating its consent to the swap agreement at issue and warranting rescission. The court's conclusion is supported by it's previous decision in Dameware Development, L.L.C. v. American General Life Insurance Co., in which the court held that there was no failure of cause constituting error or warranting rescission of a contract. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Bluebonnet Hotel Ventures v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A." on Justia Law