The Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause guarantees that no citizen will be excluded from jury service solely on account of his or her race. This logical proposition, bordering on the obvious, was enshrined as a matter of clearly established constitutional law in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986). Indeed, "[t]he Constitution forbids striking [from the jury] even a single prospective... More...   $0 (05-28-2014 - MA)

The State of Michigan, petitioner, entered into a compact with respondent Bay Mills Indian Community pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). See 25 U. S. C. §2710(d)(1)(C). The compact authorizes Bay Mills to conduct class III gaming activities (i.e., to operate a casino) on Indian lands located within the State’s borders, but prohibits it from doing so outside that territory. Bay ... More...   $0 (05-27-2014 - DC)

In two issues, appellant, Kindle Parnell, challenges the trial court’s order terminating her parental rights to her three children, M.G.-1, M.G.-2, and K.G. We affirm.

I. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

Here, appellant argues that the trial court’s order of termination is not supported by legally and factually sufficient evidence. More specifically, appellant asserts that the reco... More...   $0 (05-22-2014 - TX)

M.Z. and R.B. appeal the trial court’s final order terminating their parental rights to their child, K.F.B., following a bench trial.1 See Tex. Fam. Code § 161.001. They challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court’s findings as to the predicate statutory grounds and the child’s best interest. See id. § 161.001(1)(D), (E), (2). For the reasons that follow, we affirm... More...   $0 (05-22-2014 - TX)

J.C.’s mother M.C. (Mother) appeals from the termination of her parental rights.1 On appeal, she maintains the court erred in denying her Welfare and Institutions Code section 388 modification petition (hereafter 388 petition)2 and should have applied the “parental benefit exception” to adoption. (§ 366.26, subd. (c)(1)(B)(i).) We conclude both contentions lack merit and we affirm the order... More...   $0 (05-22-2014 - CA)

Leslie P.’s parental rights to two children—ten-year-old A.C., and one-year-old As.C.—were terminated after a trial to the court. In support of the order of termination, the trial court found that Leslie P. constructively abandoned the children and failed to comply with the provisions of her service plan after the children were removed for abuse or neglect, and that termination was in the be... More...   $0 (05-21-2014 - TX)

This appeal arises from a dispute over whether the term of an oil and gas lease was extended by a payment made by the lessee. After the parties concluded their negotiation of the lease terms, the lease provided that the lessee could pay a “shut-in well royalty payment” to extend the term of the lease “[i]f, at the expiration of the primary term there is located on the leased premises a well ... More...   $0 (05-21-2014 - TX)

Stillwater, Oklahoma personal injury lawyer represented Plaintiff who sued Defendants on Governmental Tort Claims Act negligence theories.


¶ 1 Decedent was allegedly engaged in drag racing while operating a motorcycle on the night of August 8, 2008. A police officer for the City of Stillwater attempted to stop Decedent. When Decedent failed to stop, several Payne County and City of ... More...   $0 (05-20-2014 - OK)

In the midst of trial in the District Court, the parties agreed to a high-low settlement. Regardless of the verdict, the Bryan family was to receive at least $900,000. And regardless of the verdict, defendants Cindy Baxter and Renie Skalko were to pay no more than $2.7 million. So when the jury returned an $8.6 million verdict for the Bryans, Baxter and Skalko tendered $2.7 million and asked the B... More...   $0 (05-20-2014 - PA)

¶1 Decedent was allegedly engaged in drag racing while operating a motorcycle on the night of August 8, 2008. A police officer for the City of Stillwater attempted to stop Decedent. When Decedent failed to stop, several Payne County and City of Stillwater law enforcement officers pursued him. In the course of the pursuit, Decedent drove his motorcycle into the edge of a "T" intersection, resultin... More...   $0 (05-20-2014 - OK)

¶1 On February 25, 2013, Chester Rouse filed a wrongful termination suit against the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) and Daniel S. Sullivan. The petition alleged GRDA and Mr. Sullivan terminated Mr. Rouse on February 17, 2012, in retaliation for filing an overtime complaint under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 through § 219. Retaliation for filing such a complaint is forb... More...   $0 (05-20-2014 - OK)

Defendant, Carlos Albert Valencia, appeals from the November 2, 2012 judgment entered after he pled no contest to charges of: forgery; forged prescription; and transportation and possession for sale of hydrocodone and alprazolam. He pled no contest after his motion to suppress evidence was denied by the trial court. Defendant appeals under Penal Code section 1538.5, subdivision (m).1 (People v. Ll... More...   $0 (05-19-2014 - CA)

Appellant challenges the judgment and sentence entered after a jury found him guilty of armed trespass, resisting an officer without violence, and loitering or prowling.

He contends the lower court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on his defense of involuntary intoxication. The State properly concedes that Appellant was entitled to an instruction on involuntary intoxication, and it do... More...   $0 (05-16-2014 - FL)

Several years after she was hired, Lourdes Tiri signed an agreement with her employer, Lucky Chances, Inc., requiring disputes between them to be resolved by arbitration. In one of the provisions, the parties agreed to delegate questions about the enforceability of the agreement to the arbitrator, instead of a court. Tiri was subsequently fired, and she filed a complaint in superior court for wron... More...   $0 (05-15-2014 - CA)

The minors appeal from orders of the juvenile court placing them in long-term foster care after finding both the parental beneficial relationship and the sibling exceptions to the preference for adoption applied. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395.)1

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2

We granted appellants’ application to stay ... More...   $0 (05-14-2014 - CA)

Trade secret protection “ ‘promotes the sharing of knowledge, and the efficient operation of industry,’ ” by “ ‘permit[ting] the individual inventor to reap the rewards of his labor by contracting with a company large enough to develop and exploit it.’ [Citation.]” (DVD Copy Control Assn., Inc. v. Bunner (2003) 31 Cal.4th 864, 878 (DVD Copy Control).) Trade secret law allows the in... More...   $0 (05-08-2014 - CA)

This is an accelerated appeal from the trial court’s denial of Kountze Independent School District’s (“Kountze ISD”) plea to the jurisdiction. Appellees, parents of certain cheerleaders from Kountze High School (“Parents”), brought suit against Kountze ISD and its former superintendent, Kevin Weldon, after Weldon issued a decree that prohibited the cheerleaders from including religious... More...   $0 (05-08-2014 - TX)

Carolyn James and her brother Richard Steven Calkins are in a legal dispute over who has the right to manage the assets of their mother, Mary Calkins. Their

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controversy has spawned multiple lawsuits filed in various district and probate courts in at least two counties resulting in no less than 11 issued appellate decisions—thus far—from the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeal... More...   $0 (05-08-2014 - TX)

The League of Wilderness Defenders/Blue Mountain Biodiversity Project and the Hells Canyon Preservation Council (collectively “the LOWD plaintiffs”) appeal from the district court’s denial of their motion to preliminarily enjoin the Snow Basin logging project. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). We affirm in part and reverse in part the district court’s order, and remand th... More...   $0 (05-08-2014 - OR)

In this racial discrimination
case, ten black plaintiffs challenge the Boston Police Department's
drug testing program. Seven of the plaintiffs are former officers
fired by the department after testing positive for cocaine; the
eighth is a former cadet in the same situation; the ninth continues
to work as an officer after testing positive and undergoing
rehabilitation as an... More...   $0 (05-07-2014 - MA)

Defendants Stephen Edward Hajek and Loi Tan Vo were convicted of the 1991 murder of Su Hung (Pen. Code, § 187)1 as to which lying-in-wait and torture-murder special circumstances were found true (former § 190.2, subd. (a)(15), (18)). Additionally, defendants were convicted of four counts of premeditated attempted murder (§§ 664/187), one count of kidnapping (§ 207, subd. (a)), three counts o... More...   $0 (05-05-2014 - CA)

A jury convicted defendant Calvin Dion Chism of the first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) (count one))1 and attempted robbery (§§ 211/664 (count two)) of Richard Moon, and the second degree robbery of Jung Ja Chung (§ 211 (count three)).2 The jury found true the special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed during the attempted commission of a robbery (§ 190.2, subd... More...   $0 (05-05-2014 - CA)

Jeffery Swetnam and Mary Kay DeSelms sued John Stuart DeSelms, Janet Swetnam and Seven Anchors, LLC on negligence wrongful death theories seeking compensation for the death of Rachel Nicole Swetnam, age 21, and William Lewis "Trey" Varner III, age 21, of Texarkana, Arkansas. The decedents were seated in the front seat of a boat being operated on Grand Lake of Cherokees that hit a 96-fott docked h... More...   $1 (05-02-2014 - OK)

Plaintiffs Biron Family Living Trust and Philip L. and Julie M. Biron as trustees own a 12-unit apartment building in downtown Redding, California, which they purchased in 2001. In February and March 2009, their property was damaged by flooding during two separate storm events. They filed this action against defendant City

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of Redding (City), alleging inverse condemnation and danger... More...   $0 (04-30-2014 - CA)

¶1 Gabriel Gutierrez-Perez (Defendant) pled guilty to criminally negligent automobile homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol. Before making this plea, he reserved his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained through a blood draw. Defendant contends that the affidavit submitted by law enforcement in order to obtain the warrant to draw h... More...   $0 (04-29-2014 - UT)