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Law digest – 7/25/13
Criminal Procedure, Expectation of privacy: The circuit court properly denied a para-educator’s motion to suppress evidence found in his work desk at a public school; as the desk was unlocked and in an open area, the defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy. Walker v. State, No. 74, Sept. Term, 2012. RecordFax No. 13-0708-21, 46 pages.
Criminal Procedure, Public Information Act: Where a police department internal affairs investigator had found “facts sustained” against the officers involved in an investigation of the defendants, the trial court in the defendants’ trial erred in refusing to permit the defense to inspect the internal investigation division files concerning the officers’ misconduct. Fields v. State and Colkley v. State, Nos. 53 and 81, Sept. Term, 2012. RecordFax No. 13-0709-20, 31 pages.
Professional Responsibility, Indefinite suspension: Where an attorney’s comingling of client funds and poor record keeping were clear violations of the MRPC but were not intentional or fraudulent, the appropriate sanction was an indefinite suspension with the right to reapply for admission after 30 days. Attorney Grievance Commission v. Bell, Misc. Docket AG No. 21, Sept. Term, 2012. RecordFax No. 13-0708-22, 23 pages.
Professional Responsibility, Indefinite suspension: Where attorney failed to file pleadings on behalf of client and misrepresented himself to client and the court, indefinite suspension was the appropriate sanction. Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Sperling, Misc. Docket AG No. 82, Sept. Term, 2011. RecordFax No. 13-0705-21, 29 pages.
Torts, Duty to warn third parties: Where plaintiff’s family member brought home asbestos-laden dust from his employment decades ago causing plaintiff to suffer mesothelioma, judgment of the Court of Special appeal, which affirmed circuit court’s judgment in favor of plaintiff, reversed because, even if danger was foreseeable decades ago, defendant had no duty to warn plaintiff, who was not an employee. Georgia Pacific, LLC v. Farrar, No. 102, Sept. Term, 2012. RecordFax No. 13-0708-23, 24 pages.
U.S. 4TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
Civil Procedure, Justiciability: Where plaintiff showed that the North Carolina’s investigation of his website caused plaintiff to curtail his online activity under threat of prosecution, plaintiff established the injury-in-fact requirement for standing for his claims that North Carolina violated his freedom of speech. Cooksey v. Futrell, et al., Nos. 12-2084, 12-2323. RecordFax No. 13-0627-60, 31 pages.
Civil Procedure, Res judicata: The district court’s decision in plaintiffs’ previous action, filed under the Death on the High Seas Act, did not preclude the plaintiffs’ action under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act; given the purpose of the FSIA, res judicata does not apply. Clodfelter v. Republic of Sudan, No. 11-2118. RecordFax No. 13-0620-60, 31 pages.
Civil Procedure, Sovereign immunity: Judgment of the district court granting plaintiff a writ of garnishment against a Maryland state agency reversed, because plaintiff’s garnishment action seeking recovery from the state was a suit in the substantive sense, from which the state was protected by sovereign immunity. Carpenters Pension Fund of Baltimore v. Maryland Dept. of Health and Mental Hygeine, No. 12-1480. RecordFax No. 13-0626-60, 17 pages.
Criminal Procedure, Sentence reduction: Where the district court’s brief decision indicated that it had considered the statutory factors in deciding defendant’s motion for sentence reduction, the defendant failed to rebut the presumption that the district court had, in fact, done so. U.S. v. Smalls, No. 12-6021. RecordFax No. 13-0619-60, 14 pages.
Evidence, Other bad acts: District court properly admitted evidence of other bad acts, where evidence was intrinsic to the charged crime. U.S. v. Otuya, No. 12-4096. RecordFax No. 13-0619-61, 21 pages.
