Barbara Walters shielded from suit by First Circuit

The First Circuit has affirmed dismissal of a suit against Barbara Walters by her daughter's prep school roommate. Shay v. Walters. The case arose in part out of matters revealed in Walters' 2008 autobiography Audition. The First Circuit affirmed the District Court's dismissal on the pleadings.

SCORI overturns preliminary injunction in tort case

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island has overturned a preliminary injunction in a case arising out of a shooting near the Sportsmans Inn on Fountain St. in Providence. In Vasquez v. Sportsmans Inn, the court reversed a preliminary injunction that restrained the defendant from alienating certain property in order that it might be available to satisfy a possible judgment. Plaintiff was shot within proximity to the Sportsmans Inn and sought to establish the Inn's liability based on allegations of inadequate security. The Supreme Court concluded that there was, at this stage of the case, inadequate demonstration of any duty owed to plaintiff, and that plaintiff therefore had not shown an adequate likelihood of success to warrant injunctive relief.

SCORI on Superior Court authority to remand to arbitrator

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island issued an opinion today addressing the circumstances when the Superior Court may remand a case to an arbitrator. Drago Custom Interiors v. Carlisle Building Systems.

DC Cir. on Affordable Care/Contraceptive Mandate

Message to the Obama Administration on in the Contraceptive Mandate case from the D.C. Circuit: Deliver on your promise and we can all go home. Here's the interim order issued in Wheaton College v. Sebelius. This matter is essentially held in abeyance to see whether the government will, as promised, (1) withhold enforcement against employers with religious objections to the mandate and (2) revise the contraceptive mandate to exempt them. Get back to us in 60 days, the court ordered.

First Circuit -- Rare Aquittal on Appeal

Finding the evidence insufficient, the First Circuit in United States v. Burgos reversed a conspiracy conviction and remanded with an order to enter a judgment of acquittal. Carlos Burgos, a Worcester police officer, had been charged with involvement in a drug dealing conspiracy allegedly run out of an auto repair shop where his brother-in-law had worked at one time. The Government's theory was that the officer knew of the drug activity and appeared to have warned the participants that they were under surveillance. The First Circuit concluded that the inferences required for a conviction were not supported by the Government's evidence, and the Court therefore reversed and ordered a judgment of acquittal.

SCOTUS will wrestle with Double Jeopardy conundrum

The U.S. Supreme Court will today hear arguments in Evans v. Michigan, a case involving a Double Jeopardy pretzel. In Evans the trial court misinterpreted the underlying charge to require an element that the prosecution did not actually have to prove. Finding that element missing, the trial judge granted a mid-trial judgment of acquittal. On the prosecution's appeal, Michigan appellate courts held that the trial judge's erroneous acquittal did not constitute an "acquittal" for Double Jeopardy purposes, and that the defendant could be retried. SCOTUS granted cert. and will hear arguments today. The US SG has weighed in on Michigan's side.

Florida v. Jardines SCOTUS argument . . .

After reading today's oral argument transcript from Florida v. Jardines . . . I'm guessing Florida will lose the case because the police officer's warrantless visit to the defendant's front door, accompanied by a drug-sniffing dog, violated the Fourth Amendment. There was a lot of discussion, though, suggesting that a Girl Scout selling cookies would not be a Fourth Amendment violation . . .