United States First Circuit - October 2005 Opinion Summaries

Connolly v. H.D. Goodall Hospital, Inc.

Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, White Collar Crime
Where a district court dismisses the federal portion of a case and remands the remaining state claims to state court, it may vacate its remand order...

Roger Edwards, LLC v. Fiddes & Son Ltd.

Civil Procedure, Contracts, False Advertising
For purposes of ruling on Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motions for relief from judgment, a court must distinguish between fraud perpetrated during or as part...

Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachussetts, et al.

Bankruptcy Law, Debt Collection
Bankruptcy Code section 706(a) does not confer an "absolute" right to a debtor to convert Chapter 7 proceedings to Chapter 13. Thus, where a debtor...

Dugas v. Coplan

Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Habeas Corpus
District court's finding of deficient trial counsel performance affirmed; however, grant of summary judgment is vacated and the case remanded for...

Nikijuluw v. Gonzales

Immigration Law
Plaintiff's petition for review is denied where he failed to adduce credible and probative evidence to support his claim of religious persecution.

Feddersen v. Garvey

Civil Procedure, Professional Malpractice
Dismissal of plaintiff's malpractice action against defendants, a lawyer and law firm that represented him during divorce proceedings, is affirmed...

Puerto Rico Ports Auth. v. Barge Katy

Admiralty
The district court's order that vacated the plaintiff-port authority's arrest of a vessel is affirmed.

US v. Medina

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing
Defendant sentence for a drug conviction is remanded to the trial court for resentencing in light of US v. Booker, 125 S.Ct. 738 (2005).

Kheireddine v. Gonzales

Constitutional Law, Immigration Law
Denial of plaintiffs' applications for asylum is affirmed over their claim that the Board of Immigration Appeals violated their due process rights by...

Puerto Rico Hosp. Supply Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp.

Contracts, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration, Remedies
Denial of plaintiff's suit to obtain a preliminary injunction pending arbitration is affirmed over plaintiff's claim that the district court applied...