Justia U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to a 202-month term of immurement on the charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and to a sixty-month term of immurement on the charge of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and stipulating that those prison terms would run consecutive to one another and to the undischarged portions of multiple Puerto Rico sentences that Defendant was then serving. On appeal, Defendant primarily challenged the district court’s determination to run the federal sentences consecutive to the Puerto Rico sentences previously imposed. The First Circuit held (1) the district court’s decision to impose a consecutive sentence was not an abuse of discretion; and (2) Defendant’s claim that running the federal drug-conspiracy sentence consecutive to the state sentences rendered the federal sentence substantively unreasonable was unproven. View "United States v. Rentas-Muniz" on Justia Law

The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review as to his challenge to the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) determination that his motion to reopen was untimely and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as to Petitioner’s challenge to the BIA’s decision to not exercise its sua sponte authority to reopen.The BIA found that Petitioner had submitted his motion to reopen long after the ninety-day limit and that Petitioner did not show that he fit within an exception to that limit. The BIA also determined that sua sponte reopening was unwarranted. The First Circuit held (1) that the BIA did not abuse its discretion as to the first issue; and (2) the Court lacked jurisdiction to consider Petitioner’s challenge as to the second issue. View "Reyes v. Sessions" on Justia Law

The First Circuit denied the petition sought by Petitioners, natives and citizens of Guatemala, seeking review of the denial of their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).An immigration judge (IJ) found Petitioners’ asylum applications to be untimely filed and found that Petitioners failed to carry their burden of proof with respect to their withholding of removal and CAT claims. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) adopted and affirmed the IJ’s decision. The First Circuit upheld the lower courts, holding (1) this Court lacked jurisdiction to review Petitioners’ claim that they fell within the “extraordinary circumstances” exception to the filing requirement of the asylum application; and (2) substantial evidence in the record supported the IJ and BIA’s finding that Petitioner failed to demonstrate that they suffered past persecution or had a well-founded fear of future persecution. View "Olmos-Colaj v. Sessions" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court for Regional School Unit 75 (the district) on this complaint filed by a student’s parents on his behalf under, among other things, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), holding that Plaintiffs were precluded from proving an element necessary for them to prevail on their ADA claim.The student at issue, B.P., was diagnosed with several disabilities. B.P.'s parents sought permission from the school district court to allow B.P. to carry an audio recording device at school to record almost everything said in his presence. The school district refused to permit the device, and the parents filed this lawsuit. The district court entered summary judgment for the district. While Plaintiffs’ appeal to the Court was pending, an IDEA hearing officer issued a decision rejecting Plaintiffs’ position that the recording device was required under the IDEA. Plaintiffs appealed only the dismissal of their disability discrimination claims against the district. In affirming, the First Circuit held that because of the hearing officer’s factual findings, Plaintiffs could not make the preliminary showing that the device would benefit B.P. in some manner, which was an element essential to sustaining their reasonable accommodation claim. Therefore, Plaintiffs could not prevail. View "Pollack v. Regional School Unit 75" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for conspiring to commit access-device fraud, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress wiretap evidence and that Defendant’s sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable. Specifically, the Court held (1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to suppress court-approved wiretaps, authorized during a separate investigation into a drug trafficking organization, which exposed Defendant’s involvement in a scheme to produce and make purchases with fraudulent credit cards because the affidavits supporting the wiretap applications provided facts that were minimally adequate to support the wiretap authorizations; and (2) Defendant’s sentencing challenges were unavailing. View "United States v. Delima" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for tampering with a witness by attempting to kill him and making false statements to a federal agent, holding that the trial court did not commit plain error. The Court held (1) the district court did not violate Defendant’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury trial when it failed individually to question all prospective jurors about potential racial bias; (2) the government’s fingerprint expert did not make a prejudicial false statement; and (3) the district court did not commit plain error in admitting testimony as to Defendant’s physically abusive treatment of the prostitutes who worked for him. View "United States v. Casanova" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Plaintiffs’ complaint alleging violations of the fiduciary duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001-1461, by the fiduciaries of an employer-sponsored retirement plan for failure to state a claim.Plaintiffs, three individuals who participated in an ERISA employee retirement plan that was sponsored by their employer, CVS Health Corporation (CVS), and administered by the Benefits Plan Committee of CVS (the Committee), alleged that CVS, the Committee, and Galliard Capital Management, Inc., which managed the fund, owed Plaintiffs a fiduciary duty of prudence under ERISA with respect to the plan’s investments in the fund and that each of the defendants breached that duty. The district court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim under ERISA. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Plaintiffs’ complaint failed to state a plausible claim against any of the defendants. View "Barchock v. CVS Health Corp." on Justia Law

In this appeal from a forfeiture order, the First Circuit held that the district court did not abridge Defendant’s procedural rights and that the district court applied an appropriate yardstick in measuring the proceeds of Defendant’s criminal activity to be forfeited.Defendant, a corrupt politician, was convicted of embezzlement from an organization receiving federal funds. The First Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence but vacated the district court’s forfeiture order. On remand, the district court ordered Defendant to forfeit the “proceeds” of his criminal activity in the amount of $1,382,214. On appeal, Defendant argued, in part, that he had a right to allocate before the district court upon remand and a right to be present when the district court reentered the forfeiture order. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Defendant’s right to allocate was satisfied at the initial sentencing hearing, and Defendant waived any right to be present that may have existed when the district court re-entered the forfeiture order; and (2) the management fees that formed the basis for the forfeiture award constituted “proceeds” of the offenses of conviction. View "United States v. George" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress drug evidence as having resulted from an unlawful search under the Fourth Amendment, holding that the search was constitutional.At issue was whether, after completing a license check that is usual when a car is stopped for a driving offenses, the police had reasonable suspicion that a drug offense was being committed so as to justify a further period of detention while a drug detection dog repeatedly circled Defendant’s car, and whether the added time exceeded the permissible duration for the dog’s investigation. The First Circuit held (1) probable cause justified the search that led to discovery of the drugs; and (2) the approximately three minutes from the beginning of the dog’s reconnaissance to the dog’s response fell within the zone considered reasonable under the Terry rationale. View "United States v. Favreau" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s eighteen-month sentence imposed in connection with his conviction for one count of possession with intent to distribute less than fifty grams of cocaine. Defendant pled guilty to the charge pursuant to a plea agreement with the government. At sentencing, Defendant’s counsel argued for a term of imprisonment of six months, while the government asked the court to impose a sentence of twelve months. The district court ultimately sentenced Defendant to an upwardly variant sentence of eighteen months of imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed the sentence, holding that it was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable. View "United States v. Rondon-Garcia" on Justia Law