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

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of fifteen counts of an indictment charging sexual exploitation of children and distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography and his sentence of 480 months' incarceration, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.Specifically, the First Circuit held (1) the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support Defendant's convictions on each of the child exploitation counts; (2) the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress his statements to law enforcement on the grounds that Defendant was not in custody at the time of his interrogation; and (3) Defendant's challenges to the district court's calculation of his Guidelines sentencing range were without merit. View "United States v. Monson" on Justia Law

In this copyright action involving ownership rights to the board game, "The Game of Life," the First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying attorney's fees sought from the unsuccessful plaintiffs, holding that the district court did not err in denying fees and that this Court declines to award fees for the appeal.This case stemmed from a dispute between Rueben Klamer, a toy developer who came up with the initial concept of the game before it was introduced in 1960 by the Milton Bradley Company, and Bill Markham, a game designer that Klamer recruited to design and create the actual game prototype. Markham's successors-in-interest sued Klamer and other defendants seeking a declaration that they possessed "termination rights" under the 1976 Copyright Act. The district court granted judgment for Defendants but denied fees. Defendants appealed and moved for appellate attorney's fees. The First Circuit denied relief, holding (1) the district court did not err in denying fees; and (2) this Court declines to award fees for the appeal. View "Markham Concepts, Inc. v. Hasbro, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence of drugs and entering judgment on Defendant's plea of guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, holding that there was no error or abuse of discretion.Defendant was pulled over by a New Hampshire police officer, Stephen DiChiara, following a suspected drug buy. DiChiara was asked to conduct the stop by a United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) task force officer, DiChiara stoped and seized the car Defendant was driving. A subsequent search of the car revealed uncovered roughly one kilogram of cocaine. Defendant moved to suppress evidence of the drugs, arguing that DiChiara could not act solely on the DEA officer's probable cause. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the directive given to DiChiara was sufficient to attribute the DEA officer's probable cause to DiChiara. View "United States v. Balser" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence showing that Defendant was carrying heroin with the intent to distribute it, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress the evidence found during the underlying traffic stop.Defendant was stopped for unsafe operation of a vehicle. The stop resulted in more than an hour of questioning and in Defendant relinquishing thirty-seven grams of heroin that he was carrying on his person. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the traffic stop was illegal and that the ensuing questioning violated his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. The district court denied the motion, after which Defendant pleaded guilty. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that there was no error in the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress. View "United States v. Fagan" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to withdraw his plea of guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, holding that the district court did not err.Defendant was charged with two counts related to his possession of a gun and other items suggestive of drug trafficking and pled guilty to one of the counts. Defendant subsequently moved to withdraw his plea, claiming that he was legally and factually innocent and that the government's evidence did not support his conviction. The district court denied the motion and proceeded to sentence Defendant to seventy-two months' imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that, under the facts of this case, the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. View "United States v. Garcia-Nunez" on Justia Law

The First Circuit denied Petitioner's claim that he had a reasonable fear of persecution if repatriated to his native Ghana on account of his membership in a particular social group, holding that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and immigration judge (IJ) correctly rejected Petitioner's claim.Petitioner conceded his removability but cross-applied for withholding of removal and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, testifying that, if returned to Ghana, he would be tortured and killed because his family never surrendered formal title to land taken from them by a local chieftain. The IJ ordered Petitioner removed to Ghana, and the BIA dismissed Petitioner's appeal. The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for judicial review, holding that the IJ and BIA did not err in finding that the interpersonal conflict between Petitioner's family and the chieftain was unconnected to a statutorily-protected ground for relief. View "Odei v. Garland" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to Vitamin Shoppe and ruling that the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) preempted Plaintiffs' state law tort claims, holding that Plaintiffs' state law claims were expressly preempted by the FDCA.Plaintiffs purchased three dietary supplements containing glutamine as a main ingredient. Plaintiffs brought this action against the products' manufacturers claiming that the labels on the supplements contained statements that were false and misleading under state law. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Vitamin Shoppe, holding that the FDCA preempted Plaintiffs' state law claims. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the statements on Vitamin Shoppe's labels were structure/function claims under 343(r)(6), and Vitamin Shoppe complied with the FDCA's requirements to make such claims; and (2) therefore, Plaintiffs' state law claims challenging the statements about glutamine were expressly preempted by the FDCA. View "Ferrari v. Vitamin Shoppe Industries LLC" on Justia Law

The First Circuit dismissed the appeal in the underlying putative action removed from Massachusetts state court to the federal district court concerning a motion to compel arbitration, holding that the order was not a final decision and not within an exception that would permit interlocutory review.Plaintiff brought this putative class action alleging that Defendant, a debt collector, alleging violations of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A and 940 Mass. Code Regs. 7.01-.10. Defendant moved to compel arbitration in the state court, relying on an arbitration provision in the service contract between Plaintiff and the holder of the alleged debt Defendant was attempting to collect. The state court denied the motion, after which Defendant removed the case to federal court, where it filed another motion to compel arbitration. The district court treated the motion as a motion for reconsideration of the state court order denying the arbitration and then denied it. The First Circuit dismissed Defendant's appeal, holding that this was an improper interlocutory appeal. View "Powers v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress the seizure of his cell phone and its refusal to suppress evidence of child pornography, holding that the warrant authorizing the search of Defendant's electronic devices containing the child-pornography evidence was unsupported by probable cause.On appeal, Defendant argued that the police exceeded the scope of the first warrant by seizing his phone from his wife and that the application for the second warrant did not contain sufficient detail such that a neutral magistrate could determine whether there was probable cause that the alleged objects of the search were pornographic. The First Circuit remanded the case for further proceedings, holding (1) there was no violation of Defendant's constitutional rights in the seizure of his phone under the first warrant; (2) fatal deficiencies in the second affidavit supporting the second warrant resulted in the second search warrant being issued without the required showing of probable cause; and (3) the good-faith exception did not apply, requiring suppression of the evidence. View "United States v. Sheehan" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for attempting to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, holding that Defendant's first three challenges on appeal were unavailing and that his final argument was waived.Specifically, the First Circuit (1) did not err by declining to order the government to provide use immunity to a defense witness; (2) the district court did not err or undermine Defendant's entrapment defense in its evidentiary rulings; (3) the district court did not err in refusing to apply safety valve relief at sentencing after finding that Defendant failed to meet the safety valve's complete and truthful disclosure requirement; and (4) Defendant's remaining argument on appeal was waived. View "United States v. Munera-Gomez" on Justia Law