Criminal Practice – Administrative – Sex Offender Registry – Removal Petition – Pardon Requirement – Juvenile Adjudication
Doe v. State Our sex offender registry statutes require that, in order to be removed from the registry, one must receive a pardon. There is no indication that the legislature intended to allow only adult offenders the chance to ask for a pardon, so we construe “conviction” as used in S.C. Code Ann. § 24-21-940(A) to include a family court adjudication of delinquency.
Civil Practice – Service of Process – Pleadings Amendment – Statute of Limitations
Mims v. Babcock Center, Inc. Plaintiff filed her original complaint on May 29, 2007 but never served it. She filed an amended complaint on May 7, 2008 and served it on May 12, 2008. Reading S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-20(B) and Rule 3(a), SCRCP, together, we find the trial court erred when it granted defendants’ motion to dismiss based on insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service[...]
Criminal Practice – Jury & Jurors – ‘Anonymous’ Jury – Murder Trial – First Impression – Constitutional – Hearsay Evidence – Murdered Witness — Conspiracy
U.S. v. Dinkins Using an ‘anonymous’ jury whose biographical information has been withheld from defense lawyers and defendants accused of drug-trafficking and the murder of government witnesses is not a reason to overturn their convictions; the 4th Circuit follows decisions by its sister circuits and provides guidelines for use of anonymous juries.
Criminal Practice – Impersonating an Officer – Constitutional – First Amendment – Freedom of Speech
U.S. v. Chappell The 4th Circuit says a former deputy sheriff who told an officer he was a deputy in an attempt to avoid a speeding ticket cannot overturn his conviction for impersonating an officer by claiming the Virginia statute at issue, Va. Code § 18.2-174, violated his First Amendment right to free speech.
Criminal Practice – Firearm Possession – Personal Right of Self-Defense — ‘Home Possession’ – Insufficient Showing of Residence
U.S. v. Smoot A defendant cannot claim a personal right of self-defense under D.C. v. Heller to a weapons charge, as he did not prove that he lived at the address where he was arrested in the backyard; the 4th Circuit also rejects defendant’s challenge to the jury instruction on the interstate commerce element of the gun charge.
Administrative – Immigration – Deportation – ‘Material Support’ for Guerrillas
Barahona v. Holder An El Salvadoran native loses his request for review of the Board of Immigrations Appeals’ final order saying he was ineligible for a “special removal” cancellation of deportation under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act of 1997; the 4th Circuit upholds the agency decision that found petitioner had provided material support to Salvadoran guerillas by a[...]
Criminal Practice – Stabbing in Afghanistan – South African Defendant – British Victim – Private Contractors – Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act
U.S. v. Brehm A South African employee of a private contractor can be convicted under U.S. law for stabbing a British citizen while both were working for separate private contractors supporting the NATO war effort in Afghanistan; the 4th Circuit affirms the conviction pursuant to an indictment that relied on the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act.
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Estimated Speed
U.S. v. Mubdi The 4th Circuit upholds a traffic stop based on two officers’ separate visual estimates of defendant’s speed, as the officers’ radar certification training required them to visually estimate vehicle speed within a narrow margin of error; the subsequent open-air search by a drug-sniffing dog did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights, and his convictions for [...]
Criminal Practice – Sentencing – Illegal Reentry into U.S. – Prior Child Abuse Conviction – No Enhancement
U.S. v. Gomez A district court erred in enhancing a defendant’s sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. by determining her prior child abuse conviction to be an aggravated felony; the 4th Circuit joins the majority of its sister circuits and says the “modified categorical approach” for evaluating a defendant’s prior conviction as a crime of violence should be applied only to st[...]
Attorneys – Discipline – Lack of Diligence – Public Reprimand
In re Swope In several instances, respondent was not diligent in his representation of clients; moreover, he failed to respond to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel and our Court of Appeals in a timely manner on more than one occasion.
Intellectual Property – Patent Infringement – Civil Practice – Pleadings Amendment – Theory of Infringement – Doctrine of Equivalents
Pure Fishing, Inc. v. Normark Corp. Despite agreeing to a schedule that required it to disclose its theory of infringement (literal infringement, the doctrine of equivalents, or both) by April 15, 2011, plaintiff did not disclose its theory of infringement or move to amend its Aug. 16, 2010 complaint to set out a theory of infringement until June 8, 2012.
Civil Practice – Personal Jurisdiction – Florida Resident – S.C. Businesses – Guarantor
CresCom Bank v. Terry According to the complaint, defendant Terry, a Florida resident, executed and delivered to the plaintiff-bank multiple guaranties, guarantying the payment and performance of all debts that three companies owed to the S.C. bank.
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- N.C. Bar Association embraces homophobia