Background: Chet Walker was convicted after a four-day trial of witness intimidation, four stalking counts, and five violations of a protection order arising from his conduct toward his wife. The couple had reciprocal protection orders during a troubled separation. The order governing Walker limited his communications with his wife to specified applications and to matters concerning…
Held: The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed every conviction. It held that the district court reasonably distinguished evidence that could illuminate the wife’s credibility or the parties’ relationship from evidence offered merely to put her conduct on trial. Walker was allowed to establish that she was subject to a protection order, that she was angry with him, and that she had pretended…
Background: Three petitioners challenged restrictions on state employees’ participation in demonstrations or processions of a political character. They sought constitutional invalidation of section 1(3) of the Civil Service (Restrictions on Party Activity and Fundraising) Law, 5719-1959, as well as administrative relief against decades-old government decisions and Civil Service Regulations implementing that provision. The petition argued that…
Held: The Court unanimously made the order nisi absolute and required the government to enact regulations governing the restrictions by September 1, 2027. It held that the existing arrangement was seriously defective: the state itself acknowledged that regulations were legally required, and the government had failed to exercise its discretion by updating decisions that were mostly about half a century old.…
Background: The father applied for a child arrangements order permitting contact with the parties’ nearly eight-year-old daughter, G. After a five-day fact-finding hearing, HHJ Williscroft found that the father had engaged in coercive, controlling, verbal, psychological and some physically aggressive behaviour toward the mother. The judge also rejected allegations that he lacked a genuine interest in…
Held: Mr Justice Harrison set aside the order and remitted the case for reconsideration before a different judge. Although a family court may bring proceedings to an end at a directions hearing, the lower court had not been given highly relevant information about the mother’s continuing immigration litigation. That litigation both undermined her contention that the proceedings had to end swiftly…
Background: Three Hutchinson firefighters responded to a report of an unconscious person beneath a bridge and found Nicole Willard lying motionless. After they awakened her, Willard declined treatment but eventually provided her name. A police sergeant arrived for a welfare check while Willard sat near the bridge wall with the firefighters around her. She used her…
Held: The Kansas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and affirmed the district court. It held that the Fourth Amendment applies to governmental conduct beyond traditional law enforcement, so the seizure analysis properly included the actions of the firefighters and emergency medical personnel as well as the police officer.
Background: Joseph P. Manheim controlled Delaware Valley Regional Center, LLC through his ownership of West 36th, Inc., the company’s sole manager. Young Min Ban held interests in West 36th and in a limited partnership that owned a majority interest in the regional center. In 2022, Manheim eliminated Ban’s interests by exercising a newly created call right…
Held: The Delaware Supreme Court held that the Court of Chancery acted within its discretion by declining to consider the supplemental expert valuation. The parties’ discovery agreement permitted supplemental reports addressing deposition testimony that affected the experts’ conclusions, but it did not authorize a new valuation model built on new inputs.
Background: Burleigh and Morton Counties jointly own the Burleigh Morton Detention Center in Bismarck. They retained Venture Architects, LLC, as architect of record for the project. Venture was responsible for project specifications and approval of materials, including paint products. Comstock Construction was the general contractor, and Oxentenko performed painting and coating work.
Held: The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. Applying the six-year limitations period for contract claims and the discovery rule, it held that the Counties’ claim accrued on February 2, 2017. The undisputed evidence of visibly peeling paint, exposed raw metal, the absence of visible primer, and the Counties’ immediate notice to Venture gave a reasonable person objective notice of a potential…
Background: Jefferson County Probate Judge Yashiba Glenn Blanchard entered an administrative order requiring immediate forensic accountings of ward estates formerly administered by attorneys I. Ripon Britton Jr. and Gregory H. Hawley and transferred to a new guardian and conservator. The order covered roughly 146 matters and authorized payment of the accounting fees from the individual estates.
Held: The Alabama Supreme Court reversed. It held that the circuit court's statutory power of general supervision over inferior courts extends to the probate court and includes authority to issue writs needed to exercise that supervision. A local grant of concurrent equity jurisdiction changes the matters a probate court may decide, but it does not transform the probate court into a…
Background: Crystal Allen developed a pressure ulcer while living in a skilled nursing facility after suffering a stroke. Dr. Oyesiji Arojojoye evaluated the ulcer and performed debridement. Crystal later developed an infection, sepsis, and died. Her mother sued, alleging, among other things, that Arojojoye failed to recognize, evaluate, and treat her developing infection.
Held: The Arizona Supreme Court vacated both the court of appeals decision and the trial court’s order denying summary judgment, and remanded. The court held that the lower courts did not properly apply A.R.S. § 12-2604 and Baker v. University Physicians Healthcare because they did not clearly identify the care or treatment actually challenged by Allen.
Background: U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted a package from China addressed to Kevin R. Master that contained a sex doll with the proportions and anatomical features of a child. Kentucky State Police Detective Gatson obtained a warrant to search Master’s residence, asserting that, based on his training and experience, people who order such dolls are…
Held: The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the good-faith exception applied because Gatson’s reliance on the issued warrant was objectively reasonable. Although the affidavit lacked the nexus required for probable cause, it was not so devoid of factual support that no reasonable officer could rely on it. Gatson accurately described his experience, the intercepted package, and the basis for his…
Background: Muhammad Nawaz, a Pakistani citizen who arrived in Australia on a student visa in 2007, applied in March 2015 for a Subclass 572 student visa. His wife, Hafza Memoona Ilyas, and son Ahmad Nawaz were secondary applicants. His daughter Zainab Nawaz was born after the application was made and later became a dependent member of…
Held: Jackson J refused the adjournment. Ministerial intervention was a separate, non-compellable process, and there was no demonstrated probability that the Minister would consider or grant the request. The application was also made only a week before the hearing, despite more than two months’ notice of the listing and no satisfactory explanation for the delay. The Court found that Mr Nawaz…
Background: Christopher John Billesdon worked for Wells Fargo Securities for nearly three decades while managing a paralyzed bladder and colon. After his condition required a more demanding medical protocol, he received informal flexibility to work from home when necessary. Remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed him to remain productive near a bathroom.
Held: The Fourth Circuit upheld only the ADA retaliation verdict. The evidence—including the timing of the discharge decision, managers’ hostility toward the accommodation request, changed treatment of Billesdon, and the unusually accelerated termination process—permitted a reasonable jury to find that his formal request was a but-for cause of his discharge.
Background: Dayton cited Jane Doe in December 2024 and April 2025 for violating R.C.G.O. 93.46(E), which requires dwelling owners to keep exterior premises free of objects, materials, or conditions that create a health, safety, or fire hazard or constitute a public nuisance. The citations concerned trash, debris, stagnant water, broken furniture, tires, wood, and other materials…
Held: The Second District affirmed both convictions and overruled Doe’s 12 assignments of error. Because Doe did not provide transcripts or an authorized substitute record from the hearings on her suppression and dismissal motions, the court presumed those proceedings were regular and upheld the rulings. It also concluded that the city inspector’s authority under R.C.G.O. 93.04(A) to enter premises at a…