Background: On March 18, 2022, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Luke Jester stopped Donald Paul Rogers on U.S. Highway 93 in Ravalli County after observing a taillight malfunction and a fog-line crossing. Jester smelled marijuana, saw that Rogers was not wearing a seatbelt, and observed a container in the vehicle. Rogers said he had smoked marijuana before…
Held: The Montana Supreme Court affirmed. It held that the district court abused its discretion by treating Bedsaul’s certification and hospital employment as sufficient to establish the supervision and direction required by § 61-8-1019(1), MCA. The statute permits an “other qualified person” to withdraw blood at an officer’s request only when acting under a physician’s or registered nurse’s supervision and direction.…
Background: Six first responders—two law-enforcement officers and four towing-company workers—sued Old Dominion Freight Line and driver Aaron Foster after an April 20, 2018 tractor-trailer crash on Highway 70 in St. Francis County. A pickup driven by Charles Henley crossed the center line and struck Foster’s truck; the parties stipulated Henley alone caused the accident. One trailer…
Held: The court affirmed the circuit court and vacated the court of appeals’ opinion. Reviewing directed-verdict rulings for substantial evidence and legal questions de novo, it rejected a categorical heightened causation requirement for every toxic-tort case. Distinguishing long-term-exposure decisions such as Richardson, Chavers, and Green, the court followed the flexible approach reflected in TMG Cattle and the Restatement: exposure, general causation,…
Background: On November 28, 2020, Kyle Police Department officers responded to a 911 call from Dylan Eugene Taylor’s ex-girlfriend. She reported that Taylor, who lived nearly an hour away in Pflugerville, had been sitting in his vehicle outside her home for hours and refused to leave. Officers Seagraves and Waters found him illegally parked next to…
Held: Taylor was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon under Texas Penal Code Section 46.04. He moved to suppress the firearm, arguing that the inventory search was unconstitutional because it did not fully comply with departmental policy. The trial court denied suppression after a pretrial hearing. A jury convicted Taylor, and, following enhancement based on two prior…
Background: Carmen Ann Riley filed a petition for a domestic violence protective order (DVPO) against her husband, Terry Allen Riley, in the Magistrate Court of Wood County on October 8, 2024. The petition alleged a pattern of escalating abuse beginning shortly after their May 2024 marriage, including respondent forcing petitioner to resign from her retail job,…
Held: The Supreme Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the family court erred in refusing to consider petitioner's requests for permissive relief under West Virginia Code § 48-27-503. Justice Trump, writing for the Court, explained that the statute's provisions are "clear and unambiguous" and expressly authorize family courts to grant the types of relief petitioner requested. The Court emphasized that §…
Background: Mohammed Akram Arain appealed the decision of HHJ Saggerson, dated 24 September 2025, dismissing his claim for false imprisonment following a two-day trial on the preliminary issue of liability. Mr Justice Ritchie heard the appeal on 16 October 2026 in the High Court, King's Bench Division, with Mr Zainul Jafferji appearing for the appellant and…
Held: Ritchie J dismissed every ground of appeal. He held that the trial judge had considered and determined each pleaded allegation, had not reversed the burden of proof, and had decided the case on the pleaded claim and defences. Although the Secretary of State bore the burden of proving that detention was lawful, the claimant remained responsible for properly pleading the…
Background: Leanne Cheung obtained a judgment in 2006 against Raymundo G. Pena, her former attorney who has since been disbarred. The judgment arose from a worker's compensation dispute in which Pena had retained $166,734.23 as a contingency fee. After proceedings before the Idaho Industrial Commission and an appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court, the Court ordered…
Held: The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the district court's denial of Cheung's motion to renew. The Court held that the 2016 amendment unambiguously applies section 10-1111(1)'s ten-year renewal period exclusively to judgments finally concluding a controversy "on or after July 1, 2015." Cheung's judgment was subject to the five-year renewal period because it was issued prior to July 1, 2015, and…
Background: Gemma Ashton was employed by the State of New South Wales as an electorate officer for Kylie Wilkinson, the Member for East Hills. Her employment was regulated by the Members of Parliament Staff Act 2013 (NSW) (MOPS Act), a written contract and a Presiding Officers' Determination. On 22 November 2024, Ms Wilkinson told Ms Ashton…
Held: Schmidt AJ dismissed the application. Her Honour first held that pursuing relief on the basis that Ms Ashton's employment remained on foot was an abuse of process. Her reinstatement application had expressly asserted that she had been terminated, and her earlier cases in the Commission and Court of Appeal proceeded on that basis. Seeking reinstatement was inconsistent with ongoing employment,…
Background: The respondents, a Ukrainian mother and daughter, entered Israel on tourist visas in 2011 and 2012 and began a graduated status process based on the mother’s marriage to an Israeli citizen. The mother received an A/5 temporary residence license in 2016, and the daughter received one in 2018. According to the Authority, its systems recorded…
Held: On November 5, 2026, Justice Ruth Ronen dismissed the request for leave to appeal without requiring a response. She explained that leave in a “third round” of proceedings—following the Appeals Tribunal and administrative appeal—is granted only in exceptional cases presenting a fundamental legal question extending beyond the parties’ particular interests or raising concern of a serious miscarriage of justice. That…
Background: David Martinez injured his back in March 2022 while working as a maintenance employee for a Cheyenne veterinary clinic. The Wyoming Workers' Compensation Division accepted the injury and began paying temporary total disability benefits while Martinez received physical therapy, medication, and work restrictions from his treating physician, Dr. Vincent Ross. Although Martinez continued to report…
Held: The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed. Reviewing the Medical Commission directly and giving no special deference to the district court, it asked whether the Commission could reasonably conclude that Martinez failed to carry his burden. Because the claimant bore the burden of proving continued eligibility, the substantial-evidence question was whether the Commission's rejection of his position was contrary to the overwhelming…
Background: On July 3, 2026, M. [O] [E] was placed under formal investigation (mis en examen) for assassination, destruction of property by dangerous means committed by an organized group, and criminal conspiracy. That same day, the liberty and detention judge (juge des libertés et de la détention) issued an order refusing the prosecution's request to place…
Held: The Court of Cassation, sitting in a restricted formation under Article 567-1-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and composed of President M. Bonnal, Counselor-Rapporteur M. Busché, and Counselor M. Sottet, with Mme Le Roch serving as registrar, declared the July 31 appeal inadmissible. The Court reasoned that M. [E] had exhausted his right to appeal the July 21 decision…
Background: A collision involving a Tesla service truck presented a recurring Indiana respondeat-superior question: when does an employee's trip home remain within the scope of employment? Tesla service assistant Kyle Kaszuba had delivered a company trailer for repair near the end of his shift. Returning the company truck to Tesla's service center before retrieving his personal…
Held: The Supreme Court reversed the partial summary judgment on Tesla's vicarious liability. Justice Slaughter's majority opinion held that the designated evidence created a genuine issue of material fact about whether Kaszuba was acting within the scope of employment when the crash occurred. Indiana's going-and-coming rule generally places an employee's ordinary commute outside the scope of employment. But the rule has…
Background: Kevin Miller was convicted in 2020 of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and witness tampering in connection with the July 17, 2012 shooting death of Jeremiah McDonald in Newark, Delaware. A Superior Court jury returned those verdicts; in a subsequent bench trial, the court found Miller guilty of…
Held: The Supreme Court affirmed. Reviewing the denial of postconviction relief and of an evidentiary hearing for abuse of discretion while examining legal and constitutional questions de novo, the Court first rejected Miller's due process challenge to the absence of a hearing. Distinguishing Reed v. State, where the record was undeveloped on a crucial question, the Court found the record here…