Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Defendant, convicted of substantive and conspiratorial bank fraud and tax crimes, appealed from an amended judgment resentencing him to four months' imprisonment after he was found to have willfully violated probation by failing to pay ordered restitution. Defendant, who declared bankruptcy after his initial sentencing, submitted that the automatic stay provision of the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. 362(a), temporarily halted his obligation to pay restitution and barred the district court from revoking his probation of nonpayment. At issue was what effect, if any, the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay provision had on court-ordered conditions of a criminal sentence or proceedings to address violations of those conditions. The court concluded that such orders and proceedings fell within an express exception to the automatic stay because they constituted a "continuation of the criminal action or proceeding." Defendant's alternative argument was meritless. The court dismissed the part of defendant's appeal that asked the court to modify the amended judgment to clarify that he was under no obligation to pay restitution while incarcerated, because it was unripe for adjudication. View "United States v. Colasuonno" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the district court affirming the Social Security Administration's (SSA) denial of her application for Supplemental Security Income disability benefits on the basis of her alleged intellectual disability. The court held that evidence of a petitioner's cognitive limitations as an adult established a rebuttable presumption that those limitations arose before petitioner turned 22, as was required by SSA regulations. The court further held that a petitioner must make separate showings of deficits in cognitive and adaptive functioning in order to be considered intellectually disabled under SSA regulations. Because the agency's finding that petitioner did not suffer from qualifying deficits in adaptive functioning was supported by substantial evidence, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Talavera v. Commissioner of Social Security" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs brought suit against numerous foreign airlines alleging a conspiracy to fix prices in violation of state antitrust, consumer protection, and unfair competition laws. The district court dismissed those claims as expressly preempted by federal law. The Federal Aviation Act, 49 U.S.C. 41713(b)(1), preempted state-law claims "related to a price, route, or service of an air carrier." The court concluded that "air carrier" in that provision applied to foreign air carriers and therefore, affirmed the judgment. View "In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation" on Justia Law

In this action under the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. 1651, and the Anti-Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C. 2283, the court considered whether, following the approval of a federal class action settlement, the district court properly enjoined a state court action for legal malpractice directed at counsel for the plaintiff class. The court held that the "in aid of jurisdiction" exception to the Anti-Injunction Act could not form the basis for the district court's injunction of the state court action, as the limited circumstances in which the injunction of an in personam action could be appropriate "in aid of" the court's jurisdiction were not present in this case. The court also concluded that where, as here, the parties had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the reasonableness of counsel's representation, a subsequent malpractice action could be enjoined under the relitigation exception. View "Barroway v. Computer Assoc., et. al." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed from a Memorandum and Order of Restitution by the district court resentencing him to pay restitution to the victims of a massive "pump-and-dump" securities fraud scheme he and his co-conspirators designed and executed. Defendant contended, inter alia, that the district court should have released some or all of defendant's money held by the court pending his resentencing. The court held that a district court could exercise its authority under the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. 1651(a), to restrain a convicted defendant's funds in anticipation of sentencing. Therefore, the court affirmed the restitution order. View "United States v. Catoggio" on Justia Law

Respondents, New York authorities, appealed from the district court's grant of a writ of habeas corpus to petitioner. The district court held that the New York Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the state trial court permissibly barred cross-examination of the main prosecution witness on the issue of whether she had accused petitioner of the crimes in question only after being told that petitioner had accused her. On appeal, respondents argued that petitioner's Confrontation Clause rights were not violated and that even if they were, any violation was harmless. The court agreed that no Confrontation Clause violation occurred and therefore reversed the judgment. View "Corby v. Artus" on Justia Law

This appeal arose out of a contract dispute between Costco and Leadsinger, a company that sold karaoke systems. Ipcon is the successor-in-interest to Leadsinger. On appeal, the court affirmed the district court's judgment granting Costco's motion to dismiss because Ipcon's claim - that Costco never intended to honor the relevant sales contracts - was a claim for fraud in the inducement, and thus - under the terms of the contracts and the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq. - must be considered by an arbitrator and not a district court. Because a district court has broad discretion both in finding whether a party had violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and in deciding whether to impose sanctions, the court affirmed the district court's denial of Rule 11 sanctions. The court also denied Costco's motion for sanctions under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38. View "Ipcon Collections LLC v. Costco Wholesale Corp." on Justia Law

Defendant, who stands indicted for substantive and conspiratorial drug crimes, and who, having been arraigned, has been detained with no trial date set, appealed from an order denying him bail pending trial. The court concluded that the district court properly applied the court's test for due process review of pretrial detention and that its findings of fact were not clearly erroneous. Therefore, the court affirmed the detention order without prejudice to defendant's moving the court to recall the mandate and reinstated his appeal if the district court did not begin defendant's trial, or set reasonable bail for him by a certain date. View "United States v. Brigg" on Justia Law

In 2002, Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) created the "Dante Programme" by which certain special purpose entities issued notes of collateralized debt obligations (the Notes). The Notes were purchased by appellants as well as other investors. The same special purpose entities entered into a swap agreement with Lehman Brothers Special Financing Incorporated (LBSF) whereby LBSF agreed to pay amounts due under the Notes in exchange for certain interests in the collateral that secured the Notes. Appellants and LBSF had competing interests in the Collateral. LBSF subsequently commenced an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court against the trustees of the Dante Programme and the issuers of the Notes, seeking declaratory relief with respect to priority in the Collateral. The court held that in the circumstances here, the bankruptcy court's denial of appellants' motions to intervene in the adversary proceeding was a final appealable order. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded. View "In re: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against Christie's under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1961 et seq., and common law fraud claims under New York law. The claims related to alleged fraud in inflating the value of bottles of wine by falsely attributing them to Thomas Jefferson's wine collection. Because the court found no error in the district court's conclusion that plaintiff's claims were time-barred, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Koch v. Christie's International PLC" on Justia Law