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

Plaintiff appealed pro se an order dismissing his complaint against defendants for failure to state a claim. Plaintiff alleged that medical care providers, Christopher Aiken and Dr. James Hohensee, at the Niagara County Jail, were deliberately indifferent to plaintiff's medical needs during his incarceration at the jail. Plaintiff also appealed from a judgment dismissing his claims against the remaining defendants, alleging that excessive force on the part of corrections officers, Paul Curcione, Jeff Chawer, and Sergeant Tammy Williams. The court held that plaintiff's complaint fell short of alleging a deliberate indifference on the part of Nurse Practitioner Aikin and Dr. Hohensee to his serious medical needs. Therefore, the district court properly dismissed the complaint without leave to amend where issues of medical judgment could not be the basis of a deliberate indifference claim where evidence of deliberate indifference was lacking. The court also held that the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Williams for plaintiff's failure to exhaust the requisite administrative review process as to Williams. The court further held that the exhaustion requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. 1997e(a), was satisfied by an untimely filing of a grievance if it was accepted and decided on the merits by the appropriate prison authority. Therefore, plaintiff had met the exhaustion requirement of his original filing and the district court's contrary determination was erroneous. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part and vacated in part, remanding for further proceedings.

Defendant, James Gansman, appealed from a judgment convicting him of insider trading under the so-called "misappropriation theory." At issue was whether the district court erred in declining to adopt an instruction proposed by Gansman setting forth a theory of the defense based in part on SEC Rule 10b5-2, 17 C.F.R. 240.10b5-2. The court held that Gansman was entitled to assert a defense theory that he did not have the requisite intent to commit securities fraud, and that in defining the nature of his relationship with Donna Murdoch, a woman with whom he was having an affair, to the jury, he had the right to use language found in Rule 10b5-2. The court held that, nevertheless, Gansman was not entitled to a new trial in the circumstances presented because the slightly modified instruction given by the district court was legally sufficient. Gansman raised a number of other challenges to his conviction, all of which were without merit. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.

This case arose when plaintiff, by her mother and natural guardian, brought a medical malpractice action under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 1346, 2401, 2671-2680, claiming that the injury plaintiff sustained at birth might have been caused by her doctor. At issue was whether plaintiff's claim was "forever barred" by the FTCA's two-year statute of limitations period. The court held that, because plaintiff failed to comply with the two-year limitations period set out in section 2401(b) and because equitable tolling, even if available, was unwarranted, the judgment of the district court dismissing the complaint as untimely was affirmed.

Defendant pleaded guilty to transporting and possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(1), and (a)(5)(B). The district court sentenced defendant to 121 months' imprisonment and ordered him to pay restitution to finance future counseling costs of one of the victims depicted in the images and videos. On appeal, defendant challenged the restitution order and his sentence. The court agreed with defendant that, based on the facts in this case, defendant's possession of the victim's images was no a substantial factor in causing her loss. The court held, however, that the district court committed no procedural or substantive error in imposing the sentence of imprisonment. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Plaintiff, an inmate at Great Meadow Correctional Facility (Great Meadow), filed suit, pro se, in district court against three Great Meadow employees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that he had been improperly denied access to medically-prescribed therapeutic diets, resulting in violations of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and of his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. Plaintiff, subsequently represented by counsel, appealed the revocation of his in forma pauperis status, as well as the decision of the district court to grant summary judgment to one of the defendants, James Pagano. The court held that, based on its recent decision in Mills v. Fischer, any action dismissed on the ground of absolute prosecutorial immunity was presumed "frivolous" for purposes of 28 U.S.C. 1915(g). The court also held that the remainder of plaintiff's arguments on appeal were without merit. Accordingly, the orders of the district court revoking plaintiff's in forma pauperis status and granting Pagano summary judgment were affirmed.

Petitioners appealed the decision and order of the Department of Labor Benefits Review Board reversing the ALJ's dismissal of respondent's claim for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. 901-50, as extended by the Defense Base Act, 42 U.S.C. 1651-54, as untimely. The Board determined that the ALJ's principal finding on the issue of timeliness was not supported by substantial evidence. The court held that because the ALJ's factual finding with respect to constructive awareness was not supported by substantial evidence, the Board did not overstep the limits of its appellate jurisdiction when it reversed the finding. Accordingly, the order of the Board was affirmed.

This action for breach of contract and related tort claims had its origin in a February 9, 2006 Credit and Security Agreement, wherein defendant agreed inter alia to provide plaintiff with a revolving line of credit. Plaintiff subsequently appealed from a judgment of dismissal entered by the district court, contending that the district court erred in relying on releases executed in favor of defendant, most recently in a forbearance agreement to dismiss its claims because its complaint pleaded that these releases were induced by economic duress. The court held that plaintiff failed to plead plausibly that defendant made a "wrongful threat," an essential element of economic duress. Rather, the conduct alleged to have caused duress evidences only the exercise of defendant's legal rights under the parties' original contract and subsequent agreements. Therefore, to the extent that those rights included defendant's exercise of "reasonable discretion" in various areas, plaintiff's allegations failed as a matter of law to plead actions exceeding the scope of such discretion. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgement of dismissal.

This case arose when plaintiffs alleged that they suffered injury caused by a defectively designed transmission of an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) manufactured by Recreative Industries, Inc. (Recreative) on the basis of a design originally created by Borg-Warner Automotive, Inc. (Borg-Warner). Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Borg-Warner and the district court's dismissal of the suit against Recreative on the basis of forum non conveniens. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Borg-Warner where Borg-Warner had sold all rights to the design at issue twenty-six years before manufacture of the machine that caused plaintiffs' injuries; during that time, Borg-Warner had no ability to learn from experience whether its design was causing injuries, no ability to conduct safety tests, and no possibility of improving the design to diminish the risk of harm; and therefore, imposing strict liability on Borg-Warner in these circumstances would not reasonably serve the central rationale for strict liability. The court also held that there was no abuse of discretion in dismissing the suit against Recreative under the doctrine of forum non conveniens where plaintiffs were residents and citizens of Scotland, the accident occurred in England, the ATV remained in England, both nonparty witnesses to the accident were British citizens residing in England, and Recreative was subject to British courts.

Defendant appealed from a judgment of conviction where he and his co-defendant were found guilty of two counts of conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. At issue was whether the district court properly admitted a portion of a recorded telephone call that defendant made while incarcerated, because he argued that the communication was protected by the attorney-client privilege. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that defendant was unable to prove that his communication was made in confidence, given his knowledge that his calls were being recorded by the Bureau of Prisons and his ability to communicate directly with his attorney in the absence of any monitoring. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's decision to admit defendant's telephone call.

This appeal stemmed from numerous trademark and unfair competition claims over the name "Patsy's." Patsy's Italian Restaurant appealed, and Patsy's Pizzeria cross-appealed, from a judgment of the district court after a jury trial on claims brought pursuant to trademark and unfair competition law. The court upheld the district court's jury instructions; affirmed the district court's refusal to grant a new trial on the issue of whether Patsy's Pizzeria made fraudulent statements to the Patent and Trademark Office, as well as its refusal to vacate the jury's verdict that Patsy's Italian Restaurant did not fraudulently obtain its trademark registrations; affirmed the district court's refusal to reinstate Patsy's Pizzeria's trademark registrations; and upheld the district court's denial of attorneys' fees and injunctive relief. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.