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Appellate Law

South Carolina Appellate Law Blog

Appellate law topics in South Carolina and in the federal courts.
By Bill Watkins, Esq.

Post Frequency: 11.4/day

Last Entry: December 13, 2008 at 08:02:00

Fourth Circuit affirms grant of summary judgment in Abu Ghraib defamation case

Posted on August 07, 2008
In CACI PREMIER TECHNOLOGY v. RHODES, a military contractor sued a radio talk show host for allegedly defamatory statements. CACI interrogated Iraqi detainees at the notorious U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In her radio program, Rhodes made a number of criticisms about CACI role in the torture and abuse of Iraqis...

Fourth Circuit issues SOX opinion declining to reinstate whistleblower

Posted on August 06, 2008
In WELCH v. CHAO, the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court decision declining to reinstate Welch. Welch is a fired bank executive who became the first person to win protection under the whistleblower protection provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The panel held that Welch failed to explain how his employer's poor accounting practices could be considered a violation of federal law.

S.C. Supreme Court offers guidance on excited utterances

Posted on August 05, 2008
Under South Carolina law, three elements must be met in order for a statement to be an excited utterance: (1) the statement must relate to a startling event or condition; (2) the statement must have been made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement; and (3) the stress of excitement must be caused by the startling event or condition...

Monday Humor

Posted on August 04, 2008
Associates love their big firm jobs--check out the latest from the Snark.

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Fourth Circuit allows do-over in products case

Posted on July 31, 2008
In South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs v. Hoover Universal, an action was commenced alleging damages resulting from Hoover?s sale to the state of defective trusts and sheathing that were incorporated into public buildings in the 1970s...

SC Supreme Court grants relief in conflict of interest case

Posted on July 29, 2008
In Lomax v. State, the Supreme Court granted PCR relief in a conflict of interest case. Lomax and her husband, Noah, pled guilty to a variety of drug offenses. Noah was sentenced to 3 years and Lomax received 25 years. Lomax argued that her defense lawyer, who also represented her husband, was ineffectual because of a conflict of interest...

ABA Report is said to be highly critical of SC lawyer disciplinary system and Chief Justice Toal

Posted on July 24, 2008
FTS news has this blog post. Here is a taste:"A draft report from the American Bar Association harshly criticizing South Carolina?s controversial attorney discipline system has been confidentially provided to S.C. Chief Justice Jean Toal, a source close to the S...

SC Court of Appeals issues opinion on duty to report abuse of vulnerable adult

Posted on July 24, 2008
In Williams v. Watkins, the court of appeals considered an order granting summary judgment in favor of Babcock Center and its employee, Nancy Watkins, on Carrie and Robert Williamses' claims for defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress...

Conrad nomination to Fourth Circuit held up in partisan fight

Posted on July 23, 2008
Lisa Zagaroli has this article that begins:U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad of Charlotte is either an arbitrator so honest that he would rule against his own brother or a conservative extremist who would ?turn the clock back? on people's rights.Whether his friends or foes are correct ? or the truth is somewhere in between one thing seems certain: He is no closer to sitting on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, or even getting a confirmation hearing, than he was on the day President Bush nominated him a year ago...

Fourth Circuit still the fastest in the nation

Posted on July 23, 2008
From the Charlotte Observer:The Richmond-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves the Carolinas and three other states, disposes of cases more quickly than any other circuit in the nation despite its four vacancies. During the 2007-08 court year, it did so by relying on visiting circuit and district judges on 76 percent of the panels that heard oral arguments...

More on al-Marri ruling

Posted on July 21, 2008
The NYT has a good op-ed up on the Fourth Circuit's Ali al-Marri ruling. Here is a taste:The Bush administration has been a waging a fierce battle for the power to lock people up indefinitely simply on the president?s say-so. It scored a disturbing victory last week when a federal appeals court ruled that it could continue to detain Ali al-Marri, who has been held for more than five years as an enemy combatant...

4th Circuit dangerously expands alleged "wartime power"

Posted on July 18, 2008
The Fourth Circuit Court of appeals, in a fractured en banc decisions, held that the President has the legal power to order the indefinite military detentions of civilians captured in the United States. However, the Court also ruled that Ali al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar now in military custody in Charleston, S...

Fourth Circuit decides defamation suit againt NYT

Posted on July 16, 2008
In Hatfill v. The New York Times, the Fourth Circuit upheld the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Times. Hatfill alleged that a series of columns published in the newspaper implicated him in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others...

S.C. Supreme Court upholds death for Freddie Owens

Posted on July 15, 2008
The Greenville News has this story.

S.C. Court of Appeals upholds discovery sanction of striking answer for failure to produce documents

Posted on July 10, 2008
In McNair v. Fairfield County, the Court of Appeals upheld the sanction of striking the County's answer in a condemnation case. The County had not produced documents 7 � months after the trial court granted plaintiff's motion to compel. At the 11th hour the county promised to have all discovery matters cleared up within one month, but failed to do so...

S.C. Court of Appeals holds that professional negligence claims are assignable

Posted on July 09, 2008
In Fowler v. Hunter, the court of appeals considered the assignability of professional negligence claims. The Fowlers were seriously injured when the motorcycle they were riding was struck by a car driven by Sallie Hunter. The car was owned by Gynecologic Oncology Associates (?GOA?) for use by Mrs...

Fourth Circuit upholds suprevised release requirement of intramuscular injections of antipsychotic drugs

Posted on July 08, 2008
In United States v. Holman, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the propriety of a condition of supervised release requiring that Holman participate in mental health treatment and take all prescribed medication, including intramuscular injections of an antipsychotic drug...

Change in US News law school rankings could hurt schools with part-time programs

Posted on July 07, 2008
One important category on the US News list is the undergraduate grade-point average and LSAT scores of the incoming class. U.S. News currently uses only the grades and test scores of full-time students. The magazine is considering pooling the scores of part-time students after hearing allegations that some schools move students with lower grades and test scores into part-time programs so they can report better data...

Great story on the young lawyer who argued Heller

Posted on July 02, 2008
Heller was only his second appellate argument ever. This is a good read.

Next President could immediately appoint 100 judges

Posted on July 02, 2008
The Senate is proposing to expand the federal judiciary by 50 permanent judgeships -- including a dozen on federal appellate courts nationwide.Because the Senate is unlikely to confirm the existing 45 unfilled judicial vacancies by the end of the Bush II term, the incoming president would have an immediate opportunity to appoint nearly 100 judges, when the unfilled vacancies are combined with potential new judgeships...

Thoughts on Heller

Posted on June 30, 2008
The Second Amendment provides that "[a] well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the plain language of the Amendment recognizes a personal right, belonging to "the people," to possess firearms...

SCOTUS holds that the states may not execute those who rape children

Posted on June 26, 2008
In Kennedy v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court decided whether the Constitution bars a state from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in death of the victim. The Court held that the Eighth Amendment does prohibit the death penalty for this offense...

On our way to a 1:1 ratio with punitive damages??

Posted on June 26, 2008
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court decided Exxon Shipping v. Baker. This decision dealt with a punitive damages award arising out of the spill from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Millions of gallons of crude oil were dumped into Prince William Sound, causing extensive damage to the environment, commercial fishermen, and native Alaskans...

SCOTUS holds assignee of claims claims have standing eve if they have no interest in the proceeds of verdict or settlement

Posted on June 25, 2008
The Supreme Court decided Sprint v. APCC, which dealt with an interesting assignment issue. At base, the Court was asked to decide whether a plaintiff who has been assigned rights to pursue a legal claim, but will collect no proceeds from the outcome of the suit, has standing under Article 3 to bring suit...

Supreme Court holds that court of appeals may not increase sentences without a government cross-appeal

Posted on June 25, 2008
In Greenlaw v. United States, the Supreme Court considered whether a United States Court of Appeals acting on its own initiative and without an appeal or cross-appeal from the government, may order an increase in a criminal defendant?s sentence. Greenlaw was convicted of various drugs and weapons offenses and sentenced to 442 months confinement...

SCOTUS holds right to counsel attaches at a defendant's first appearence before a magistrate

Posted on June 24, 2008
Yesterday in Rothgery v. Gillespie County the Supreme Court held that the right to counsel attaches at a defendant?s first appearance before a magistrate. The Court further held it does not matter whether a prosecutor is also present before the magistrate...

SCOTUS holds that states may require defendants with limited capacity to be represented by counsel

Posted on June 20, 2008
In Indiana v. Edwards, the Supreme Court decided an issue regarding self-representation. The case focused upon a criminal defendant whom a state court found mentally competent to stand trial if represented by counsel but not mentally competent to conduct the trial himself...

In Snavely v. Piedmont Medical

Posted on June 18, 2008
In Snavely v. Piedmont Medical Center, the Court of Appeals considered an action for breach of patient-physician confidentiality. At base, Snavely was accompanied to the Emergency Room by her sister-in-law. The sister-in-law also accompanied Snavely into the examination room...

S.C. Supreme Court imposes duty to conduct a reasonable investigation on attorneys bringing legal mal claims

Posted on June 17, 2008
In Ex parte: Gregory v. Malloy, the Supreme Court dealt with an attorney's duty to investigate a claim before filing suit and the propriety of sanctions under the Frivolous Civil Proceedings Sanctions Act. The case essentially concerned a dispute over settlement proceeds...

SCOTUS holds that Gitmo detainees have a right to habeas corpus

Posted on June 16, 2008
In Boumediene v. Bush, the Supreme Court gave the Bush Administration a black eye in its controversial war-on-terrorism policies. The Court held that the Guantanamo detainees have a right to pursue habeas corpus challenges to their detention. The alternative procedures to habeas review crafted by the government under the Detainee Treatment Act, the Court said, do not include adequate legal protections to be a substitute for the constitutional requirements of habeas corpus...

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