In this products liability case, a five-year-old child sued Dorel Juvenile Group after suffering traumatic brain injuries in a car accident while seated in one of the company’s booster seats, claiming the seat’s defective design caused her permanent disabilities and seeking damages that included compensation for total loss of future earning capacity. The defendant moved in limine to exclude the opinions of the plaintiff’s vocational rehabilitation expert and economist, arguing that their projections were too speculative because they relied on generalized census statistics. The court denied the motion. Under Virginia law, lost-earning-capacity damages for an infant must be shown with reasonable certainty and must rest on facts specific to the individual rather than on membership in a statistical class alone. The experts satisfied that standard by combining individualized evidence—family academic history, school records, medical assessments, and interviews—with statistical tables to estimate the education level the child likely would have attained and the corresponding earnings, then reducing those figures to present value.
Kenneth Ray Stevens, a federal inmate, filed a pro se motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate his 2009 conviction and 211-month sentence after pleading guilty to drug conspiracy and firearm charges pursuant to a written Plea Agreement that waived his rights to appeal or collaterally attack his conviction or sentence. The government moved to dismiss based on the waiver. Following an evidentiary hearing on Stevens’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel—including allegations that counsel delegated advice on the plea to a non-lawyer, failed to advise on enhancements or the waiver, did not research the firearm charge, and did not file a requested appeal—the court granted the government’s motion and denied relief. The court found that Stevens’s guilty plea was knowing and voluntary, that he had not shown prejudice under Strickland v. Washington and Hill v. Lockhart because he could not demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would have rejected the plea agreement or obtained a better outcome absent counsel’s alleged errors, and that the waiver therefore barred the motion.
In United States v. Doss, the defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and objected at sentencing to classification as a career offender under USSG § 4B1.1 based on his prior convictions. The court overruled the objection, holding that the defendant's 2001 Virginia conviction for assault and battery on a police officer qualified as a predicate "crime of violence." Applying the categorical approach under the residual clause of USSG § 4B1.2(a), the court reasoned that the offense, by its elements, inherently involves conduct presenting a serious potential risk of physical injury to another, distinguishing it from simple assault and battery due to the involvement of a law enforcement officer. The court relied on precedent interpreting similar language in the Armed Career Criminal Act and analogous decisions from other circuits.
In this diversity jurisdiction breach of contract case, Traxys North America sued Concept Mining, a coal producer, after Concept failed to deliver low-volatile metallurgical coal in 2009 and 2010 under a December 2007 supply agreement that included a two-year extension with a price collar mechanism allowing Traxys to purchase at up to $83 per ton. Following a two-day bench trial applying New York law, the court found that Traxys had validly exercised its option to buy the coal and that Concept breached by refusing to deliver or negotiate in good faith, leading to termination of the contract. The court awarded Traxys damages of $4,167,760 based on the difference between the collar price and prevailing market prices for comparable coal during the relevant periods.
The case involved parents of public high school students affected by a school consolidation plan who sought a preliminary injunction against the Virginia High School League to permit immediate sports eligibility at a new school despite the League's Transfer Rule imposing a one-year ineligibility period for transfers without a change in parental residence. The court denied the motion for preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs did not demonstrate a likelihood of success on their claims alleging violations of substantive and procedural due process as well as equal protection, given the rule's exceptions for school closures, the availability of an appeals process, and the lack of a protected constitutional interest in athletic participation. The court also found insufficient evidence of irreparable harm from temporary ineligibility in interscholastic competitions.
In this criminal case, defendant Steven F. Riggs, II, was charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone by arranging trips for drug users to obtain fraudulent prescriptions from doctors in Florida. Riggs entered a guilty plea without a plea agreement, but after the start of his sentencing hearing he moved to withdraw the plea based on testimony presented there. The court denied the motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(d)(2)(B), finding that Riggs had not shown a fair and just reason for withdrawal because the plea was knowing and voluntary, he had the close assistance of counsel, the evidence supported his guilt, and allowing withdrawal would prejudice the government and waste judicial resources after substantial delay.
