Marc Thomas Treadwell

This case concerns Petitioner William Cary Sallie's federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his state convictions for malice murder and related offenses, for which he was sentenced to death. The respondent moved to dismiss the petition as untimely under AEDPA's one-year statute of limitations, arguing that the judgment became final upon denial of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 6, 2003, making the federal filing in 2011 too late. The court agreed that the petition was not filed within the limitations period as calculated under federal law, which governs finality rather than state law, but held that dismissal was inappropriate because further development of the record is required to determine whether Sallie is entitled to equitable tolling based on any state-created impediments or other grounds.

criminal lawprocedure

This case is a declaratory judgment action by North American Specialty Insurance Company against Pen Pals Productions, LLC, seeking a ruling that its commercial general liability policy does not cover claims in an underlying wrongful death lawsuit arising from an electrical accident on a film set. The court denied the insurer's motion for summary judgment and partially granted the cross-motion by NES Equipment Services Corporation, declaring that the rental agreement between Pen Pals and NES qualifies as an "insured contract" under the policy. The reasoning centered on Georgia insurance law principles, finding no genuine issues of fact that the deceased was not an employee of Pen Pals under the policy's broad definition, thus the employee-injury exclusion did not apply, and the contractual indemnity claim fell within the insured contract exception.

business & regulatoryproceduretorts & liability

This case is a qui tam action brought by relator Angela Parato against Unadilla Health Care Center, Inc. and its board members alleging violations of the False Claims Act through federal grant fraud in connection with a Section 330 public health service grant, including conflicts of interest in contracting for computer equipment, along with related Medicare/Medicaid fraud, retaliation under 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h), and state-law breach of contract claims. The court denied the defendants' motions to strike the plaintiff's affidavit. After reviewing the record on the defendants' summary judgment motions, the court granted judgment to the defendants on the FCA fraud claims for lack of evidence that any false claims were submitted, on the retaliation claim because the plaintiff did not engage in protected conduct that was known to the defendants or that caused the adverse actions, and on the remaining state claim after declining supplemental jurisdiction or finding it unsupported.

healthcarebusiness & regulatoryfederal powerprocedure

This case involves a petition under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and ICARA by Pandita Charm-Joy Seaman seeking the return of her four children to Mexico after their father, John Kennedy Peterson, removed them to the United States in October 2010. The court held evidentiary hearings and granted the petition in part, determining that the children's habitual residence was Mexico and that the removal was wrongful because it violated the mother's custody rights under Mexican law, including patria potestas. The court's role was limited to deciding whether return was required under the Convention, without addressing the underlying merits of any custody dispute between the parents. The decision emphasized that prior temporary custody orders from a U.S. juvenile court did not affect the Hague Convention analysis.

family law