U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Lewis’s conviction for aiding and abetting a kidnapping. It held that he could not challenge searches of other people’s accounts or use those searches’ alleged defects to contest the warrant for his own account, and that the record supported the verdict.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed judgment on the pleadings for Target, holding that Michigan law did not impose a duty on Target to anticipate or prevent Randall’s criminal voyeurism through fitting-room design, ordinary-negligence, or employee-training theories.

The court affirmed dismissal of Burton’s retaliation and constructive-discharge claims, assuming without deciding that § 1981 applies to her at-will employment. It concluded that the alleged confrontations and ambiguous response were not materially adverse, and that isolated incidents and Burton’s apprehension of…

Reed conditionally pleaded guilty and appealed the denial of motions challenging a search, his statements to police, and the handling of body-camera footage. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, concluding that Reed failed to challenge an independent good-faith ground for denying suppression, that the search and statements…

The Sixth Circuit denied Gomes-Batista’s petition for review, concluding that his challenge to the adverse credibility finding was moot because the BIA assumed he was credible and the agency also ruled on the merits.

The court affirmed both defendants’ sentences, rejecting Basalyga’s challenges to the loss calculation and obstruction enhancement and holding that his forfeiture challenge was waived.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed both defendants’ sentences, holding that they waived objections to the use of the pre-2024 Sentencing Guidelines and rejecting their challenges to the loss and risk-of-harm enhancements.

The court held that the record permits a jury to find that Dr. Guerrant was deliberately indifferent to Horton’s worsening spinal condition, so it reversed summary judgment on that claim. It affirmed summary judgment for N.P.

The Sixth Circuit held that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is constitutional as applied to Bloomfield because he did not carry his burden to show that he is not dangerous. The court considered the harms associated with his child-pornography offense, the specific facts of his conviction, and his later positive conduct…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Garrett’s convictions, holding that the odor of marijuana gave the officer probable cause to extend the traffic stop and search the car. It also held that exclusion of the jail calls was not required for the late disclosure and that any error in instructing on constructive possession was…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Cook’s convictions, holding that his then-girlfriend had common authority to consent to the officers’ search of his phone and that Cook showed no plain error in the phone’s seizure or judicial-bias claim.

The court denied Cabrera-Lopez’s petition for review because substantial evidence supported the Board’s finding that she had not shown the Guatemalan government was unable or unwilling to protect her from private persecutors.

The Sixth Circuit granted TVA’s motion to stay the district court’s vacatur order and judgment while TVA’s appeal proceeds. At this emergency stage, the court concluded that TVA was likely to succeed on its challenges to the district court’s NEPA analysis and remedy, and that the threatened financial, operational, and…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Johnson’s 70-month sentence, holding that the district court did not clearly err in applying the four-level firearm enhancement for possessing a firearm in connection with drug trafficking.

Rhear argued that the government breached her plea agreement by failing to object to the district court’s higher drug-quantity finding. The court held that the agreement required the government to agree that the drugs seized from the storage unit were her relevant conduct, not to advocate for a drug-quantity cap, and…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Gill’s convictions and sentence, rejecting his challenges to the sufficiency of the money-laundering evidence and to the obstruction-of-justice enhancement.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Martinez-Cacho’s 30-month sentence for illegal reentry, rejecting his claims that the above-guidelines sentence was substantively unreasonable and that the district court failed to provide a meaningful opportunity to allocute.

The court affirmed the denial of Crudup’s as-applied Second Amendment challenge to the felon-in-possession statute. Applying the circuit’s individualized dangerousness inquiry, it concluded that his participation in pretrial diversion did not categorically establish that he was not dangerous and that possessing a…

The court affirmed the denial of qualified immunity for nine officials on the Eighth Amendment claim and affirmed the denial of qualified and governmental immunity for eight officials on the negligence claim.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Northfield, holding that M32’s material misrepresentation in its insurance application entitled Northfield to rescind the policy. The court rejected M32’s waiver and estoppel arguments because the underwriting survey did not address the fire alarm and Northfield had no…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the contract claims against Travelers and IED and the negligence claims against all defendants, concluding that the complaint did not establish contract-party or intended-beneficiary status and alleged no tort duties independent of contractual obligations.

The court denied Rosales-Camaja’s petition for review because the record would not compel a reasonable adjudicator to find that Guatemala was unable or unwilling to protect him from gang violence.

The Sixth Circuit denied Li’s petition for review, concluding that substantial evidence supported the agency’s adverse credibility determination and its finding that Li had not provided reasonably available corroborating evidence.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Axis Dynamics and Wendy Rose’s due-process and contract claims. The complaint did not allege a Knox County policy or custom, did not allege conduct by the Bank’s attorney that violated due process, and could not establish third-party beneficiary rights that the loan agreement…

The Sixth Circuit held that the federal felon-in-possession prohibition is constitutional as applied to Parker because he did not establish that he was not dangerous. It relied on the circumstances of his current firearm possession and his prior convictions, including unlawful firearm possession and resisting or…

The Sixth Circuit denied Guryanov’s petition for review because his challenge to the meaning of “falsely” in the citizenship-misrepresentation statute was not exhausted before the BIA.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Yoo’s claim that Grupo breached the asset purchase agreement by failing to enable website indexing. Because the alleged traffic and revenue decline occurred after the Inspection Period, Yoo’s contractual waiver covered the resulting performance issue; changing the sequence of…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed after Westbrook admitted five supervised-release violations. It held that adding one day to make him eligible for good-behavior credit did not violate Tapia, that the district court’s explanation was not plain error, and that the within-Guidelines sentence was not…

The court affirmed summary judgment for the defendants on Fox’s Fourth Amendment arrest and excessive-force claims. Qualified immunity resolved the arrest claim because Fox did not show that existing law clearly established that the officer’s command to unlock the door was unlawful, and the video and deposition…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed the judgment holding James Justice liable under his personal guaranty for the coal companies’ unpaid collateral and premium obligations. Applying West Virginia contract law, the court concluded that the agreements unambiguously make Total Indebtedness increase with qualifying late premiums…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Pancheri on Miles-El’s Eighth Amendment claim because the asserted right to a transfer away from dog programs was not clearly established, entitling Pancheri to qualified immunity.

The Sixth Circuit denied Herrera’s petition for review because his two existing misdemeanor convictions disqualified him from temporary protected status (TPS), and the later repeal of the ordinance underlying one conviction did not erase it.

The Sixth Circuit denied Ojukwu’s emergency motion to stay her removal to Ghana while her appeal proceeded. It concluded that she had not shown a likelihood of success because her claims were the same policy-based claims pursued by a certified class whose injunction had been stayed, and that her generalized evidence…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Murphy’s 18-month sentence for violating supervised release. It held that the current Guidelines direct courts to use the criminal-history category applicable at the original supervised-release sentencing, so Amendment 821 did not reduce that category; the court reached this result through…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Mixon’s convictions and sentence, holding that his Commerce Clause challenge was foreclosed by circuit precedent, his Texas burglary convictions qualified as ACCA predicates, and the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting details of his prior robbery.

The court held that Byrum plausibly stated a municipal failure-to-train claim because the alleged, pervasive failure of jail staff to screen, monitor, or obtain care for Lewis supported an inference that staff were inadequately trained and that the County’s deliberate indifference caused his injury.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Goddard’s and Cortner’s convictions and Cortner’s life sentence. It concluded that the search warrant was supported by probable cause, the challenged operational-plan evidence was properly excluded, and the evidence supported the relevant convictions, including Cortner’s liability for the…

The court affirmed Goddard’s and Cortner’s convictions and Cortner’s life sentence. It concluded that the search warrant was supported by probable cause, the excluded operational-plan evidence did not warrant reversal, and the evidence was sufficient for the challenged convictions, including Cortner’s liability for…

The Sixth Circuit affirmed the judgment for Trustees Main, holding that Ohio law did not require the lessor to accept replacement tenants that posed an undue risk of further default and that its efforts to find a reliable tenant were reasonable.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed the revocation of Johnson’s supervised release and his consecutive 18-month revocation sentence. It concluded that, under plain-error review, the combined hearing and the proceedings as a whole showed that Johnson knowingly and voluntarily admitted the violation, and that he had not shown…