First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Case Law

Justia Opinion Summary: José Luis Meléndez-Rivera and an associate committed a carjacking in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, during which Meléndez shot one of the victims in the face. Meléndez was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the 1990s, José A. Vega-Figueroa was involved in a drug-trafficking operation in Puerto Rico. He was charged in 1994 with multiple offenses, including first-degree murder, but was acquitted by a jury in 1995. In 1997,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The U.S. Department of Education announced a reduction in force (RIF) on March 13, 2025, affecting about half of its employees. Subsequently, twenty-one states and several labor organizations and school districts filed…

Justia Opinion Summary: Dana A. Pullman, a former Massachusetts State Police trooper and president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts (the Union), and Anne M. Lynch, head of the lobbying firm Lynch Associates, were involved in a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lester Aceituno was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. The fraudulent scheme involved using stolen identification information to open bank accounts, change addresses…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Jovan Vavic, a former head coach of the men's and women's water polo teams at the University of Southern California (USC), who was implicated in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal. Vavic was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, who own or operate gasoline service stations in Puerto Rico, offered two different prices to consumers: a higher price for those using credit or debit cards and a lower price for those paying with cash. In…

Justia Opinion Summary: Eliezer Rosario-Ramos and his brother were indicted for carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury and bank larceny after assaulting and robbing an elderly woman, Zulma Lebrón-Serrano. Rosario-Ramos pled guilty to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: A Russian citizen, Diana Avdeeva, married a U.S. citizen and applied for lawful permanent-resident status, which was granted on a conditional basis. She and her husband later filed a petition to remove the conditional…

Justia Opinion Summary: Bruce Anderson killed his estranged wife in 1983 and was convicted of first-degree murder by a Massachusetts jury in 1989, receiving a life sentence without parole. After an unsuccessful appeal to the Massachusetts…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the defendant, Admilson Pires, was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking of a minor. The case began when the Norwood Police Department received a tip…

Justia Opinion Summary: Victor Soto-Sanchez was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He appealed his conviction and sentence, arguing that his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses was violated when…

Justia Opinion Summary: Four businesses involved in the cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana within Massachusetts, in compliance with state laws, sued the Attorney General of the United States in 2023. They…