FINAL ORDER REBECCA BEACH SMITH , Senior District Judge . This matter comes before the court on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 14, and Defendant's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 16. On July 3, 2019, this matter was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(B) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b), to conduct necessary hearings,...
ORDER JOHN A. GIBNEY, JR. , District Judge . In accordance with the accompanying Memorandum Opinion, it is hereby ORDERED that: 1. King's Objections (ECF No. 29) are OVERRULED; 2. The Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 28) is ACCEPTED and ADOPTED; 3. The Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 10, 14) is GRANTED. 4. King's 2254 Petition (ECF No. 1) is DENIED. 5. King's claims and the action are DISMISSED. 6. King's outstanding motions (ECF Nos. 17, 23, 27) are DENIED. 7. A certificate of...
OPINION John A. Gibney, Jr. , United States District Judge . Evangelos Sardis died in 2016 after sustaining injuries on the job. His widow, Andrea Sardis, 1 filed this products liability litigation against Overhead Door Corporation ("Overhead Door"). The plaintiff contends that Overhead Door negligently designed the product at issue, failed to warn Sardis about the product's dangers, and breached the implied warranty of merchantability. Following a four-day trial in July, 2019, a jury...
MEMORANDUM OPINION JOHN A. GIBNEY, JR. , District Judge . James Dewey King, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254 (" 2254 Petition," ECF No. 1). 1 King claims that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. ( 2254 Pet. 5; ECF No. 1-6, at 5.) Respondent has moved to dismiss, and the Magistrate Judge recommended that the Court grant the Motion to Dismiss. King filed Objections. For the...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER RAYMOND A. JACKSON , District Judge . Before the Court is Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.'s ("Home Depot") Motion to Dismiss Michael Kerzner's ("Kerzner") Amended Complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). ECF No. 14-15. Home Depot has requested oral argument on its Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 16. Having reviewed the Parties' filings in this case, the Court finds that this matter is ripe for judicial determination and a hearing on the Motion to Dismiss...
MEMORANDUM OPINION (Denying Motion to Reduce Sentence) HENRY E. HUDSON , Senior District Judge . Maurice Kearse filed this motion seeking a lesser sentence based on his post-sentencing rehabilitation. Once a defendant is sentenced, the Court has no inherent authority to reconsider the defendant's sentence. See United States v. Goodwyn, 596 F.3d 233 , 235 (4th Cir. 2010) (quoting United States v. Cunningham, 554 F.3d 703 , 708 (7th Cir. 2009)). To the extent Kearse wishes to file a...
MEMORANDUM OPINION JOHN A. GIBNEY, JR. , District Judge . Donald Lee Hinton, Virginia inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this civil action under 42 U.S.C. 1983. 1 The action proceeds on Hinton's Second Particularized Complaint ("Complaint," ECF No. 19). 2 In his Complaint, Hinton contends that Defendant Harold W. Clarke, Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections ("VDOC"), violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment 3 by promulgating a policy that...
MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER LIAM O'GRADY , District Judge . This matter comes before the Court on Defendant Mark T. Esper's Motion for Summary Judgment. Dkt. 31. The motion was fully briefed, and the Court dispensed with oral argument because it would not aid in the decisional process. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Marilyn T. Jackson ("Plaintiff") is an African-American woman over the age of 40. She sued her former employer, Department of Defense Education Activity ("DoDEA"), alleging...
MEMORANDUM OPINION T. S. Ellis, III , United States District Judge . Plaintiff Laura Ruddy has sued her former employer Defendant Bluestream Professional Services, LLC ("Bluestream") and Defendant KGP Telecommunications, Inc. 1 (collectively, "defendants") for sex and pregnancy discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII") and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act ("PDA"), 2 as well as retaliation under Title VII, the PDA, and the Family Medical Leave Act of...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER THERESA CARROLL BUCHANAN , Magistrate Judge . THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Honorable Judge Brinkema's order (Dkt. 154) remanding Defendants The Law Offices of Jeffrey Lohman, P.C. and Jeffrey Lohman's (collectively, "Lohman") objection (Dkt. 136) to the undersigned, as well as Lohman's Motion to Strike Letter Not in Compliance with Local Rules (Dkt. 175). Because of this matter's procedural posture and Judge Brinkema's order, the undersigned...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROBERT E. PAYNE , Senior District Judge . Kevin Shionell Jefferson, a federal inmate proceeding pro se , brings this MOTION UNDER 28 U.S.C. 2255 TO VACATE, SET ASIDE, OR CORRECT HIS SENTENCE (" 2255 Motion," ECF No. 62). Jefferson argues that he is entitled to relief on the following grounds: 1 Claim One Jefferson is actually innocent of the crime of which he was convicted. ( 2255 Mot. 1.) Claim Two "The Government violates United States Sentencing Guidelines [("...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROBERT E. PAYNE , Senior District Judge . This matter is before the Court on DEFENDANT GENERAL DYNAMICS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INC.'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE AMENDED COMPLAINT (ECF No. 20) ("Motion to Dismiss"). The Court has reviewed the Amended Complaint, the Motion to Transfer, the supporting, opposing, and reply memoranda, and has considered the oral arguments of counsel. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion to Dismiss will be granted. The dismissal will be...
ORDER T.S. ELLIS, III , District Judge . This case arises from the government's request to enforce its $1.3 million judgment lien against defendant Constantin Kotzev by foreclosing on real property that was previously titled in Kotzev's name pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 3201(f). It is useful to recount briefly the procedural history of this matter. On December 28, 2017, a civil judgment of approximately $1.3 million was entered against Kotzev and in favor of the government due to Kotzev's...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION IVAN D. DAVIS , Magistrate Judge . This matter is before the Court on the United States of America's ("Plaintiff's" or "United States'") Motion for Entry of Default Judgment against Constantin Kotzev ("Kotzev") and PNC Bank (collectively referred to as "Defendants"), pursuant to Rule 55(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Dkt. No. 25. After a licensed attorney for Defendants failed to appear at the hearing on May 3, 2019, the undersigned Magistrate Judge...
MEMORANDUM OPINION (Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment) HENRY E. HUDSON , Senior Magistrate Judge . On July 19, 2016, Craig S. ("Plaintiff") applied for Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") under the Social Security Act ("Act"), alleging disability from hepatitis C, recovering alcoholism, and hypertension, with an alleged onset date of July 1, 2015. 3 The Social Security Administration ("SSA") denied Plaintiff's claim both initially and upon reconsideration. Thereafter, Plaintiff...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROBERT E. PAYNE , Senior District Judge . Leroy J. Kelly, a Virginia state prisoner proceeding pro se , brings this petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 (" 2254 Petition," ECF No. 1) challenging his convictions in the Circuit Court for the County of Stafford, Virginia (hereinafter, "Circuit Court") for robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a robbery. The matter is before the Court on a review of the MOTION TO DISMISS AND RULE 5 ANSWER ("Motion to Dismiss,"...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROBERT E. PAYNE , Senior District Judge . Leonard Allen Morrison, III, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se , filed this 42 U.S.C. 1983 action. The matter is before the Court on Morrison's failure to serve Defendant Blake Ryan Trowbridge in a timely manner. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m), Morrison had 90 days to serve Defendant Trowbridge. 1 Here, that period commenced on May 9, 2019. (ECF No. 17.) On June 10, 2019, the Marshal returned the summons for...
MEMORANDUM OPINION JOHN A. GIBNEY, JR. , District Judge . Emanuel C. Simmons, a Virginia prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254. In his 2254 Petition, Simmons raised the following grounds for relief: Claim One Counsel was ineffective for failing to argue to the court during the preliminary hearing that the in-court identification of the Petitioner by Jack Groder was inherently incredible and thereby inadmissible; and, because...
ORDER MARK S. DAVIS , Chief District Judge . Petitioner Steven Hood ("Hood"), a federal inmate convicted and sentenced in the Southern District of Indiana, and housed in the Federal Correctional Center in Petersburg, Virginia, filed a pro se petition, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2241. ECF No. 1. Hood alleges he was denied due process during his disciplinary hearing held February 14, 2018. ECF No. 1 at 2, 6; ECF No. 2 at 2-4. The petition was referred to a United States Magistrate Judge for...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROBERT E. PAYNE , Senior District Judge . Zachary Donte' Wallace, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se , brings this petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 (" 2254 Petition," ECF No. 1). Respondent moves to dismiss, inter alia , on the ground that the one-year statute of limitations governing federal habeas petitions bars the 2254 Petition. Wallace has filed OBJECTIONS AND REPLY TO RESPONDENT'S MOTION TO DISMISS ("Reply," ECF No. 10.) For...
