JAMES E. GRAVES , Circuit Judge : Brandon Deshawn Campbell was convicted by a jury on one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of possession with intent to distribute ecstasy, and two separate counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of each of those drug convictions. Campbell was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of five years for his first firearm conviction, a mandatory minimum of twenty-five years for his second firearm conviction, and a fifteen-day...
PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM , Circuit Judge : This mandamus petition brings the question of who — the parties or the court — determines in which judicial district a civil action is to proceed. In Atlantic Marine Construction Company, 1 the Supreme Court held that when all parties have entered into a forum selection contract, that contract controls, except in exceptional circumstances, and the district court must transfer the action to the agreed-upon district. 2 Here, we must address a...
E. GRADY JOLLY , Circuit Judge : John and Ivy Thompson appeal the district court's judgment in favor of Bank National Trust Company. The Thompsons brought this action in Texas state court under Section 50 of Article XVI of the Texas Constitution ("Section 50"), challenging the adequacy of a loan that they obtained in 2006. Although Deutsche was never properly served, the state court nonetheless granted the Thompsons a default judgment against Deutsche. Upon learning of the lawsuit, Deutsche...
EDITH BROWN CLEMENT , Circuit Judge : Following a jury trial, the district court entered judgment imposing liability on Defendant-Appellant Wayne Triche for violations of the Louisiana Securities Law, La. Rev.Stat. Ann. 51.701 et seq. Triche appealed the judgment to this court and, for the reasons to be explained, we AFFIRM. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS I. Evidence Adduced at Trial The facts developed at trial, consistent with the jury's verdict, are as follows. Defendant Ken Buhler was an...
W. EUGENE DAVIS , Circuit Judge : The United States of America appeals from the district court's final judgment in which the court granted the defendants-appellees' motion to dismiss its False Claims Act case under FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6). We conclude that the United States alleged sufficient facts in its complaint to allow a factfinder to infer that the defendants-appellees either knew that their statements were false or had a reckless disregard of their truth or falsity. We therefore...
PER CURIAM : Oscar Cecilio Ramos Ceron pleaded guilty to reentry of a deported alien. The district court applied a 16-level Sentencing Guidelines enhancement, categorizing his prior Florida conviction of aggravated battery as a "crime of violence." Ramos Ceron appeals, arguing that Florida aggravated battery is not a crime of violence, and that collateral estoppel should have precluded the government from asserting the crime of violence enhancement because a judge presiding over his earlier...
PER CURIAM : Defendant-Appellant Ernesto Fuentes appeals the twenty-four month sentence imposed following his guilty plea conviction for being found unlawfully present in the United States after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a). He argues that the district court's decision to upwardly depart pursuant to U.S.S.G. 2L1.2, cmt. n. 7, was procedural error and substantively unreasonable. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. I. BACKGROUND On...
JAMES E. GRAVES, JR. , Circuit Judge : We withdraw our prior opinion of August 28, 2014, Luna v. Mullenix, 765 F.3d 531 (5th Cir.2014), and substitute the following. 1 This 1983 excessive use of force case arises from the shooting and death of Israel Leija, Jr. by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper Chadrin Mullenix during a high-speed pursuit. The district court denied Mullenix's motion for summary judgment on the issue of qualified immunity, holding that multiple...
JAMES E. GRAVES, JR. , Circuit Judge : Plaintiff-Appellee Albert Woodfox asserts a Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process claim against various prison officials at the David Wade Correctional Facility ("Wade") in Louisiana, arising out of his lengthy and continuing incarceration in solitary confinement. The district court denied the defendant prison officials' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. We affirm. I. Factual and Procedural Background Plaintiff Albert...
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING AND REHEARING EN BANC (Opinion June 30, 2014, 756 F.3d 801 ) EDITH H. JONES , Circuit Judge : The court having been polled on the modified opinion attached hereto at the request of one of its members, and a majority of the judges who are in regular active service and not disqualified not having voted in favor (Fed. R.App. P. 35 and 5th Cir. R. 35), the Petition for Rehearing En Banc is DENIED. In the en banc poll, 4 judges voted in favor of rehearing (Judges...
MORGAN , District Judge : Defendant-Appellant Oscar Arnulfo Vigil ("Vigil") was convicted of illegal re-entry after deportation and sentenced to 41 months in prison. The district court applied a 16-level "crime of violence" enhancement based on a prior state-court conviction for sexual battery. The sole issue on appeal is whether the district court erred by imposing the enhancement. We AFFIRM. I. On January 2, 2013, Vigil was indicted for illegal re-entry into the United States. 1 He...
JAMES L. DENNIS , Circuit Judge : This appeal raises a First Amendment challenge to a public high school student's suspension and transfer to alternative school for his off-campus posting on the Internet of a rap song criticizing, with vulgar and violent lyrics, two named male athletic coaches for sexually harassing female students at his school. The aspiring student rapper, Taylor Bell, composed the song off campus, recorded it at a professional studio unaffiliated with the school, and...
PRISCILLA R. OWEN , Circuit Judge : William Tisdale, Hubert Jones, and Lendell Beacham were convicted by a jury on various counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bank fraud. They appeal the sufficiency of the evidence supporting their respective convictions, various aspects of their respective prison sentences, and the district court's method of calculating restitution. We affirm their convictions but vacate their sentences and remand for resentencing. I In 2002, William Tisdale and former...
PER CURIAM : Appellants Jaime Varela and Yesica Wiegert bring this civil action alleging RICO violations against their former employers, Appellees David Benitez Gonzales, Ana Cristina Benitez, Intelligent Mexican Marketing, Inc., and Marketing and Inventory Management, L.L.C. Appellants allege that Appellees' hiring of undocumented workers resulted in the depression of their wages. On appeal, Appellants challenge the district court's dismissal of their second amended complaint for failure to...
EDWARD C. PRADO , Circuit Judge : Plaintiff-Appellant the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought an enforcement action under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on behalf of Kristy Sones against her employer, Defendant-Appellant LHC Group, Inc., (LHC). Sones worked as a nurse for the home-health company until she was fired shortly after she had an epileptic seizure in May 2009. The district court granted summary judgment for LHC. We affirm in part and reverse in part....
W. EUGENE DAVIS , Circuit Judge : Defendant-Appellant Juan Francisco Martinez-Lugo appeals from the district court's application of a 16-level sentence enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(i) for his having been removed following a conviction for a drug trafficking offense for which the sentence was greater than 13 months based upon Martinez's 2002 Georgia conviction for possession with intent to distribute marijuana. For the reasons set out below, we VACATE the sentence and...
EDITH BROWN CLEMENT , Circuit Judge : Defendant-Appellant Citibank, N.A. ("Citibank") appeals the district court's declaratory judgment in favor of Burnette Avakian ("Burnette"). The district court found that the deeds of trust signed by Burnette and her husband, Norair Avakian ("Norair"), were void because the Avakians signed separate but identical deeds of trust rather than a single instrument. The district court correctly recognized that, under Mississippi law, a deed of trust on a...
ROSENTHAL , District Judge : This is an appeal from a conviction and sentence for evading federal income taxes by filing false returns. Neither the legal nor factual issues are novel. Defendants prosecuted under 26 U.S.C. 7206(1) cannot be convicted unless the government proves that they willfully violated the law. A recurring defense argument in such prosecutions is that the government has not proven willfulness because it failed to show the absence of a good-faith belief that the...
CARL E. STEWART , Chief Judge : This consolidated appeal arises from a dispute between Steven G. Haller and Flash Gas & Oil Southwest, Inc. (collectively, "Defendants") and Sundown Energy LP ("Sundown") regarding the terms of a settlement agreement. Sundown sued Defendants in state and federal court, seeking a partition of land they co-owned, return of rental payments, and a right of way over Haller's property. On the day trial was set to begin in federal court, the parties agreed to a...
JAMES E. GRAVES, JR. , Circuit Judge : By statute and constitutional provision, the State of Mississippi ("Mississippi" or "the State") prohibits same-sex couples from marrying and does not recognize those marriages entered into by same-sex couples which have been validly performed and are recognized elsewhere (the "marriage bans" or the "bans"). See Miss. Const. art. XIV, 263A; Miss.Code Ann. 93-1-1(2). In October of 2014, two same sex couples, Rebecca Bickett and Andrea Sanders and...
