ORDER CLAY D. LAND , Chief District Judge . After a de novo review of the record in this case, the Report and Recommendation filed by the United States Magistrate Judge on November 1, 2019 is hereby approved, adopted, and made the Order of the Court. The Court considered Petitioner's objections to the Report and Recommendation and finds that they lack merit. 1 IT IS SO ORDERED. FootNotes 1. The Court recognizes that the Report and Recommendation misstates who spoke on Petitioner's...
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT TILMAN E. SELF, III , District Judge . This case could easily boast of a thick, dense record, full of thorny and tangled racially-charged issues. But, when you dispassionately focus on the legal issues, the critical question the Court must answer really boils down to this: if a local sheriff suspects one of his deputies has acted improperly (or even criminally), must he provide that deputy with an independent criminal investigation in...
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION TILMAN E. SELF, III , District Judge . Unlike the Court's Order on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, a long, detailed factual background laying out the facts of this case is unnecessary. However, to provide at least some framework, Plaintiff Johnny Blash sued the above-named Defendants on claims for race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. 1983 after former-Sheriff and Defendant Billy W....
ORDER CLAY D. LAND , Chief District Judge . Joseph Story obtained a judgment in the amount of $251,266.68 against William L. Amos, III on October 12, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He registered the judgment in this Court on April 3, 2019. Story filed an application for a writ of continuing garnishment to Amos's employer, Piedmont Payment Services, LLC, and the Court issued a Summons of Continuing Garnishment. ECF Nos. 6 & 7. Piedmont Payment Services...
ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE CLAY D. LAND , Chief District Judge . This matter is before the Court on Defendant Jeffrey Flakes' Motion for Continuance. Defense counsel needs adequate time to prepare for this case and enter into plea negotiations if warranted and requests for the case to be continued to the September 2020 term. The Government advises that they have no opposition to the motion. Should counsel find that he has been able to negotiate a satisfactory disposition...
ORDER GRANTING THIRTEENTH APPLICATION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES TILMAN E. SELF, III , District Judge . Before the Court is Receiver John F. Kennedy's ("Receiver") Thirteenth Application for Compensation [Doc. 309], to which no party has filed an objection. The Court has reviewed the Receiver's itemization detailing the individual time entries and expenses incurred from November 1, 2019, through November 30, 2019. In addition to working with regulatory entities such as the federal Department of...
ORDER INSTRUCTING AND DIRECTING THE RECEIVER TO TERMINIATE THE 401(k) PLAN TILMAN E. SELF, III , District Judge . This matter appearing before the Court upon the Receiver's Petition for Instruction Concerning Termination of 401(k) Plan and Other Related Relief [Doc. 305] (the "Petition") 1 ; and it appearing that the relief requested is in the best interests of the Receivership Estate, its creditors, the Plan participants and beneficiaries, and other parties in interest; and after due...
ORDER MARC T. TREADWELL , District Judge . Defendant Jose E. Ordaz Avalos moves to suppress evidence obtained through a wiretap. Doc. 102. For the reasons that follow, Avalos' motion is DENIED. I. BACKGROUND Avalos and six codefendants are charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. 1 Doc. 1. The evidence against Avalos and the others is based, in part, on information obtained through two wiretap orders on cell phones used by...
ORDER MARC T. TREADWELL , District Judge . United States Magistrate Judge Charles H. Weigle recommends granting Defendants Melvin Butts, Miguel Stubbs, and Fabron Roberts' motion to partially dismiss (Doc. 21) and denying Defendants' motion to dismiss or motion to strike Plaintiff Debra Hines' amended complaint (Doc. 40). Doc. 45. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge recommends granting the first motion (Doc. 21) because (1) Hines cannot recover any official capacity damages under 42 U.S.C....
ORDER MARC T. TREADWELL , District Judge . THE COURT ALERTS THE PARTIES THAT IT HAS ADDED A FINAL PARAGRAPH TO THIS PROTECTIVE ORDER THAT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE STIPULATED ORDER SUBMITTED TO THE COURT. The Parties to this action hereby request the Court to enter a Protective Order with respect to certain documents and information to be provided in discovery. Doc. 23. In particular, the Parties anticipate that discovery may require disclosure by the Parties or by non-parties of private,...
CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER CLAY D. LAND , District Judge . 1. By agreement of the parties, and for good cause, the Court finds that a protective order should be entered pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 (c) for the purpose of protecting documents and information from Plaintiff or Defendants Walmart Inc., Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, Claims Management, Inc. (herein collectively referred to as "Defendants") or any of their respective affiliates, and of third parties producing records pursuant to...
ORDER GRANTING SECOND MOTION TO CONTINUE TILMAN E. SELF, III , District Judge . Before the Court is Defendant's Unopposed Motion to Continue [Doc. 29], in which he seeks to continue the January 14, 2020, Pretrial Conference and the trial currently set to begin on February 10, 2020. On November 12, 2019, the Grand Jury indicted Defendant on one count of Possession with intent to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii); one count of...
ORDER CLAY D. LAND , Chief District Judge . Kelvin Ransom, who is proceeding pro se, sued his former employer and the employer's son and daughter for defamation in this federal court sitting in the State of Georgia. All Defendants are residents of Alabama. Before the Court is Defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. For the following reasons, that motion (ECF No. 7) is granted. "In the context of a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in which no...
ORDER ON CONSENT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL C. ASHLEY ROYAL , Senior District Judge . Before the Court is Defendant Darien Woodrum's Consent Motion to Continue [Doc. 177] the pretrial hearing in this case presently scheduled for January 7, 2020, and the trial, which is set to begin on January 27, 2020, in Athens, Georgia. On August 14, 2019, the Grand Jury returned a multi-defendant indictment charging Defendant with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and...
ORDER ON CONSENT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL C. ASHLEY ROYAL , Senior District Judge . Before the Court is Defendant Andrew Moon's Consent Motion to Continue [Doc. 121] the pretrial hearing in this case presently scheduled for January 7, 2020, and the trial, which is set to begin on January 27, 2020, in Athens, Georgia. On June 11, 2019, the Grand Jury returned a multi-defendant four-count indictment charging Defendant with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and...
ORDER CLAY D. LAND , Chief District Judge . Defendant Peggy Brown, who is an attorney representing herself pro se in this action, has filed a motion pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to recover attorney's fees (ECF No. 95). Although Brown makes a strong case that Plaintiff and her counsel violated Rule 11, the Court is not authorized to grant Brown the relief she seeks. See Massengale v. Ray, 267 F.3d 1298 , 1303 (11th Cir. 2001)(holding that the district...
ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT CHARLES H. WEIGLE , Magistrate Judge . On November 20, 2019, the Government filed a criminal complaint (Doc. 1) charging Defendant Miguel Angel Sanchez-Lopez with Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C 841(a)(1), and the Court issued a warrant for Defendant's arrest (Doc. 2). On December 10, 2019, a grand jury returned an Indictment charging Defendant with the same crime. The Government now moves to dismiss the...
ORDER AND RECOMMENDATION Proceedings Under 42 U.S.C. 1983 Before thw U.S. Magistrate Judge. CHARLES H. WEIGLE , Magistrate Judge . Before the Court are two motions for summary judgment, filed by Plaintiff Gregory D. Barrion (Docs. 59, 67), and Defendants McLaughlin, Eaddie, Thomas, Pope, Williams, Holt, Collins, and Perry (Doc. 69), respectively. For the reasons discussed herein, it is RECOMMENDED that Plaintiff's motion (Docs. 59, 67) be DENIED, and that Defendants' motion (Doc....
ORDER CLAY D. LAND , CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE . The jury returned a verdict in favor of Crystal Trawick and against her former employer, Carmike Cinemas, Inc., on her Title VII sex-based wage discrimination claim, awarding her $67,117.79 for lost pay, $100,000.00 for emotional pain and mental anguish, and $1 million in punitive damages. Based on Title VII's damages cap, the Court reduced the award of emotional distress damages and punitive damages to $300,000.00 and entered...
ORDER ON MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL C. ASHLEY ROYAL , Senior District Judge . Before the Court is Defendant Kristy Houseman's Unopposed Motion to Continue [Doc. 173] the pretrial hearing in this case presently scheduled for January 7, 2020, and the trial, which is set to begin on January 27, 2020, in Athens, Georgia. On August 14, 2019, the Grand Jury returned a multi-defendant indictment charging Defendant with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and...
