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VICKI A. LINNEMAN and OBADIAH N. RITCHEY, on
behalf of themselves and those similarly situated,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
VITA-MIX CORPORATION, VITA-MIX MANAGEMENT
CORPORATION, and VITA-MIX MANUFACTURING
CORPORATION,
Defendants-Appellants. |
Nos. 19-3993/4249 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati.
No. 1:15-cv-00748—Susan J. Dlott, District Judge.
Argued: August 3, 2020
Decided and Filed: August 12, 2020
Before: GRIFFIN, KETHLEDGE, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
THAPAR, Circuit Judge. What began as a case about defective blenders has devolved
into a quarrel about attorney’s fees. In this appeal, we consider several questions of first
impression about attorney’s fees in class-action settlements. We agree with the district court on
many issues but find that it abused its discretion as to the final award of fees. We therefore
vacate the award and remand for further proceedings. |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
BRITTAN EZEKIEL KETTLES,
Defendant-Appellant. |
No. 19-5698 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville.
No. 3:16-cr-00163-1—Aleta Arthur Trauger, District Judge.
Decided and Filed: August 12, 2020
Before: GIBBONS, LARSEN, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
LARSEN, Circuit Judge. In June 2016, Brittan Kettles set out to build a prostitution
“empire.” He then prostituted a thirteen-year-old child to at least six different men. A jury
convicted Kettles of one count of sex trafficking a child in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and
1591(a)(1), (b)(1), and (c), and one count of conspiracy to do the same in violation of § 1594(c).
Kettles now raises six challenges to his conviction on appeal. For the reasons that follow, we
AFFIRM. |
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JOHNNY TLAPANCO,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
JONATHAN ELGES, et al.,v
Defendants-Appellees. |
No. 19-1392 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 2:16-cv-13465—Arthur J Tarnow, District Judge.
Argued: January 30, 2020
Decided and Filed: August 12, 2020
Before: SILER, GIBBONS, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
JULIA S. GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Fourteen-year-old A.F. reported to police that she
was being blackmailed by a user on the messaging application Kik. She explained that the
perpetrator had obtained nude photographs from her phone and was threatening to release the
images if she did not send additional nude photographs. Oakland County, Michigan, deputies
investigated her claims but disregarded the fact that the blackmailer used the Kik username
“anonymousfl” rather than “anonymous”—a separate Kik username associated with Johnny
Tlapanco, a New York resident. As a result, New York Police Department (“NYPD”) officers
working with Oakland County Deputy Jonathan Elges, searched Tlapanco’s apartment, seized
his electronic devices, arrested him, and detained him in New York for two weeks before
extraditing him to Michigan and detained him at the Oakland County jail for an additional three
weeks before the charges were dismissed.
Tlapanco sued the deputies and Oakland County under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that:
(1) Elges unlawfully searched his apartment, caused his false arrest, and prosecuted him for
offenses related to child pornography; (2) Deputy Michael McCabe unlawfully seized, searched,
and copied his electronic devices prior to returning them to him; and (3) Oakland County is
liable for failure to train or because of McCabe’s decisions as a purported county policymaker. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of all appellees. Tlapanco challenges the
district court’s grant of summary judgment to Elges, McCabe, and Oakland County. We affirm
the grant of summary judgment to McCabe and Oakland County, but reverse the district court’s
grant of qualified immunity to Elges on Tlapanco’s Fourth Amendment unlawful search and
seizure, unlawful arrest, and malicious prosecution claims. |
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