Justia U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Sixth Circuit previously reversed defendant's conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm in connection with drug trafficking, 18 U.S.C. 924(c), but affirmed other convictions and the 30-year sentence he received for those counts. The government dropped the charge and the court vacated the sentence for that count by written order without allowing defendant to personally appear or re-allocute. peals arguing that the district court erred by not conducting a plenary resentencing. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, holding that because the issue was limited to the 924 charge, which the United States declined to pursue, there was no sentencing to be done. The district court did not rely on the 924 conviction in imposing the sentence for the other counts and it was not improper to consider the actual possession of a gun.

The first plaintiffs alleged that Fidelity failed to provide a discount, required by its filed rates, when issuing title insurance to homeowners who had purchased a title insurance policy for the same property from any other insurer within the previous 10 years. The second plaintiff brought the same claims against First American. The district court denied their motion to certify a class. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Although the claims involve small amounts, so that the plaintiffs are likely unable to recover except by class action, the plaintiffs did not establish that issues subject to generalized proof and applicable to the whole class predominate over issues subject to individualized proof. The need to establish entitlement to join the class and the need to prove individual damages are not fatal to class certification, but the Ohio insurance rate structure would necessitate individual inquiries on the issue of liability. The plaintiffs phrased their claims in a way that would require examination of individual policies and whether the company received the requisite documentation for the discount.