Case Summaries

Injury & Tort Law

[10/10] S.E. v. Grant County Bd. of Educ.
In a claim against school officials in response to seventh-grader's sharing of prescription medicine with fellow students, grant of qualified immunity to individual defendants and summary judgment for defendant school district is affirmed where: 1) Heck v. Humphrey is inapplicable and posed no bar to plaintiffs' claims; 2) assistant principal's actions did not constitute violations of either the Fourth or Fifth Amendments; and 3) "[i]f the administrative review procedures available to [plaintiff's] family had been utilized, the court below would have had a factual record to weigh in deciding whether or not the [504] Plan had been implemented" and the district court correctly dismissed claim regarding a Section 504 Plan without prejudice.

[10/06] Cuonzo v. Shore
In a suit by the estate of a passenger killed in an automobile accident, jury verdict finding neither driver negligent and denial of plaintiff's motion for a new trial are affirmed where: 1) the jury could reasonably have found that the evidence was balanced and that plaintiff had failed to carry its burden of proof that one or both drivers were negligent, despite the fact that the accident was clearly the result of the negligence of at least one party; and 2) the exclusion of photographs of the accident scene was within the discretion of the trial court.

[08/29] Kerlin v. Sauceda
In a suit alleging that defendant defrauded plaintiffs of oil and gas royalties and other interests in Padre Island, judgments for plaintiffs are reversed as time-barred where: 1) plaintiffs could have discovered defendant's wrongdoing through reasonable diligence and were not entitled to tolling of the running of limitations on that basis; and 2) defendant was present in the state, by virtue of doing business there, during all of the alleged wrongdoing, and statutory tolling therefore did not apply. (Revised opinion)

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