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DENVER, CO – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of an Oklahoma man who fatally stabbed his roommate after being mocked, ruling that insults and name-calling do not constitute sufficient provocation under federal law. According to court records, Isaac Newman Sockey, a member of the Choctaw Nation, lived with relatives in Tahlequah when he stabbed and killed Thurdis Tubby in September 2023 following a night of drinking. Witnesses said Sockey’s roommates teased him by calling him “chicken legs” before the altercation turned deadly. Sockey admitted to the stabbing but argued he acted in the heat of passion, which would have reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter. The district court instructed jurors that “words alone, n...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a Florida woman who demanded $500 billion in damages from the federal government. According to court records, Suzette Grace Rodriguez of West Palm Beach sued the United States in 2024, claiming harm stemming from a 2019 decision by the Florida Supreme Court that denied her petition to compel a state court and police department to act. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed her complaint earlier this year, citing lack of jurisdiction. In its ruling, the appellate court agreed that the lower court lacked authority to hear the case because it involved alleged wrongdoing by state and local officials, not the federal government. The panel also found that Rodriguez failed t...

CINCINNATI, OH – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision requiring an Ohio man with a history of domestic violence to complete counseling before being allowed to live with any women. The case involves Stephen Terrell Horn, who appealed a special condition of his supervised release that bars him from residing with women until he begins domestic violence treatment. Horn argued that the condition was overly broad and violated his right to association. According to court records, Horn has multiple domestic violence convictions between 2012 and 2018, including assaults on his mother and a live-in girlfriend. While on state supervision, he was also convicted of firearm and drug-related offenses. After completing a 46-month federal prison sentence...

CINCINNATI, OH – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Dr. Eskender Getachew, a Columbus physician found guilty of unlawfully prescribing opioid addiction medications without legitimate medical purpose. According to court records, Getachew, who operated an addiction treatment clinic, prescribed the drug Subutex—an opioid treatment medication without the anti-abuse component naloxone—to as many as half his patients, despite the rarity of naloxone allergies. The court described this as “an astronomically high” rate and noted evidence that some prescriptions were inconsistent with medical standards, including continued prescriptions after suspected diversion and falsified medical notes. After a seven-day trial, a jury convicted Getachew on eleven...

ATLANTA, GA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion in Aguirre-Jarquin v. Seminole County et al. (No. 23-10811), affirming in part and reversing in part a lower court’s denial of immunity claims brought by three former Seminole County Sheriff’s Office employees accused of misconduct in a wrongful conviction case. The appeal stems from the case of Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin, who was sentenced to death in 2006 for the murders of his two neighbors, Cheryl Williams and Carol Bareis, in Altamonte Springs, Florida. After spending a decade on death row, Aguirre was exonerated when DNA evidence and new testimony implicated another suspect, Samantha Williams, the victims’ daughter and granddaughter. Aguirre later filed a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U....