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Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Indiana Decisions - Three 7th Circuit Rulings Today
ENERGY PLUS CONSULTING v. ILLINOIS FUEL COMPANY (SD Ill.)
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. Energy Plus Consulting, LLC (“EPC”) sued defendants Illinois Fuel Company, LLC and Appalachian Fuels, LLC, alleging breach of contract and seeking $720,000 in damages. The contract provided that if the defendants failed to release an option in a separate contract with a third party by a specified date, they would pay EPC $720,000. The district court, in granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment, found that the $720,000 provision was an unenforceable penalty clause. We agree with the district court, and therefore affirm.USA v. FIELDS, DARNELL (ND Ill.)
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. Darnell Fields entered a conditional guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motions to suppress. He now appeals the denial of his motions to suppress a handgun the police found in his apartment and a statement he made after the handgun was found. Because the district court did not resolve whether the officers’ initial entry into Mr. Fields’s apartment was lawful, we remand this case for further consideration.USA v. JONES, DIRK D. (ND Ind., Judge Lozano)
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. Dirk Jones was charged in two counts of a three-count indictment arising from the purchase and attempted resale of a firearm. Count One charged him with a conspiracy having two objects: to make a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer, and to transfer a firearm to a resident of another state. 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 922(a)(6), 922(a)(5). Count Three charged him with possession of a firearm by a felon. Id. § 922(g)(1). A jury found him guilty of both counts, and the district court sentenced him consecutively to 60 months’ imprisonment on Count One and three months’ imprisonment on Count Three. At the close of the government’s caseand again at the close of all evidence, Jones had moved for acquittal on both counts under Fed. R. Crim. P. 29. Jones now appeals the denial of that motion only as to Count One, arguing that the government did not present sufficient evidence to support the conspiracy conviction. Because the government failed to meet its burden, we reverse Jones’s conviction on Count One.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 9, 2004 12:35 PM
Posted to Indiana Decisions