Tallahassee Capital Outlook Newspaper published an article recognizing Creed & Gowdy's appellate win in a foster care case. The article discusses the appellate court's decision to order a new trial because the trial judge erred in refusing to give necessary instructions to the jury. Creed & Gowdy represented a brother and sister who were placed in the same foster homes, despite the foster care agencies' knowledge of sexual and physical abuse between the two siblings. Read more of the article here (subscription required). Read the appellate decision here.
The May/June 2024 edition of the Florida Bar Journal features an article authored by Creed & Gowdy's Nick McNamara. The article discusses the Florida Supreme Court's express adoption of textualism and provides a brief primer on textualist advocacy.
Bryan Gowdy went before the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 6th, for oral argument. The hour-long oral argument focused on whether taxi medallions, considered valuable assets by Hillsborough County transportation companies, should be recognized as "private property" under the Florida Constitution. Read here an article discussing the argument.
Bryan Gowdy will serve as the moderator for the 2023 American Constitution Society's Supreme Court Preview. The one-hour seminar will cover the Florida Supreme Court's significant cases and rule amendments in 2023 and will discuss what to expect from the Court in 2024. A former justice of the Court, Peggy Quince, will provide her perspective. Panelists include Peggy Quince, Rachel Furst, Benedict Kuehne, and Lance Curry. The Seminar will be held on December 7th at 12 noon via Zoom. Click here to view the recording of the presentation.
On November 29, of counsel Thomas Burns won a pain clinic appeal in the Eleventh Circuit. His client, a pain physician, had been convicted of one count of conspiracy and three substantive counts of illegally distributing opioids after a contentious 16-day jury trial in early 2019. Initially, after briefing and oral argument, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentence in December 2021. But in October 2022, the Supreme Court granted Thomas's certiorari petition, vacated that decision, and remanded the case for reconsideration in light of Ruan v. United States, 142 S. Ct. 2370 (2022). After supplemental briefing and a second oral argument on remand, the Eleventh Circuit issued a unanimous precedential 57-page opinion vacating the substantive counts and remanding for retrial and resentencing. The Court agreed with Thomas's argument that the jointly proposed jury instructions didn't qualify as invited error and were plainly erroneous because they misstated the crime's mens rea requirements.