José Antonio Fusté
Judge Fusté no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Fusté decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
The judge repeatedly required non-movants to come forward with specific evidence rather than conclusory assertions, granting summary judgment where the opposing party rested on unsupported allegations.
“A ‘plaintiff must offer more than eonclusory and nonspecific allegations in order to overcome a motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.’”
The judge expects a party opposing summary judgment to come forward with concrete evidence and specific facts; conclusory allegations, speculation, and unsupported inferences will not defeat a properly supported motion.
“Plaintiff puts forward no evidence or allegations to rebut Defendant’s persuasive argument”
Cautions
He warned that continued unexplained discovery delay could result in dismissal with prejudice.
“Further unexplained delays by Plaintiffs will result in dismissal of their claims with prejudice.”
He rejected efforts to convert an ordinary local tort dispute into a federal civil-rights action without a viable constitutional claim.
“Section 1983 simply does not cover a dispute of this kind.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“we DENY Defendants’ motion for attorney’s fees pursuant to the Condominiums Act.”
“this court GRANTS Defendants’ summary”
“On August 8, 2003, Plaintiff submitted a cross-motion for summary judgment”
“we GRANT Third-Party Defendant Direct TV’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.”
“Sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 are DENIED.”
“we DENY Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment”
“GRANT Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.”
“we GRANT Defendant IFP’s motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiffs claims for demurrage that accrued before May 9, 1997.”
“we GRANT in part and DENY in part Defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”
“we DENY Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration.”
“Defendants’ motion to dismiss the section 1983 claims of Pérez and the conjugal partnership is GRANTED.”
“Defendant Toledo enjoys qualified immunity and, accordingly, Defendant Toledo’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.”
“The motion for summary judgment of Defendants Padilla and Gomez is DENIED.”
“we GRANT defendants’ request as to all claims, except for the clock-hour interpretation claim, which we DISMISS WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Among 60 enumerated assigned cases, 59 were terminated and one miscellaneous matter remained pending. Social Security review, foreclosure, civil-rights, and employment cases were the largest categories in this stratified historical slice; the median filing-to-termination duration among terminated cases was 827 days. This is not a career-wide caseload measure.
A historical record
Judge Fusté no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.