Russell G. Vineyard

How Judge Vineyard rules, drawn from 10 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Position
magistrate
Commissioned
2006-10-23
Education
University of Georgia, B.A., 1986; University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 1989
Signed orders read
10

How Judge Vineyard decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

In a speedy-trial dismissal dispute, he accounted for excluded periods attributable to defense continuance requests and required concrete prejudice under the Sixth Amendment framework.

“the government’s calculation of six non-excludable days appears to be correct and Adesayo has not shown otherwise”

On criminal statute-of-limitations challenges he examines the parties' tolling agreements closely, recommending denial of a motion to dismiss where the defendants' agreements extended the limitations period for the charged conspiracy.

“the Court finds that count one is not barred by the statute of limitations because Flores and Hayes entered into agreements that tolled the statute”

Procedural preferences

In the sampled recommendations with verified later treatment, district judges adopted his proposed dispositions, including after de novo review of objections.

“Finding no clear error in the remaining portions of the R&R, the Court APPROVES AND ADOPTS the R&R [Doc. 202] as the Opinion and Order of the Court.”

Cautions

On pro se civil complaints he applies the Eleventh Circuit's shotgun-pleading doctrine rigorously, recommending dismissal under Rule 8 for failure to connect counts to their factual predicates, but without prejudice and with leave to re-file, a replead-carefully signal rather than a case-ending dismissal.

“this action should be dismissed without prejudice to allow Plaintiff the opportunity”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Smith v. Pefanis (AME Financial Corp. et al.)
1:08-cv-01042-JOF-RGV · 2009-08-31
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that Defendants' motion for summary judgment be granted in part and denied in part. ... the court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge as the ORDER of this court. The court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment [80].”

United States v. Goldenshtein and Akselrod
1:10-cr-00323-TCB-RGV · 2011-04-01
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard's Report and Recommendation ('R&R') [62], which recommends that Defendants' motions to suppress [30, 36, & 37] be denied. ... the Court finds that Judge Vineyard's factual and legal conclusions are entirely correct ... the Court ADOPTS AS ITS ORDER Judge Vineyard's R&R [62], DENIES Defendants' motions to suppress [30, 36, & 37]”

Allen v. Barrow
1:11-cv-02475-ODE · 2012-01-10
Habeas petition (petitioner) Denied

“the Final Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard, recommending that Petitioner's 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition and a certificate of appealability ('COA') be denied. ... it is ADOPTED as the opinion and order of the Court. ... this habeas petition [Doc. 1] is DENIED, this action is DISMISSED, and a COA shall not issue.”

Sanders v. Bank of America, N.A.
1:13-cv-01904-WSD-RGV · 2013-10-01
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Denied

“Judge Vineyard also recommended that the Plaintiff's Motion to Remand be denied ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Remand to State Court is DENIED.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“the Complaint be dismissed because (i) the Complaint failed to comply with the notice pleading required under Rule 8 ... and (ii) the Complaint failed to state any federal or state law claim ... this action should be dismissed without prejudice to allow Plaintiff the opportunity to re-file a properly drafted complaint. ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Complaint is GRANTED.”

United States v. Envistacom, LLC, Carson, Hayes and Flores
1:22-cr-00197-VMC-RGV · 2022-11-14
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“it is RECOMMENDED that the motions to dismiss count one, [Docs. 80 & 81], be DENIED. ... the Court finds that count one is not barred by the statute of limitations because Flores and Hayes entered into agreements that tolled the statute as to the offense of conspiracy to defraud the United States”

Bill of particulars (defendant) Denied

“Carson's motion for a bill of particulars, [Doc. 47], is DENIED”

Bill of particulars (defendant) Granted in part

“Envistacom and Hayes' motions for a bill of particulars, [Docs. 30 & 46], are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”

United States v. Jesse J. Williams
1:24-cr-00311-SDG-RGV · 2025-10-30
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the Court has carefully reviewed United States Chief Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard's Report & Recommendation [ECF 65] ... Following a de novo review, the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. Defendant's motion to dismiss indictment [ECF 29], as amended [ECF 30], is DENIED.”

United States v. Gordon
3:24-cr-00011
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“it is RECOMMENDED that Gordon's motion to suppress, [Doc. 15], be DENIED”

Bellamy v. Babb
3:25-cv-00241

Section 1915A screening of a pro se prisoner civil-rights complaint; recommended dismissed for failure to state a claim. No party motion ruled on.

Walton v. Hudson
3:25-cv-00263

Section 1915A screening of a pro se prisoner civil-rights complaint; recommended dismissed for failure to state a claim. No party motion ruled on.

United States v. Babajide Adesayo
1:24-cr-00154-MHC-RGV · 2026-07-15
Motion to dismiss speedy trial (defendant) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons, it is RECOMMENDED that Adesayo’s pending motions for speedy trial and to dismiss, [Docs. 173 & 187], be DENIED.”

Motion to dismiss speedy trial (defendant) Denied

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 584 days (N = 9).

Median motion-to-ruling time: 59 days (N = 1).

  • Judge Vineyard's directly assigned work includes criminal magistrate-duty matters, such as complaints, warrants, and initial appearances that often conclude within days, and Social Security appeals decided with the parties' consent.
  • His broader work also includes recommendations on criminal suppression and dismissal motions and on civil dismissal and summary-judgment motions in cases assigned to district judges.

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