27 results for 'judge:"Grasz"'.
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. The defendant, a wholesale cocaine dealer, argued that law enforcement was not entitled to obtain a tracking warrant for his vehicle and warrants for an apartment and a music studio. However, the government presented sufficient evidence in court that an informant sold drugs to the defendant's runner, who began cooperating with authorities, which resulted in the defendant making threats over Facebook, claiming he would get his hands on the trial witness list and send it to "unknown actors in Mexico." Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 23-2364, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Threats
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed four high school students' equal protection and due process claims against a school district. The high school students argued that they were wrongfully expelled from school for participating in a "joke" by joining a student's online petition calling for the return of slavery. The school's disciplinary action was rationally connected to its purpose of maintaining order and was not racially motivated. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 23-1119, Categories: Education, Due Process, Equal Protection
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly denied a Mayor and a board of Alderman's motion for summary judgment concerning the termination of two police officers who filed grievances against a police chief for failing to maintain department vehicles and radar equipment. The Mayor and the Alderman argued that they are protected by qualified immunity on the police officers' First Amendment retaliation claims. However, the police officers sufficiently showed in court that they are entitled to relief for making public concern statements outside of their duties as police officers. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 22-3668, Categories: Employment, Immunity, First Amendment
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly granted an insurance company's motion for summary judgment concerning coverage claims brought by a warehouse. The warehouse operator argued that its policy with the insurance company covers property damage liability for the collapse of a building during a deadly tornado. However, the insurance company sufficiently showed in court that it is not obligated to cover damages given that Amazon is the actual owner of the facility. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-1450, Categories: Insurance, Property, Contract
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly imposed restitution payments on a defendant who is serving a life sentence for two counts of first-degree murder. The defendant argued that the imposed monthly payments should not be deducted from his stimulus benefits. However, the government presented sufficient evidence in court that the funds are not exempt. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 21-2533, Categories: Murder, Restitution
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J. Grasz finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 204 months after he was convicted for various firearms crimes, which included unlawfully possessing a firearm as a drug user and dealing firearms without a federal license. The defendant argued that the evidence in court was insufficient, and that he never intended to rob an informant. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that his "guilt is clear" based on evidence in video recordings that showed he was aware that the guns were stolen. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 22-3214, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 420 months in prison for robbery after he stole travelers checks that were worth $30,000. The defendant argued that his conviction no longer qualified as an Armed Career Criminal Act offense and that the court was obligated to recalculate the length of his sentence. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the defendant's certificate of appealability barred him from challenging the court's decision. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 21-2218, Categories: Firearms, Robbery, Sentencing
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 144 months in prison for one count of receiving child pornography. The defendant argued that the lower court erred in applying a two- level enhancement to his sentence for knowingly distributing child pornography. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the defendant participated in distributing child pornography on a peer-to-peer file sharing platform from his IP address, and that he used five separate devices to store 168,000 child pornography files. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 23-1741, Categories: Evidence, Child Pornography
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed a native of Ghana's motion to remain in the U.S. The native of Ghana argued that he is entitled to relief based on his conditional permanent resident status. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that he failed to reside with his wife for the required three years to obtain citizenship. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: 22-2615, Categories: Immigration
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed a construction company's contract claims against an insurer. The construction company argued that the insurer is obligated to cover damages after one of its drivers crashed a company truck. However, the insurance company sufficiently showed in court that the construction company did not actually hire the driver as an insured employee. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: December 26, 2023, Case #: 23-1043, Categories: Employment, Insurance, Contract
J. Grasz finds a lower court improperly dismissed a former director's retaliation claims against her employer. The employer argued that the former director was properly rated as "not on track" and was offered a demotion and a performance improvement plan. However, the former director presented sufficient evidence in court that her employer abruptly rescinded on the PIP offer within 48 hours. Reversed in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: December 26, 2023, Case #: 22-2452, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Employment Retaliation
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant for distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and two counts of unlawfully possession a firearm as a felon. The defendant argued that the lower court erred in allowing testimony in court brought by the girlfriend of a deceased customer, who died from overdose, and failed to present evidence that he carried a firearm. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that text messages between the defendant and a buyer showed that he sold him fentanyl-laced heroin, which resulted in his death, and that he carried a weapon while trafficking drugs. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 22-3499, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Weapons
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly denied a defendant's motion to suppress evidence after he pleaded guilty to possessing meth. The defendant argued that police officers searched his vehicle without consent. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the car he was driving was stolen, and that the search was proper under the "automobile exception." Affirmed.v
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: November 20, 2023, Case #: 22-2930, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Theft
J. Grasz finds a lower court improperly dismissed a journalist's unlawful seizure claims. A police officer argued that he was entitled to pepper spray the journalist in the face while tackling him to the ground. However, the journalist, who was covering a protest, presented sufficient evidence in court that he disclosed to the officer that he was a member of the press, which he backed up with press credentials. Reversed in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 22-2600, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution
J. Graz finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 45 years in prison after a jury convicted him for sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, facilitating prostitution, and providing a person under 21 with MDMA. The defendant argued that his female victim was properly compensated for escorting services, and that she voluntarily engaged in sex work for money. However, the government presented sufficient evidence in court that the defendant threatened his victim over text messages, referring to her as "hoe," in order to set up encounters over social media, kept the money for himself, and even urinated in her mouth after he drugged her with "molly." Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 22-1676, Categories: Drug Offender, Fraud, Prostitution
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed the Chief of Police's motion for qualified immunity concerning a car accident that resulted in the death of an estate administrator's son. The County argued that two police officers properly conducted a pit maneuver in order to thwart the mother's decedent from fleeing police in a high-speed chase. However, the estate administrator presented sufficient evidence in court that police officers failed to timely provide him with medical services for fatal injuries he suffered as the result of the crash. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 22-2749, Categories: Immunity, Wrongful Death
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly granted summary judgment to a division of workforce service on a job applicant's discrimination claims. The job applicant, who is a native of Mexico who only speaks Spanish, argued that she is entitled to unemployment insurance benefits after she was let go from her job due to Covid-19, and that the department erred in listing her last job as Holiday Inn and not Molly Maid. However, the workforce service presented sufficient evidence in court that she is not entitled to benefits based on her failure to keep track of past earnings. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 22-2831, Categories: Employment, Insurance, Covid-19
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed a driver's strict liability and negligence claims against General Motors. The driver argued that he is entitled to monetary relief after he was involved in a rollover vehicle accident, which resulted in spinal injury. However, the proper venue is Coahuila, Mexico, where the accident took place. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 22-1563, Categories: Negligence, Jurisdiction
J. Grasz finds that a lower court properly dismissed a physician's unlawful termination claims against her employer, a prison system health care service. The former employee argues that her employer terminated her role after she engaged in whistleblower activities, claiming that the health care service practiced medicine without a valid license. However, her former employer sufficiently showed that she was let go from her job after violating operational procedures during Covid- 19, for inappropriately engaging with inmates and health care providers, and for reporting that her employee email account had been compromised without providing evidence of a hack. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 22-2445, Categories: Employment, Covid-19
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 87 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm. The defendant argued that his sentence is unreasonable. However, the defendant has a prior conviction for aggravated vehicular hijacking, which is a crime of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 22-2858, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Vehicle
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed three protesters' First Amendment retaliation claims against a City. The protesters argued that police officers violated their rights by spraying them in the face with pepper spray. However, the protestors failed to sufficiently show in court that there was a casual connection between the officers' use of pepper spray and their constitutional rights for freedom of expression. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 22-1735, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, First Amendment
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly denied a police officer's motion for qualified immunity, but may have erred in failing to make a ruling on claims that he may be entitled to sovereign immunity. A protestor argued that the police officer singled him out during a protest concerning the slaying of another police officer, and then intentionally sprayed pepper spray in his face, which resulted in injuries. However, the officer may be entitled to relief based on the lower court's failure to determine whether or not his actions triggered sovereign immunity. Vacated in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 22-2329, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly indicted a defendant for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm to further a drug trafficking crime, and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person. The defendant argued that the lower court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence concerning his participation in selling cocaine along side his wife. However, the government presented sufficient evidence in court that he sold drugs to a confidential informant, which resulted in the seizure of $154,000 in cash and handwritten notes for prices of drugs, scales, and ammunition, which was not based on false information in a search warrant obtained by authorities. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: 22-1816, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed an estate administrator's inadequate medical care claims against a County. The estate administrator argued that County employees acted deliberately indifferent when they failed to provide a defendant inmate, now deceased due to terminal cancer, with proper medical care services during six months of pretrial detention. However, the County provided sufficient evidence in court that jail house employees provided him with healthcare services and multiple physician opinion requests, placed him in a hold over cell where he could be adequately monitored, and then granted his request for compassionate release once he became deathly ill and emaciated. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 22-2644, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care, Wrongful Death
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed Missouri's claims that a North Dakota water project violates the Water Supply Act. The state argued that the U.S. Department of the Interior violated the Act when it moved ahead with a water reclamation project in close proximity to the Missouri River without submitting an environmental impact statement. However, the Department sufficiently showed in court that the bureau's environmental assessment was acceptable, and that there was no need to explore alternatives. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 21-3408, Categories: Construction, Environment
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 142 months in prison for possession of child pornography, but erred in imposing special conditions on his use of computers. The government argued that the defendant is not entitled to use a computer. However, the imposition is unreasonable because it is a deprivation of his liberty. Reversed in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 22-2867, Categories: Sentencing, Child Pornography, Civil Rights
J. Grasz finds a lower court properly dismissed negligence and strict liability claims brought by a resident who suffers from multiple sclerosis against a manufacturing facility. The resident argued that his condition is the result of exposure to Trichloroethylene from a nearby bearings company. However, he failed to file his claims within a two- year statute of limitations. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 22-1506, Categories: Negligence, Premises Liability