130 results for 'court:"10th Circuit"'.
J. Bacharach finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of drug offenses after the car in which she was a passenger was pulled over and police found drugs hidden within the car's compartments. There was no evidence offered during trial that the driver told her about the drugs or that she found the secret compartments on her own. Without evidence to show she knew of the drugs, her convictions cannot stand. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Bacharach, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 22-6194, Categories: Drug Offender
J. Ebel finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence regarding his child pornography convictions. Defendant sought to suppress emails that contained the content after law enforcement got the emails on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It is common practice for law enforcement to use tips and other leads from organizations such as that. Even if police did not act on the tip, there was enough evidence that inevitably would have been discovered during the investigation. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Ebel, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 22-2085, Categories: Evidence, Child Pornography
J. Holmes finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and unlawful firearm possession as part of his involvement in the Syndicato de Nuevo
México, a prison gang. Defendant claims that the lower court violated his right to a speedy trial and allowed prejudicial evidence during trial, but his claims are without merit. Any prejudice injected into proceedings from certain murder evidence did not outweigh its overall value and was properly allowed, and the duration of his legal proceedings did not violate the Speedy Trial Act. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Holmes, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-2034, Categories: Murder, Speedy Trial, Gangs
J. Kelly finds that the lower court improperly in part ruled against a ranch after it sued a pipeline owner with claims that a pipeline leaked on its property, causing contamination. While the lower court correctly tossed a series of fraud and trespass-related claims due to a lack of evidence pointing to intent, the farm's primary tort claims have the right to proceed. Despite the pipeline owner claiming there was no leak, an expert's report says there have been traces of diesel fuel and gasoline at the property, a fact that even alone is enough to show evidence of damage to the property. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 23-7001, Categories: Property, Tort
J. Hartz finds that the lower court improperly dismissed civil rights claims against Oklahoma State University from a free speech advocacy group that sought to challenge new schoolwide policies that they claimed chilled free speech. The lower court tossed their suit on the grounds that the three student members they were representing decided to proceed in the case as anonymous persons, stating that the group lacked standing as a result. But the Supreme Court opinion they relied on to make those findings did not make anonymity an issue and there was "no hint, much less an emphatic statement," that the opinion in question was setting a precedent that anonymous persons could not have standing to bring claims such as this. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 23-6054, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, First Amendment
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J. Ebel finds that the lower court improperly dismissed an age discrimination claim brought by a former employee of a medical company who says he was fired after experiencing a several-month stay in the ICU due to a medical emergency. While the lower court properly tossed his disability discrimination claim on the grounds that there was no reasonable accommodation of leave during his recovery the company could have offered, his age discrimination claim should have survived. He brought forward enough evidence at this stage to suggest that he was fired on false pretenses, and was later replaced with two younger and less qualified employees. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Ebel, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-5107, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Ebel finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant on firearm convictions. The lower court used a prior conviction to help calculate his sentence after finding that the prior conviction was a "crime of violence," but the lower court used the incorrect approach in finding if that conviction was based on "intentional rather than reckless conduct." Because his prior conviction was improperly labeled for sentencing purposes, defendant's sentence needs to be recalculated. Vacated.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Ebel, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 22-1203, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Hartz finds that the lower court properly tossed civil rights claims from a man who was suing, pro se, the U.S. Marshal Service based on alleged excessive force during an arrest. The man rests his claims on a 1971 Supreme Court ruling in "Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents," which found that federal agents could be held liable for damages in the event of unreasonable force during an arrest, but that ruling has since become a "relic of the 20th century." Under current precedent, there is no avenue for the individual in this case to recover damages. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 23-7008, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Bacharach finds that the lower court properly refused to set aside a judgment that was the result of a settlement between the FTC and a company accused of a scheme where it sold unnecessary services to customers. The company later sought to set aside the judgment by arguing that a new Supreme Court case reversed elements of the judgment that provided for monetary relief. While it is true that the Supreme Court ruled on a case that did not allow for such relief, that case is largely unrelated to the current one and does not represent a big enough change that would require the judgment to be set aside. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Bacharach, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 23-4009, Categories: Fraud, Settlements
J. Moritz finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea regarding felon in possession of ammunition charges. During the proceedings, counsel misrepresented important information about the racial makeup of the jury that would be overseeing his trial and that all minorities would be removed from his jury, and those misrepresentations were not corrected by the court. Under this bad information, defendant's guilty plea was unknowing and involuntary. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Moritz, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 22-6132, Categories: Firearms, Ineffective Assistance, Plea
J. Hartz finds that the lower court improperly granted summary judgment to Love's, a gas station and travel stop company, in its contract dispute with a company that helps other businesses with economic development incentives. The dispute stems from a tax assessment on a diesel facility project Love's requested help with, an assessment which the other company claims entitles it to a fee under the parties' agreement. Love's disputes the fee and the lower court sided them with on their contract claim, but there remain questions on the record that preclude summary judgment. It is still unclear if the tax assessment for the project was the product of efforts from the other company or if the assessment was simply the result of an assessor's interpretation of local tax law. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 22-6170, Categories: Tax, Contract
J. Tymkovich finds that the lower court improperly ruled against a gold mine operator after it was sued for alleged unlawful wastewater discharges into areas within the South Platte River floodplain. The lower court found the company was discharging unpermitted pollutants into navigable waters, but the ruling did not consider the entire picture. The lower court incorrectly found that groundwater discharges into settling ponds were the "functional equivalent" of direct discharges into the South Platte River, two entirely different discharges under the Clean Water Act. As a result, the lower court did not fully take into account all of the "geophysical factors" of the case. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 22-1340, Categories: Environment, Water
J. Phillips finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sexual abuse and assault convictions. There were no errors during trial regarding testimony or evidence entered that would justify reversing defendant's convictions. However, both parties do agree that the lower court used an improper calculation of defendant's criminal history that needlessly inflated his sentencing range. Affirmed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: 22-5072, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Tymkovich finds that the lower court properly denied an injunction from a class of employees looking to stop Vail Resorts from carrying on with a nationwide settlement it reached with some of the employees over wage claims. Their motion to stop the settlement was barred by the Anti-Injunction Act, as they did not show how any of the Act's exceptions, such as the necessary-in-aid-of-jurisdiction exception, applied to their request. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 22-1226, Categories: Employment, Settlements, Injunction
J. McHugh finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The jury was presented with enough evidence found during a search of his home to find that he was the owner of a firearm and several rounds of ammunition, and the lower court correctly included a prior 2002 conviction when calculating his offender score for sentencing purposes. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: McHugh , Filed On: December 26, 2023, Case #: 23-2029, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Hartz finds that the lower court properly ruled in favor of Denver Public Schools regarding employment claims from a former employee who says she was fired in retaliation for voicing concerns about reportedly racist comments made during a hiring process for another prospective employee. There were valid reasons for her firing due to instances of unprofessionalism in the workplace, and she didn't bring forward any proof that those who fired her were aware of her protected activity. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: December 22, 2023, Case #: 22-1408, Categories: Employment, Employment Retaliation
J. Kelly finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant on drug charges. Defendant raises two issues on appeal, that testimony from a narcotics detective should have been tossed and that a mistrial should have been declared when a robocall inadvertently played during trial. The testimony was relevant to the trial and did not infringe on defendant's trial rights, and the lower court properly handled the accidental call by immediately reminding the jury to ignore it. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1167, Categories: Drug Offender, Fair Trial
J. Murphy finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's motion to suppress a firearm as evidence during his trial that resulted in a conviction for unlawful possession of a machine gun. An officer arrested defendant and impounded his truck, leading to a search of the truck that uncovered the gun. The officer, however, lacked the needed "reasonable, non-pretextual community-caretaking rationale" that would have supported the decision to impound the truck. Therefore, any evidence found in the truck should have been suppressed. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Murphy, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 23-6071, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Search
J. Tymkovich finds that the bankruptcy court properly ruled in dispute over a question of earmarked funds. The funds were earmarked to pay off a debt to the mother of a man who owned a petroleum company before filing for bankruptcy, which the trustee tried to recover because the mother was being paid before creditors who were given a higher priority under the bankruptcy plan. The lower court properly rejected the trustee's claims on the basis that the petroleum company did not have an interest in those funds, as well as the fact that the overall bankruptcy estate was not diminished by allowing the payments to the mother. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich , Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 22-2073, Categories: Bankruptcy
J. Phillips finds that the lower court properly upheld that BP America Production owes roughly $700,000 in royalty underpayments under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act. BP says it should be shielded from the payments by claiming all underpayments less than $10,000 should be reversed under the royalty-payment statute. This interpretation, however, ignores the clear language of the law and tries to skirt around the fact that all of the underpayments the company has been charged with paying have been correctly calculated and assessed. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 22-8024, Categories: Contract
J. Phillips finds that the lower court improperly ruled in favor of a health insurance company in a lawsuit brought by a father who says the company wrongfully denied a claim for mental health treatment for his son. Under the terms of the relevant agreement, the company's move to deny the claim was arbitrary and the father and son were denied a "full and fair" review of their claim. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips , Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 22-4082, Categories: Erisa, Insurance
J. Rossman finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of the Utah Department of Corrections regarding a former employee's failure-to-accommodate claim. The former employee is missing his second and fifth digits on each hand and claims that the department, which hired him with full awareness of his disability, refused to comply with his accommodation request for a different model of handgun that he could more easily handle. While the lower court did properly rule in favor of the department on his disparate-treatment and retaliation claims stemming from the request, his failure-to-accommodate claim should have been allowed to proceed given that it was a "plausibly reasonable" request and was connected to a key feature of his job responsibilities. Affirmed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 21-4127, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Holmes finds that the lower court improperly dismissed all claims against an insurance company in a lawsuit stemming from its decision to deny coverage to a plan participant and the participant's daughter, who needed residential treatment for mental health issues. While the claims regarding their ERISA plan were properly tossed, given that the company did not deny their claim under the plan arbitrarily, a claim under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act should have been allowed to proceed. The family properly raised a claim under that Act by showing a clear disparity between treatment limits for care at a residential treatment center compared to those of other medical care options as they applied to the daughter who needed them.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Holmes, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 21-4110, Categories: Erisa, Insurance
J. Carson finds that the lower court properly sanctioned the driver for his attempts to "intentionally deceive" the court regarding his underlying car collision dispute. He attempted to make up evidence for his damages claim by lying to doctors, the court and even his own attorneys, leading the lower court to dismiss the non-economic claims and sanction him with attorney fees. He challenges the sanctions on a few grounds, namely that he was being ordered to pay attorney fees for more hours of attorney work than is typical for a traditional car accident case. But his deception and violation of basic court ethics forced the attorneys to work more hours than they normally would, so the lower court was well within its right to sanction him as it did. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Carson, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 23-1020, Categories: Sanctions, Vehicle
J. Rossman finds that the lower court properly denied qualified immunity to a group of police officers in a police misconduct suit brought by a protester who was hit in the head and knocked unconscious with a beanbag round while attending a protest over the death of George Floyd. The officers claim that their move to fire beanbag rounds into the crowd of demonstrators was called for because a tear gas canister, which was thrown by police into the crowd, was kicked back in their direction. The officers were equipped with gas masks and other gear that protected them from the gas, so a reasonable jury could find that the officers' decision to fire beanbag rounds was uncalled for and that the demonstrators' rights were violated. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 22-1365, Categories: Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Briscoe finds that the lower court improperly denied immunity to police officials regarding wrongful death and excessive force claims from the family of a man who was killed by police while they were carrying out a warrant. Police are entitled to immunity because the evidence shows that deadly force was reasonable in this situation. Decedent was armed, repeatedly refused to comply with officers to drop his gun, and attempted to flee after telling officers several times he refused to be arrested. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Briscoe, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 22-1355, Categories: Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Holmes finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of a school district regarding Title IX claims from a former student who says the school was deliberately indifferent to sexual abuse perpetrated by a seventh-grade teacher. The lower court found in favor of the school district on the grounds that the district did not have notice that the teacher posed a risk of abuse before it learned he had been reported to the police. A jury, however, could reasonably conclude that prior reports of the teacher's behavior gave notice to people working at the district of the risk. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Holmes, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 21-8078, Categories: Education
J. McHugh finds that the lower court improperly denied class certification to a class of women who, as minors, were sent to a residential treatment center that they allege forced them into required labor and gave them "primitive" living conditions as part of their treatment. The lower court denied class certification on the grounds of not meeting the commonality, typicality, and predominance requirements, but the lower court used the incorrect legal standard in reviewing all three of those elements. The lower court also failed to discuss certain elements of its findings, such as why some factual differences defeated the typicality requirements. Further proceedings are needed as a result. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: McHugh, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 22-8080, Categories: Employment, Fraud, Class Action
J. Matheson finds that the lower court properly convicted and sentenced defendant for assault. Defendant argues that the court improperly allowed certain testimony at trial, but the testimony in question was appropriate and offered up important medical expertise. Also, there is no evidence the jury's instructions injected prejudice against defendant. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Matheson, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 22-5076, Categories: Assault, Witnesses, Jury Instructions
J. Phillips finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of Johns Manville in an antitrust lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing the market for calcium silicate. A smaller rival company says that Johns Manville threatened to stop doing business with distributors if they bought calcium silicate from the rival. The smaller company has put forth expert testimony showing evidence of monopoly power, and the alleged threats to distributors clear the definition of exclusionary conduct. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 22-1164, Categories: Antitrust