125 results for 'court:"10th Circuit"'.
J. Phillips dismisses an appeal from a podcast and its host that sought to challenge a ruling that refused to toss defamation claims leveled against them from a doctor after the podcast spread false claims about the doctor being a member of "Antifa" and trying to rig the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. The lower court denied their motion to toss the claims after finding that the doctor was likely to prevail on the merits of his claims. Their appeal falls outside the collateral-order doctrine, leaving it dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1109, Categories: Defamation
J. Ebel finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sexual abuse against a minor. Defendant claims on appeal that the lower court improperly allowed a 50-minute video recording of a forensic interview with the child victim, which defendant says violated the rules regarding hearsay. The interview in question, however, was supported by "sufficient guarantees of trustworthiness" and had enough value to the proceedings to outweigh any evidence-related issues. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Ebel, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 22-7033, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Matheson finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempted enticement of a minor. Defendant claims there was not enough evidence to convict him and that the lower court improperly gave jury instructions related to "grooming." Even if the grooming instruction was removed, the jury still had enough evidence from which to find that defendant was attempting to entice a minor through graphic conversations and making travel arrangements to meet them. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Matheson, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-5088, Categories: Child Victims, Jury Instructions
J. McHugh finds that a group of conservationists lack standing to challenge a series of agency decisions related to an easement for a property in Rio Grande National Forest that has been selected to become a ski resort village. The groups take issue with a series of biological opinions and other documents that were approved by the agency to green-light development of the project and a land exchange that would help make the property more accessible in the wintertime, but their claims lack merit. They have not been able to show any evidence of major errors in the documents, and even if they were able to show error, there is nothing on the record that suggests the error would have been harmful enough to justify tossing the entire development project. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: McHugh, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-1438, Categories: Property, Agency
J. Carson finds that the lower court properly denied summary judgment to a county clerk in a civil rights dispute with her deputy. The clerk demanded that the deputy offer her full support to the clerk's next reelection campaign, and when the deputy declined, she was fired. Summary judgment was properly denied to the county clerk on the basis that it is clear under the law that a public official cannot "condition a subordinate’s employment" on any political basis. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Carson, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 22-7061, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment
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J. Phillips finds that the lower court properly ordered the enforcement of a subpoena against a doctor regarding an investigation into his practice of being the "second-most prolific prescriber" of benzodiazepines in New Mexico. The feds began looking into his dealings and issued an administrative subpoena against him, which the doctor challenged on constitutional grounds. But none of his arguments, such as claiming that the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination would shield him from complying with the order, have merit under the law. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 23-2073, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Constitution, Discovery
J. Bacharach answers a question in the negative regarding how to judge products that claim to be "American-made" for advertising purposes. The question comes from a dispute between two construction equipment providers in which one accused the other of lying for using that phrase, with the core of the question being if it is considered a false statement to call something "American-made" if that product was made using parts from other countries. The claim "American-made" is inherently ambiguous. Terms like "make" or "made" can refer to several elements of a product, including where it was physically assembled and where it originally came from, and as a result, it would be unreasonable to hold one of the construction equipment makers liable for statements such as those.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Bacharach, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-5046, Categories: Copyright, False Advertising
J. Murphy finds that the lower court properly denied a petition to quash a subpoena from the IRS against a church for tax records. The church claims that before the IRS issued the subpoena it ignored the requirements for church inquiries and that the IRS official who signed off on it was not an “appropriate high-level Treasury official." The regulations regarding what kind of official signs off on a subpoena do not apply here, and even if they did, there is nothing on the record that shows the IRS ignored the proper procedures. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Murphy, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 23-3063, Categories: Tax
J. Rossman finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for a felony firearm possession conviction. Defendant claims that the lower court incorrectly applied a two-level enhancement to his sentence, which the lower court said was due to his "reckless endangerment during flight." There is body camera footage of defendant's attempt to flee law enforcement that shows him running in front of an occupied vehicle, as well as his gun going off during the encounter, that support the lower court's findings of reckless endangerment. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-4096, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Holmes finds that the lower court improperly in part granted summary judgment to Netflix after a photographer claimed that the company used several of his videos in its Tiger King documentary series without his permission. While the photographer has waived his right to appeal most of the videos, there is one video he has a potential claim to make upon. Netflix claims their use of the single video fell under its fair use rights, but in doing so, did not provide any evidence that showed the "absence of a market impact" related to its use of the video. Further proceedings on that sole video copyright claim are needed as a result. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Holmes , Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-6086, Categories: Trademark
J. Somers upholds the bankruptcy court's refusal to allow a bank to extend a deadline to file a witness and exhibit list to support its claim a debt was non-dischargeable. The bank's previous attorney, believing the parties would settle, failed to meet the deadline to file for the list, and the neglect was not excusable. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Somers, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: WO-23-017, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure
J. Tymkovich finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of wire fraud and stealing government property for carrying out a scheme to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs by exaggerating his disability. As part of the investigation, agents for the department installed a camera near his house to record his activities, and defendant claims that the lower court wrongfully admitted evidence used from those cameras to convict him. Legal precedent has established, however, that he did not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" regarding the view of the front of his house. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 22-3276, Categories: Evidence, Fraud
J. Tymkovich finds that the lower court properly tossed employment claims from a former employee of the Colorado Department of Corrections who claims that the training program he was placed in subjected him to a hostile work environment and promoted race-based policies. While it is noted that some of the messaging in the training materials is "troubling on many levels," the former employee has nonetheless failed to show how the training materials resulted in direct harassment or poor conduct in the workplace. His arguments that such training could still cause those problems "eventually" are too speculative to save his suit. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 23-1063, Categories: Employment
J. Herren upholds the bankruptcy court's refusal to allow a debtor to dismiss his bankruptcy case. He no longer had a right to dismiss when his chapter 13 case was converted to chapter 7 two months prior to his filing of the motion to dismiss. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Herren, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: CO-23-008 , Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure
J. Matheson finds that the lower court properly tossed claims from environmentalists that sought to challenge a land management plan for the Rio Grande National Forest. Environmentalists claim that the plan did not properly take into consideration how it would effect the local lynx population, but the record shows that the government relied on all the proper logging and environmental impact data to make its findings that the plan would not have a significant negative impact on the local lynx. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Matheson, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 23-1093, Categories: Environment, Agency
J. Seymour finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of using her company, Odyssey International, to commit wire fraud and conspiracy. She claims there were errors in the jury instructions that should vacate her convictions, but in appealing her case, she has committed several procedural errors. She has repeatedly failed to "conform to the rules of appellate procedure" and has failed the "basic responsibility of an appellant" by not arguing a standard for review. All of her convictions stand as a result. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Seymour, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 22-4122, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Fraud
J. Tymkovich finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence regarding his conviction for murder. Defendant's appeal arises from a new ruling finding that a tribal reservation covered more land than was previously thought, leading many crimes that were once thought to have been committed outside tribal jurisdiction to actually have taken place within tribal jurisdiction. Defendant's crimes fall within the group that is influenced by that decision, but his convictions stand The lower court was still within its rights to use evidence and statements gathered from the officers' initial investigation, and all of the officers acted in accordance with the "prevailing factual and legal landscape at the time." Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Tymkovich, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 22-7028, Categories: Murder
J. Phillips finds that the lower court improperly denied an environmental group's request to intervene in an underlying dispute over a quiet title action to hundreds of alleged rights-of-way on federal land in Utah. The group has already been given the ability to intervene in a similar filing involving the same parties in 2019, and this current case is similar enough that they are entitled to intervene here as well. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 22-4087, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property
J. Briscoe finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for his convictions for engaging in a sexual act with a minor. Defendant claims that the lower court should have allowed a plea agreement that was proposed by both parties, but there were valid concerns on the record regarding defendant's behavior, struggles with alcohol, and likelihood of re-offending that gave the lower the court the discretion to reject the plea and sentence him to the maximum term of imprisonment. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Briscoe, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 22-7041, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Plea
J. Rossman finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant on two counts of deprivation of rights for mistreating detainees while working as a correctional officer. He claims his sentence is unreasonable and that the lower court should have granted him a downward sentencing variance because of his community ties and lack of criminal record. While the lower court had the discretion to do so, it also had the discretion to decline the downward variance. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 22-6203, Categories: Sentencing
J. Moritz grants a motion to transfer a dispute between the EPA and various groups and states over the EPA's decision to disapprove a series of state implementation plans for air quality. The petitioners in the case are asking to review a final rule on a national level, so their dispute is better handled the D.C. circuit.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Moritz, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 23-9514, Categories: Environment, Jurisdiction
J. Hartz finds that the lower court properly ruled against a former assistant principal who claimed that her school district retaliated against her and took away many of her duties and responsibilities after she reported a student-on-student sexual assault at school. She could not prove that any of the actions taken against her after the incident were pretextual, and regardless of that, reporting a student-on-student sexual assault is not considered an activity protected from retaliation by Title VII. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Hartz, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 23-3004, Categories: Education, Employment Retaliation
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
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