2022 Tenth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 501 - 849 of 849
Date: May 27, 2022
Docket Number: 19-3256
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Devonte Starks appealed his convictions for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute heroin. In its closing argument at trial, the government advised the…
Date: May 27, 2022
Docket Number: 20-3165
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Jesus Arellanes-Portillo pled guilty to a collection of federal drug-trafficking, money-laundering, and immigration crimes. He challenged the procedural reasonableness of his sentence, arguing the…
Date: May 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1010
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, Tomas Beauford suffered a fatal epileptic seizure in his cell while in pretrial custody at the Mesa County Detention Facility (“MCDF”). The administrator of Beauford’s estate sued various Mesa County and medical…
Date: May 17, 2022
Docket Number: 22-3010
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants-Appellants Dalton Hartley and Corey Detter, in separate criminal cases, each moved for early termination of probation under 18 U.S.C. 3564(c). The same district judge denied their motions for the exact same…
Date: May 13, 2022
Docket Number: 18-9011
Justia Opinion Summary: Reserve Mechanical Corp. appealed a Tax Court judgment affirming the decision of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that it did not qualify for an exemption from income tax as a small insurance company and that the…
Date: May 3, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2197
Justia Opinion Summary: During excavation of an inactive gold mine in southwestern Colorado, a blowout caused the release of at least three million gallons of contaminated water into Cement Creek. The United States Environmental Protection…
Date: May 3, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1025
Justia Opinion Summary: Various City of Denver officials, and certain State of Colorado officials, authorized and/or conducted sweeps of homeless encampments throughout Denver, Colorado. The advocacy organization, Denver Homeless Out Loud and…
Date: May 3, 2022
Docket Number: 21-4006
Justia Opinion Summary: On June 13, 2014, Beaver County Correctional Facility (“BCCF”) officers responded to reports of a truck running into parked cars. The decedent, Troy Bradshaw, was arrested Bradshaw for driving under the influence and he…
Date: May 3, 2022
Docket Number: 21-5052
Justia Opinion Summary: Three Tulsa police officers were dispatched late at night to a parking lot, finding plaintiff-appellant Ira Lee Wilkins asleep in the driver’s seat of a running vehicle. They smelled alcohol on him, ordered him out of…
Date: May 2, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2011
Justia Opinion Summary: OXY USA, Inc. appealed a decision of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (“ONRR”) ordering it to pay an additional $1,820,652.66 in royalty payments on federal gas leases that were…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: 21-8010
Justia Opinion Summary: While defendant-appellant Laquan Shakespeare was serving the supervised-release portion of his sentence for violating 18 U.S.C. sections 1153 and 2243(a) (the “2018 conviction”), he sexually assaulted a fourteen-year-old…
Date: April 27, 2022
Docket Number: 20-4098
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a long-running irrigation-water dispute between Plaintiff Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation and Defendant Gregory McKee, who was not a member of the Tribe. Defendant owned…
Date: April 27, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1144
Justia Opinion Summary: In late 2017, someone sent anonymous letters containing personal and derogatory information about appellant Bryan Seale to his acquaintances. In December 2018, Seale discovered that someone had accessed his real estate…
Date: April 27, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2030
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Darren Herrera and Paula Garcia purchased a home in the City of Espanola, New Mexico (the “City”). At the time Appellants purchased the home, the existing owner, Charlotte Miera, was not current on her water…
Date: April 26, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1454
Justia Opinion Summary: Taj Jerry Mahabub, founder and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of GenAudio, Inc. (“GenAudio”; collectively referred to as “Appellants”) attempted to secure a software licensing deal with Apple, Inc. (“Apple”). Mahabub…
Date: April 26, 2022
Docket Number: 20-8015
Justia Opinion Summary: Over four years, Plaintiffs-Appellants Eighteen Seventy, LP and the Marie Kennedy Foundation (the “Kennedy Entities” or “Entities”) lost more than $10 million they invested in CRUPE Pte. Ltd. (“CRUPE”) and its…
Date: April 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1080
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Richard Holzer was arrested and criminally charged after federal undercover agents determined that Holzer had taken substantial steps towards bombing a synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado. Holzer subsequently pleaded…
Date: April 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2003
Justia Opinion Summary: A confidential informant visited defendant-appellant Gaspar Leal and asked about buying drugs. Leal put the confidential informant in touch with several individuals, and the informant ultimately purchased methamphetamine…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2035
Date: April 19, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1214
Justia Opinion Summary: Three out of four defendants in consolidated cases identified as minorities, and two were illegal immigrants. They claimed the district court abused its discretion in failing to ask the potential jurors whether they…
Date: April 19, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1262
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Wells Fargo Bank filed a statutory-interpleader action after facing conflicting demands for access to the checking account of Mesh Suture, Inc. Mark Schwartz, an attorney who founded Mesh Suture with Dr.…
Date: April 15, 2022
Docket Number: 19-5114
Justia Opinion Summary: In deciding defendant-appellant Ira Wilkins' sentence for unlawfully possessing a firearm, the district court considered the effect of Wilkins’ prior conviction in Texas for aggravated robbery. The district court…
Date: April 15, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2019
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service exercised its authority under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to designate nearly 14,000 acres of riparian land in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona as critical habitat for…
Date: April 14, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1049
Justia Opinion Summary: Following Susanne Burgaz’s suicide in a County Detention Facility, her children and estate sued two individual Sheriff’s deputies on duty the night she died, and various other County officials. They argued the deputies…
Date: April 13, 2022
Docket Number: 20-4131
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Antoine Frazier appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a roadside search of his vehicle in 2019. A Utah state trooper pulled defendant over for…
Date: April 12, 2022
Docket Number: 20-3171
Justia Opinion Summary: At defendant-appellant Jamaryus Moore’s initial sentencing hearing, the court offered him a choice: (1) an immediate 51-month sentence of imprisonment; or (2) a 48-month sentence of probation, subject to at least 84…
Date: April 8, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2046
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals' review was one of first impression in the circuit: whether extended overdraft charges made to a checking account were “interest” charges governed by…
Date: April 5, 2022
Docket Numbers: 20-7028, 20-7034
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a jail fight that started when an inmate learned that another inmate “snitched.” Based on the fight, the government charged two inmates, Derrick Segue and Klawaun Sutton, with conspiring to tamper…
Date: April 5, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2046
Date: March 30, 2022
Docket Number: 19-6122
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Defendant-appellant Tony Burris pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, and the district court sentenced him to 262 months in prison, the low end of his sentencing range under the…
Date: March 29, 2022
Docket Number: 18-9570
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Kelly Gonzalez Aguilar was a transgender woman from Honduras. She came to the United States and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and deferral of removal. In support, Kelly claimed she had been…
Date: March 29, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1461
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellee Gregory Heard sued Denver Police Officer Greg Dulayev and the City and County of Denver (“the City”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 (collectively, “defendants”). Heard claimed Dulayev used excessive force…
Date: March 29, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2083
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellee Charles Chavez was accused of attempting to force two individuals to withdraw their money from a bank automated teller machine (“ATM”) at gunpoint. The district court dismissed these charges, reasoning…
Date: March 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-5022
Date: March 21, 2022
Docket Number: 20-5089
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellant John Michael McIntosh pled guilty to five counts of robbery, plus three counts of brandishing a pistol during those five robberies. During the change-in-plea hearing held by the district court,…
Date: March 18, 2022
Docket Number: 18-4062
Justia Opinion Summary: Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. (“Bimbo Bakeries”) owned, baked, and sold Grandma Sycamore’s Home-Maid Bread (“Grandma Sycamore’s”). Bimbo Bakeries alleged that United States Bakery (“U.S. Bakery”), a competitor, and Leland…
Date: March 18, 2022
Docket Number: 19-4178
Justia Opinion Summary: The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (“the Tribe”) temporarily banished Angelita Chegup, Tara Amboh, Mary Jenkins, and Lynda Kozlowicz (“the banished members”). The banished members did not challenge…
Date: March 14, 2022
Docket Number: 20-7056
Justia Opinion Summary: Wayne Bowker died at the Carter County Jail on June 30, 2016, while awaiting trial for a drug possession charge. In the days and weeks preceding his death, Bowker did not receive several of his prescribed medications,…
Date: March 11, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2124
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Robin Thornton and Michael Lucero alleged defendants Tyson Foods, Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions, Corp., JBS USA Food Company, and National Beef Packing Company, LLC, used deceptive and misleading labels on…
Date: March 10, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2023
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against defendant Roark-Whitten Hospitality 2 (RW2) seeking relief for what the EEOC alleged were unlawful employment practices by RW2 on the basis of…
Date: March 10, 2022
Docket Number: 20-3191
Justia Opinion Summary: During a drug trafficking investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents used authorized wiretaps to intercept Jorge Portillo-Uranga’s communications. After he was arrested and charged with drug trafficking…
Date: March 10, 2022
Docket Number: 21-4046
Date: March 7, 2022
Docket Number: 20-5097
Justia Opinion Summary: Three teaching hospitals challenged the denial of Medicare reimbursements. At that time, a teaching hospital could obtain reimbursement only by incurring “substantially all” of a resident’s training costs. Because the…
Date: March 7, 2022
Docket Number: 21-5038
Justia Opinion Summary: TCI Pacific Communications, LLC (“TCI”) appealed a district court’s judgment holding it liable to Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. (“Cyprus”) for contribution under 42 U.S.C. sections 9601(9)(B), 9607(a), and 9613(f) of the…
Date: March 1, 2022
Docket Number: 20-4090
Justia Opinion Summary: David Efron and Efron Dorado SE (collectively, "Efron") appealed a civil contempt order entered by the district court for violating its preliminary injunction. This litigation began when the Federal Trade Commission and…
Date: March 1, 2022
Docket Number: 20-6118
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant-appellant Tiahmo Draine of possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of a firearm as a felon, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On appeal, he…
Date: February 28, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1373
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellant United Airlines (“United”) appealed a district court’s denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”), and its motion for new trial. A jury found that United discriminated against two…
Date: February 28, 2022
Docket Number: 19-7055
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellant Julieann Logsdon pleaded guilty to making a false statement: the statement concerned her whereabouts and activities on the night of a suspected arson, and were made to a federal agent investigating…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1006
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Twyla Casados, a member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, was driving under the influence within the boundaries of the Southern Ute reservation in Colorado when she struck and killed another motorist,…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 21-9595
Date: February 15, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1274
Justia Opinion Summary: A group of pet owners brought a class action against Champion Petfoods USA, Inc., alleging representations on Champion’s packaging on its Acana and Orijen brands of dog food were false and misleading. Champion’s dog food…
Date: February 15, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1106
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellant Tiffany Litzsinger worked for the Adams County Coroner’s Office from 2013 until she was terminated in 2018. During her time there, Litzsinger suffered from anxiety and depression, both of which…
Date: February 11, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1258
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a claim for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits by Plaintiff-Appellant Melinda Eckard (insured) against her insurer, Defendant-Appellee State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm).…
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2007
Justia Opinion Summary: In July 2018, defendant Anthony Cordova was convicted by jury of two felonies associated with the murder of Shane Dix: (1) committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity (“VICAR murder”); and (2) in the…
Date: February 9, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1250
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellant Ahmad Ajaj, a practicing Muslim, was a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate serving a 114-year sentence for terrorist acts connected with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Ajaj sued to obtain injunctive…
Boulder County Commissioners, et al. v. Suncor Energy, et al.
Date: February 8, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1330
Date: February 8, 2022
Docket Number: 20-6134
Justia Opinion Summary: In defendant-appellant Curtis Anthony’s case, the district court sentenced him to a custodial sentence shortly after trial but did not determine the restitution amount until several months later. When Anthony later filed…
Date: February 7, 2022
Docket Number: 19-4131
Justia Opinion Summary: Banner Bank (“Banner”) provided a multimillion-dollar loan to James and Loree Smith and their business entities. As collateral, James Smith pledged several properties. Banner later contracted to release Loree Smith from…
Date: February 1, 2022
Docket Number: 20-3199
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Darrell Black was a suspect in three robberies; two took place in Kansas, and one in Missouri. He was arrested in Missouri and indicted for robbery in both the Western District of Missouri and the…
Date: January 31, 2022
Docket Number: 17-4153
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States Supreme Court remanded these cases back to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Petitioners Sitamipa Toki, Eric Kamahele, and Daniel Maumau filed motions under 28 U.S.C. 2255 to vacate, set aside, or…
Date: January 27, 2022
Docket Number: 20-8038
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal grew out of a dispute over a program (“The Trial Lawyers College”) to train trial lawyers. The College’s board of directors splintered into two factions, known as the “Spence Group” and the “Sloan Group.” The…
Date: January 26, 2022
Docket Number: 19-3148
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Marvin Ellis was convicted by jury of, among other things, conspiring to manufacture, distribute, or possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base. Ellis was sentenced to a term of…
Date: January 26, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1143
Justia Opinion Summary: Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU) student Rowan Thompson had a classroom dispute with her chemistry professor that ultimately prompted Thompson to drop the professor’s class. But when Thompson emailed her…
Date: January 19, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1376
Justia Opinion Summary: Debtors Julio Barrera and Maria de La Luz Moro filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code hoping to reorganize their assets and finances. Instead of selling most of their assets to obtain an immediate…
Date: January 14, 2022
Docket Number: 21-8007
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Monty Englehart pled guilty to failure to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) and was sentenced to time served and five years of supervised…
Date: January 12, 2022
Docket Number: 21-6015
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellee Curtis Anthony was convicted of child-sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit child-sex trafficking. He was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution to R.W. and M.M. On appeal, the Tenth…
Date: January 11, 2022
Docket Number: 21-6000
Justia Opinion Summary: Municipal authorities in Oklahoma fined Plaintiff BNSF Railway Company for violating its Blocked Crossing Statute—setting up a preemption challenge between the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act…
Date: January 10, 2022
Docket Number: 20-9595
Justia Opinion Summary: Nkemchap Nelvis Takwi sought review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his appeal from a removal order entered by an Immigration Judge (IJ) and denying his motion to remand. Mr. Takwi was…
Date: January 10, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2010
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Victor Sanchez entered a blind plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The district court varied downward from Defendant’s advisory guideline range of 110 to 120 months and sentenced him to 96 months…
Date: January 7, 2022
Docket Number: 20-3147
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellee Camille Sturdivant sued her former coach on a high school dance team, Carley Fine, invoking 42 U.S.C. 1983, and alleging race discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection…
Date: January 6, 2022
Docket Number: 18-4013
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was a contract dispute between Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (the Tribe) and Lynn Becker, a non-Indian. The contract concerned Becker’s work marketing and developing the…
Date: January 6, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1436
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, a jury found Johnny Warren guilty of trafficking crack cocaine and unlawfully possessing a firearm. The court sentenced him to 240 months’ imprisonment. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing…
Date: January 6, 2022
Docket Number: 20-6125
Justia Opinion Summary: Linda Zotigh was murdered, and her trailer, in which her boyfriend Tommy Bullcoming also periodically resided, was set on fire. The day after law enforcement found Zotigh’s body, they arrested Bullcoming pursuant to a…
Date: January 5, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1031
Justia Opinion Summary: Deborah Laufer was qualified as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and was a self-described ADA “tester.” In that capacity, she visited the Elk Run Inn’s online reservation system (“ORS”) to…
Date: January 3, 2022
Docket Number: 20-3233
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal raised a question of first impression: whether, under 18 U.S.C. 3553(a), it was unreasonable for a district court to impose a harsher sentence based on a defendant’s decision to plead guilty without a plea…
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