Court of Appeals & Bankruptcy Appellate Opinions
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The most recent opinions are for: [ 07/03/2008 ]
DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
062059P.pdf 07/03/2008 USA v. Kendrix D. Feemster
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 06-2059
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
[PUBLISHED] [Riley, Author, with Beam and Smith, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Sentencing. On remand from the Supreme Court of the
United States for further consideration under Gall. The district court
committed procedural error and abused its discretion in sentencing
defendant to 120 months because, in attempting to explain its reasons for
varying downward 240 months from the bottom of the applicable
Guidelines range, the court gave significant weight to irrelevant factors
(defendant's age, the absence of a weapon in his prior crimes and his
completion of probation) and failed to support the extent of its variance
with sufficient justifications.
063321P.pdf 07/03/2008 Nasri G. Al Yatim v. Peter D. Keisler
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 06-3321
and No: 07-1456
Board of Immigration Appeals
[PUBLISHED] [Riley, Author, with Melloy and Colloton, Circuit Judges]
Petition for Review - Immigration. Petitioners, Palestinian Christians,
failed to show that they were likely to experience either persecution or
torture if they returned to Palestine; BIA did not abuse its discretion in
denying petitioners' motion to reopen, which was based on a claim
of changed country conditions as a result of the election of Hamas to
control of the Palestinian Authority.
071811P.pdf 07/03/2008 United States v. James Anderson
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-1811
and No: 07-2037
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - St. Paul
[PUBLISHED] [Jarvey, Author, with Loken, Chief Judge, and Murphy,
Circuit Judge]
Criminal case - Criminal law and Sentencing. Evidence was sufficient
to support conviction for insider trading; the instructions given by the
district court properly covered defendant's theory of the case, and he was
not entitled to his own proposed "good-faith" instruction; district court
did not err in admitting evidence of company's policy regarding insider
trading as it was probative of defendant's knowledge of insider-trading
laws and his intent to defraud; court thoroughly considered the
Guidelines and the factors set out in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2553(a) and did not
abuse its discretion in imposing a 30 month sentence.
071816U.pdf 07/03/2008 Butler Manufacturing Company v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texa
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-1816
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City
[UNPUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Bye, Arnold and Melloy, Circuit Judges]
Civil case. Summary judgment determining responsibility for medical
expenses affirmed without comment.
072267P.pdf 07/03/2008 Margaret Sherman v. Winco Fireworks
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-2267
and No: 07-2393
District of Nebraska - Omaha
[PUBLISHED] [Hansen, Author, with Wollman and Melloy, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - torts. Because defendant's motion to amend its answer to
assert a preemption defense was filed more than 17 months after the
established scheduling deadline for amending pleadings, the district court
was required to apply Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)'s good-cause standard in
ruling on the motion; here, the district court did not effectively engage in
a good-cause analysis, and the court abused its discretion in allowing the
amendment; the error was not harmless as it significantly affected
plaintiffs' failure-to-warn and consortium claims, and the court's
summary judgment order on those claims is reversed; challenges to jury
instructions rejected; that portion of the defendant's attorneys' fees award
related to the reversed counts is set aside, and that portion which is
related to the jury-tried issues is affirmed.
072535P.pdf 07/03/2008 Edward Kountze v. Tyler Gaines
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-2535
District of Nebraska - Omaha
[PUBLISHED] [Shepherd, Author, with Loken, Chief Judge, and Wollman,
Circuit Judge]
Civil case. District court did not err in finding that plaintiff was not a
member of the board at the time he filed this derivative action and that he
lacked capacity under Nebraska law to bring the action; district court did
not abuse its discretion in imposing sanctions against plaintiff on the
ground he included a defendant for improper purpose, knowing that the
claims against it were barred by a prior dismissal.
072784P.pdf 07/03/2008 BNSF Railway Company v. Lori Swanson
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-2784
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis
[PUBLISHED] [Beam, Author, with Wollman and Riley, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - Federal Railroad Safety Act. Provisions of Minnesota
Statute Sections 609.849(a)(1) and (a)(2), governing a railroad's
treatment of injured workers, are both preempted by the Internal Control
Plans regulations adopted by the Federal Railroad Administration
pursuant to the Federal Railroad Safety Act, and the district court erred in
finding that only (a)(2) was preempted; case reversed and remanded.
072884P.pdf 07/03/2008 City of Springfield v. Cingular Wireless
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-2884
and No: 07-2885
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Jefferson City
[PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with Hansen and Melloy, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - State tax law. District court had subject matter jurisdiction
to consider declaratory judgment action brought by the City of
Springfield, Missouri, in which it asked the court to consider the question
of whether companies providing cell phone services in the City are
subject to a tax ordinance covering businesses supplying phones and
telephonic services with the city; cell phones are telephones and cell
services are telephonic services for the purposes of Springfield's tax
ordinance.
073017P.pdf 07/03/2008 Cheryl Followell v. United States
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-3017
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Little Rock
[PUBLISHED] [Bye, Author, with Loken, Chief Judge, and Beam, Circuit Judge]
Civil case. Dismissal of action affirmed without comment.
073403P.pdf 07/03/2008 United States v. Bryan Dodds
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 07-3403
District of Nebraska - Lincoln
[PUBLISHED] [Criminal case - Sentencing. District court carefully
considered the factors set out in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(a), and defendant's
sentence was not unreasonable; assuming, without deciding that the
government misrepresented defendant's relevant conduct at sentencing,
there is no evidence that the court considered those statements, and they
are not grounds for resentencing.
081187P.pdf 07/03/2008 United States v. Timothy Morriss
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 08-1187
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - St. Joseph
[PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author, with Beam and Benton, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - criminal law. District court did not err in finding that
defendant's right to counsel had not attached at the time of an interview
by FBI; government's conduct was not fundamentally unfair and did not
violated defendant's due process rights.
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