Justia U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Petitioner Omar Garcia-Tinoco, a native and citizen of Mexico, challenged the Bureau of Immigration Appeals' (BIA's) decision dismissing his appeal of a removal order. Petitioner entered the U.S. without inspection in 1994. Five years later, he pled guilty in Colorado to possession of cocaine. In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security commenced removal proceedings against him. He appeared before an immigration judge (IJ) and conceded that he was in the country illegally, but contested removal on the basis of his controlled-substance conviction because he was "in the process of withdrawing his guilty plea pursuant to a violation of his constitutional rights." To that end, Petitioner filed a post-conviction petition in state court, arguing that his guilty plea was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel. The IJ denied the motion and ordered Petitioner removed. The BIA affirmed, stating that the IJ was not required to grant a continuance because Petitioner's "collateral attack upon his conviction d[id] not … negate its validity." Petitioner asked the Tenth Circuit to reverse the decision of the IJ and hold that he established good cause for a continuance. Upon review, the Court found that it lacked jurisdiction to review the case: "constitutional infirmities in collateral proceedings are 'categorically' beyond the scope of [the Court's] review."

Plaintiffs Osler and Georgia Childress appealed a district court's order that dismissed their 42 U.S.C 1983 medical-indifference case against Defendant Robert Harms. In 2006, Mr. Childress was staying at a hotel in Midvale, Utah when a motel clerk saw him staggering around his room and running into things. She called police and reported that an intoxicated guest was causing a commotion. Police arrived on the scene and arrested him. Upon Mr. Childress's arrival at the jail, nurses Robert Harms and Joel Smith examined him while he was handcuffed to a gurney. Mr. Childress denied drinking and answered questions about his military duties without difficulty, although his speech was slightly slurred. Authorities would later learn that Mr. Childress has suffered a cerebellar stroke while in custody which was originally dismissed as intoxication. The district court determined that Nurse Harms merely misdiagnosed Mr. Childress and dismissed his claims by summary judgment. On appeal, Mr. Childress argued that the district court "confuse[d] knowledge of harm with knowledge of the risk of harm." The Tenth Circuit concluded that Mr. Childress failed to establish the subjective component of "deliberate indifference," and as such, summary judgment was appropriately entered on his claim.

Pro se Plaintiff-Appellant Adam Kartiganer appealed two district court orders that ultimately dismissed his 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims against several law enforcement members. In 2006, Plaintiff was arrested during a traffic stop in Walsenburg, Colorado. Evidence was seized during the stop, including financial instruments belonging to individuals other than Plaintiff. Based on the seized evidence,the district attorney's office decided probable cause existed to file felony charges against Plaintiff. A public defender was assigned to Plaintiff's case, who promptly filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized during the stop. The court found no probable cause, and the DA's office dismissed the charges. Plaintiff sued alleging he had been falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned and subjected to malicious prosecution for five months before the charges were dropped. A federal magistrate granted defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the claims against them. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit carefully reviewed the "lengthy and thorough" decisions by the magistrate judge, as adopted and modified by the district court. The Court agreed completely with the reasoning and conclusions contained therein, and affirmed the district court’s orders dismissing the claims in this case.

Plaintiff-Appellant Amby Elkins was denied social security benefits, and appealed the Commissioner's rejection of her claims. She said she suffered from degenerative disc disease, rheumatoid arthritis, tendinitis, and depression. The combination of these conditions, she argued rendered her essentially incapable of performing any work. An administrative law judge, however, rejected Plaintiff's petition. On the basis of medical evaluations by independent physicians, he concluded that Plaintiff's testimony regarding the severity of her impairments was not credible. She appealed to the district court, which affirmed the ALJ's decision. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit declined to overturn the ALJ's findings of fact, and affirmed the district court's judgment.

Defendant-appellant Dennis Enriquez Lopez-Avila was charged with unlawful re-entry after deportation following an aggravated felony conviction. Defendant entered a guilty plea after reaching an agreement with the prosecution. The district court rejected Defendant's request for a sentence below that calculated under the advisory guidelines and sentenced him to thirty-seven months' imprisonment. Defendant argued on appeal that his sentence was procedurally unreasonable because the district court erroneously concluded that it could not consider the disparities created by the existence of fast-track programs when determining his sentence. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that Defendant presented a "generalized argument" which alone is not sufficient to justify a variance from the sentencing guidelines because of different sentencing guidelines for fast-track programs. Therefore, the Court rejected Defendant's claim of error and affirmed the district court's decision.

Pro se Plaintiff-Appellant Terry Gibbs appealed a district court's order that reversed the administrative decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration and remanded the case to the agency under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. 405(g). Plaintiff argued that the district court abused its discretion by remanding for further proceedings when it should have simply granted his "Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law" and awarded him benefits. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that the remand was appropriate. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court's decision.

Plaintiff-Appellant Anita Luster, an employee of the United States Forest Service, appealed a district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture on her claims of sex discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII. Plaintiff, a full-time Visitor Information Specialist (VIS) with the Forest Service, claimed that: (1) she was not selected for a Forestry Technician position because of her gender; (2) she suffered disparate work conditions because of her gender and in retaliation for her Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) discrimination complaint; and (3) a Forest Service attorney inappropriately disclosed her EEO complaint information in violation of the Privacy Act. The Tenth Circuit "commend[ed] the district court for its thorough and well-reasoned order granting the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment" and affirmed, finding no error in the court's dismissal of Plaintiff's claims.

Petitioner Abidan Gedioni Pacaja Vicente, a Guatemalan citizen, sought judicial review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) order that affirmed the Immigration Judge's (IJ) removal order against him. Both denied his claims for asylum, restriction on removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). At the IJ hearing, Petitioner testified that he was afraid of guerrilla violence against himself and his family in his home country dating as far back as 2002. The IJ first concluded Petitioner's asylum application was untimely and further determined that Petitioner had not established extraordinary circumstances to excuse the untimely filing. In an alternative ruling, the IJ denied Petitioner's petition because he failed to establish a nexus between the 2002 event and either a political opinion or membership in a particular social group. The BIA affirmed on the latter ground. Upon review of the IJ and BIA record, the Tenth Circuit concluded that Petitioner failed to carry his burden of proof to overcome the removal order against him. The Court denied Petitioner's request for review.

Plaintiff Timothy J. Smith appealed a district court order that granted summary judgment for his employer, Defendant Morton International, Inc., (Morton), on his claim of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The district court held Smith’s claim failed at the prima facie case stage for two distinct reasons: he had not shown either that he was disabled within the meaning of the ADA or that Morton had discriminated against him on the basis of his alleged disability. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit agreed that Plaintiff failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of his alleged disability, and affirmed on that basis without reaching the discrimination issue.

Plaintiff Roy Triplett appealed pro se a district court's dismissal of his action for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. In early 2011, Plaintiff filed a 189-page complaint that the district court found incomprehensible. Accordingly, the court ordered Plaintiff to show cause why the action should not be dismissed. Plaintiff filed a 512-page "brief" in response, equally "unintelligible." In an attempt to mitigate the "harsh sanction" of dismissal, the court ordered Plaintiff to file an amended complaint that conformed to Rules 8 and 12 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff filed a 26-page amended complaint along with a 637-page brief in support. The Tenth Circuit examined the "incomprehensible" brief Plaintiff submitted on appeal, and concluded it was "plainly evident that the district court did not err" by dismissing Plaintiff's case.