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

Plaintiff-Appellant Corey Christy purchased a commercial general-liability insurance policy from Travelers in the name of his sole proprietorship, K&D Oilfield Supply. Subsequently, Christy registered his business as a corporation under the name K&D Oilfield Supply, Inc. Christy renewed his CGL Policy annually, but did not notify Travelers that he had incorporated his business. After Christy formed K&D, Inc., he was in an accident and made a claim under the CGL Policy. Travelers denied coverage based on Christy’s failure to inform it of the change in business form, and Christy filed this action. On cross motions for summary judgment, the district court found in favor of Travelers. Because there was a material factual dispute as to whether Christy knew or should have known Travelers would have considered the formation of K&D, Inc. material to its decision to renew the Policy, summary judgment based on Christy’s legal duty to speak was inappropriate. And because the existence of a legal duty governs whether Christy engaged in a material misrepresentation by not informing Travelers he had formed K&D, Inc., the Tenth Circuit held the district court erred in reforming the Policy on that basis at this stage of the proceedings. Accordingly, the Court reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings. But because Christy had not met his burden to come forward with evidence in support of his claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment on that claim. View "Christy v. Travelers Indemnity" on Justia Law

The issue this case presented for the Tenth Circuit's review centered on a whether the National Labor Relations Board could disregard interim earnings when calculating backpay awards for employees whose labor injury fell short of unlawful termination. The history of this appeal stemmed from respondent Mimbres Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home's (the Hospital) 1999 decision to reduce the hours of its full-time, respiratory-department employees. As a result of this reduction in hours, the United Steelworkers of America, District 12, Subdistrict 2, AFL-CIO, a union representing respiratory-department employees under an exclusive collective bargaining agreement, filed charges against the Hospital on behalf of the impacted employees. Based on these allegations, the Board’s General Counsel filed a complaint with the Board, asserting the Hospital had violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). An ALJ rejected the Hospital’s argument that any income an employee had earned from secondary employment during the backpay period (i.e., interim earnings) should have been deducted from that employee’s backpay calculation. On appeal of that judgment, the Hospital argued to the Tenth circuit that the Board failed to provide adequate support for its decision to disregard interim earnings and therefore requested that the Tenth Circuit reverse the Board’s backpay calculation. The Tenth Circuit deferred to the Board’s policy-based rationale in support of its remedial decision and affirmed and enforced its order. View "NLRB v. Community Health Services" on Justia Law

A jury convicted defendant James Beierle of being a felon in possession of a firearm, for which he was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. The sentencing court found him eligible for a sentence enhancement under the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Defendant appealed, raising three contentions: (1) he was denied due process when he was not present for a conference to settle jury instructions; (2) the district court committed plain error by permitting the deputy sheriff to whom he confessed to testify that there were no indications during the interview that defendant was being untruthful; and (3) his sentence under the ACCA was unlawful. After review, the Tenth Circuit rejected defendant’s first two contentions and accepted his third. "Defendant’s absence from the instruction conference did not deprive him of due process because he had nothing to contribute to the purely legal matters that were decided at the conference. Even if the admission of the deputy’s testimony was error, Defendant failed to show prejudice in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt. And Defendant’s sentence must be set aside because the residual clause of the ACCA is unconstitutionally vague." The Tenth Circuit affirmed defendant’s conviction, vacated his sentence, and remanded to the district court for resentencing. View "United States v. Beierle" on Justia Law

After federal investigative agents from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) arrested her fiance with a quarter pound of methamphetamine, defendant-Appellant Janet Lilly was contacted by investigative agents from the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (“DCI”). She made several incriminating statements to the DCI agents about her involvement in distributing methamphetamine. The agents suggested that it would be beneficial to her to cooperate, and she ultimately agreed to serve as a confidential informant. Approximately eighteen months later, she was nevertheless indicted for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of federal law. Believing that the investigative agents had promised her federal immunity from prosecution, defendant filed a motion seeking to prevent the United States from prosecuting her. The district court denied her motion, finding that neither the DCI nor the DEA had the authority to bind the United States to any such agreement. Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea, and appealed the district court’s denial of her motion. Finding no reversible error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court. View "United States v. Lilly" on Justia Law

Debtor-Appellant Nathan Welch appealed a district court’s order denying his motion for judgment on the pleadings and determining that a default judgment was nondischargeable in bankruptcy. This case arose from the failure of the Talisman project, a high-end real estate development project in Wasatch County, Utah. Appellee Robert Tripodi was one of these investors, eventually putting $1 million into Talisman. To secure Tripodi’s investment, Welch issued three promissory notes to Capital Concepts, which in turn, assigned the notes to Tripodi. Welch ultimately defaulted on the notes. In January 2009, Tripodi filed a complaint against Mr. Welch in federal district court, alleging violations of state and federal securities laws. For seven months, Welch did not respond. In March 2010, Tripodi filed a motion for entry of default. The court granted the motion for entry of default and issued an order to show cause as to why a default judgment should not be entered. Receiving no response, the district court entered an order granting the entry of default judgment against Welch. Welch filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2011. Nearly two years later, Tripodi sought relief from the automatic stay. In his defense, Welch opposed Tripodi's proof of damages and costs, and attempted to have the default judgment set aside. The district court denied Welch's request to set aside the judgment, ruling the judgment was nondischargable. Finding no reversible error on the district court's judgment, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "Tripodi v. Welch" on Justia Law

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. appealed a district court’s dismissal of its due-process claims against the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). After KDOT removed two Martin Marietta quarries from its preapproved lists of limestone aggregate suppliers, Martin Marietta unsuccessfully sought pre- and post-deprivation hearings from KDOT. Among its many claims in its federal lawsuit, Martin Marietta asserted a property-right claim under the Fourteenth Amendment, claiming a property interest in keeping its two quarries on “the approved list” of aggregate suppliers, and a liberty interest in its reputation as a supplier of quality materials under the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court disagreed, dismissing these claims on the pleadings. After review, the Tenth Circuit affirmed, holding that Martin Marietta had not plausibly alleged a protected property interest, and thus that KDOT did not violate Martin Marietta’s procedural-due-process rights by failing to provide pre- or post-deprivation hearings. Furthermore, the Court held that Martin Marietta had no cognizable liberty interest, because KDOT did not make defamatory statements about Martin Marietta and because Martin Marietta failed to allege sufficiently significant harm to its business. View "Martin Marietta Materials v. Kansas DOT" on Justia Law

Petitioner-Appellant James Ryder, an Oklahoma state prisoner convicted of murder and sentenced to death, appealed the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. In a prior unpublished order, the Tenth Circuit granted a certificate of appealability on three issues: (1) whether the district court erred in denying Ryder a definite stay of his habeas proceedings based on his incompetency; (2) whether Ryder was incompetent to stand trial and whether the procedures employed by Oklahoma to assess his competency violated his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel; and (3) whether Ryder’s trial counsel was ineffective in failing to fully investigate his mental health and background as they related to competence to stand trial and his mitigation case at sentencing, and whether appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim. Finding no reversible error in the district court's denial, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "Ryder v. Warrior" on Justia Law

This appeal grew out of an investigation into a 2009 burglary and sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl. Four detectives and an investigator participated in the investigation. In carrying out the investigation, the detectives and investigator interviewed Tyler Sanchez, an 18-year-old with substantial cognitive disabilities. After lengthy interviews, Sanchez confessed to the burglary but not the sexual assault. The confession led the district attorney to charge Sanchez with burglary and sexual assault. Based in part on this confession, multiple judges found probable cause, resulting in pretrial detention. Sanchez alleged that his confession was false, explaining that he confessed only because his disabilities prevented him from understanding what was happening during the interviews. A subsequent medical examination supported Sanchez’s explanation, and the district attorney dropped the charges in April 2012. Sanchez then sued the detectives and the investigator, alleging that they had used a confession to obtain legal process even though they knew the confession was untrue. The defendants moved to dismiss based in part on qualified immunity and expiration of the limitations period. The district court rejected both grounds, and the defendants brought this interlocutory appeal. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of the defendants’ motion to dismiss on the basis of qualified immunity; and it dismissed the defendants’ appeal of the district court’s ruling on the statute of limitations, holding that the Court lacked jurisdiction on this part of the appeal. View "Sanchez v. Hartley" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Rhonda Nesbitt filed this action claiming that defendants FCNH, Inc., Virginia Massage Therapy, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Massage Therapy, Inc., Steiner Education Group, Inc., Steiner Leisure Ltd., and SEG CORT LLC (collectively Defendants) violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and various Colorado wage and hour laws by requiring her and other students at the massage therapy school in which she was enrolled to provide massage therapy services to clients without pay. Defendants moved to stay the proceedings and compel arbitration, citing a paragraph in Nesbitt’s written enrollment agreement entitled “Arbitration Agreement.” The district court denied Defendants’ motion, finding that while the Arbitration Agreement was not procedurally unconscionable, the provision requiring arbitration to be conducted in accordance with the Commercial Rules of the American Arbitration Association and the provision requiring each party to bear its own expenses, effectively deprived her of her rights under the FLSA. Finding no reversible error in the district court's judgment, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "Nesbitt v. FCNH" on Justia Law

Defendant-appellee Ricky Webster pled guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base (crack cocaine), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The Tenth Circuit denied his direct appeal as untimely. The district court subsequently granted defendant's 28 U.S.C. 2255 petition after determining that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress evidence found during the search of defendant's residence. The basis of the motion to suppress was the misconduct of several officers from the Selective Crime Occurrence Reduction Enforcement (SCORE) unit, special officers used only to enter and secure the residence prior to its search by the narcotics officers who obtained the search warrant. Unbeknownst to the narcotics officers, the SCORE officers stole personal property from the residence during their initial securing of the premises and its occupants. When the government subsequently revived the criminal case against defendant, he filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized at his residence, which the district court granted. The Tenth Circuit consolidated the government appeals of the grant of section 2255 relief and the grant of the motion to suppress upon retrial. The Court then reversed, holding that because the search was not tainted by the SCORE officers’ theft and the items they took were not used in evidence against defendant, the district court erred in granting the motion to suppress all of the evidence properly discovered during the search by the narcotics agents. Given this conclusion, the Court did not address defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel argument because any motion to suppress would have failed. View "United States v. Webster" on Justia Law