ORDER SENTELLE, Circuit Judge. Appellant's petition for panel rehearing is granted for the limited purpose of correcting an incorrect statutory citation on page 6 of the court's published opinion. A corrected version of the opinion is attached to this order. In all other respects, appellant's petition for panel rehearing is denied. The petition for rehearing en banc was transmitted to all of the judges of the court who are in regular active service. As no member of the panel and no judge in...
PHILLIPS , Circuit Judge . In 2007, Carlos Bassatt was accused by a school district employee of masturbating in the parking lot of West High School ("West") in Denver during school hours. Consequently, he was terminated from his student teaching placement with School District No. 1 of the City and County of Denver ("District") for misconduct. Although the Denver District Attorney's Office chose not to prosecute Bassatt, West's principal terminated him from his student teaching placement...
McHUGH , Circuit Judge . I. INTRODUCTION Lester Nichols is a convicted sex offender who left the United States without updating his status on the federal sex offender registry. He was brought back to the United States and charged with failing to register, in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 18 U.S.C. 2250(a). On appeal, he challenges his conviction based on two theories: (1) SORNA's updating requirement does not apply in situations like his where...
BACHARACH , Circuit Judge . Mr. James Burns was convicted of possession and attempted possession of child pornography. See 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B), (b)(2). He was sentenced to 63 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release. This appeal involves one of the conditions of his supervised release. That condition requires approval of the probation department before Mr. Burns can have any contact with minors, including his youngest daughter (S.B.). This restriction intrudes on...
GORSUCH , Circuit Judge . Steven Denson was on the lam. After his conviction for armed robbery and a spell in prison he quit reporting to his probation officer as his sentence required. For a time, Mr. Denson appeared gone for good. But authorities weren't quick to give up their search and eventually they found his name on a residential Wichita utility account. With an arrest warrant in hand they showed up at the listed address. When a handheld Doppler radar device and other evidence...
HARTZ , Circuit Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The question before us is one of conflict of laws. Plaintiff Kathryn Kipling sued State Farm Automobile Insurance Company in Colorado federal district court for breach of contract because it did not pay her benefits under four insurance policies issued in Minnesota. The court determined that she would be entitled to benefits under Colorado law but not under Minnesota law. It then applied tort conflict-of-laws principles to rule that Colorado law...
TYMKOVICH , Circuit Judge . Over the course of the last three-quarters of a century, Marvel Enterprises created a comic universe of unparalleled proportions. With comic-book legend Stan Lee at the helm as editor-in-chief of its comic-book division, Marvel constructed a fictional landscape of imaginative superheroes, elaborate narratives, and overlapping storylines. During this time period, the commercial popularity of these comic-book characters, including iconic figures like Spider-Man and...
BALDOCK , Circuit Judge . Defendant Ronald Catrell appeals his sentence, alleging: (1) a portion of the sentence illegally exceeded a statutory maximum, and (2) the Government vindictively insisted on a plea agreement recommending 132 months in prison. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291 and 18 U.S.C. 3742. Although we find no prosecutorial vindictiveness here, we must reverse and remand in order for the district court to correct its imposition of an illegal sentence. In late...
BRISCOE , Judge . Defendant Raul Cruz was convicted by a jury of knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and 18 U.S.C. 2, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 63 months. Cruz's conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. United States v. Cruz, 680 F.3d 1261 , 1262 (10th Cir.2012) ( Cruz I ). Cruz subsequently filed a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant...
MORITZ , Circuit Judge . Seneca Insurance Company paid $1 million to settle a lawsuit in which its insured alleged Seneca had mishandled insurance claims for hail damage to the insured's property. Seeking to recoup the costs of defending and settling the lawsuit, Seneca brought this action for implied equitable indemnity and negligence against its insurance adjuster, Western Claims, Inc., and Western Claims' agent Lou Barbaro (together "Western Claims"). The district court allowed Western...
HARTZ , Circuit Judge . I. INTRODUCTION A jury convicted Defendant Deanta Marquis Long of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, attempting to manufacture 28 grams or more of cocaine base, possessing cocaine with intent to manufacture cocaine base, and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug-trafficking crimes. The primary focus of his appeal is the affidavit for a search warrant that led to discovery of the evidence against him. The affidavit recited that a...
BRISCOE , Judge . Before the Utah Department of Transportation will grant a permit authorizing a parade on a Utah state highway, an applicant must obtain liability insurance and sign an indemnification form. Two environmental groups brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, challenging these requirements under the First Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, holding that the permit requirements are facially invalid....
EBEL , Circuit Judge . Appellants Sikora Nelson and Paul Dorsey ("Objectors") challenge the district court's order requiring them to post an appeal bond, see Fed. R.App. P. 7, in the amount of $1,007,294 in order to pursue their appeals objecting to a class action settlement. Concluding we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, we affirm the district court's decision to impose the appeal bond, but we reduce the amount of that bond. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs initiated the class action...
GORSUCH , Circuit Judge . After Alphonso Myers suffered a workplace injury, he sought and obtained social security disability benefits on the ground that he was unable to work. But while claiming as much before the Social Security Administration it turns out Mr. Myers was also applying for and winning a job as an armed security guard with Knight Protective Service. As part of the application process, Knight asked Mr. Myers a number of questions about his physical condition. Each time, Mr....
PHILLIPS , Circuit Judge . On March 14, 2012, Oklahoma City Police Detectives Martinez and Lambert and Oklahoma City Police Officer Greason encountered defendant Michael Hood at an apartment complex while investigating a string of burglaries. Greason and Martinez pursued Hood after residents of the apartment complex alerted them that an individual was running from the apartment the officers believed was associated with the burglaries. When the officers caught up to Hood, his body was turned...
PHILLIPS , Circuit Judge . The City of Spencer ("Spencer"), the Town of Forest Park ("Forest Park"), and Blaze's Tribute Equine Rescue ("Blaze") 1 (collectively the "Municipalities"), acting under a search warrant, seized 44 horses from Ann Campbell's properties. After a forfeiture hearing, a state district court in Oklahoma issued an order granting Spencer and Forest Park's joint forfeiture petition. Campbell later sued the Municipalities in federal court under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The...
MURPHY , Circuit Judge . I. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), 42 U.S.C. 16901 to 16991, sets out a "comprehensive national system for the registration of" "sex offender[s]." Id. 16901. Notably, however, SORNA excludes from the definition of "sex offender" a subclass of individuals who committed sex offenses "involving consensual sexual contact." Id. 16911(1), (5)(C). "An offense involving consensual sexual conduct is not a sex...
BACHARACH , Circuit Judge . Two companies, Derma Pen, LLC and 4EverYoung, entered a sales distribution agreement. Under the agreement, Derma Pen, LLC obtained the exclusive right to use the DermaPen trademark in the United States. 4EverYoung had a contractual right of first refusal, allowing purchase of Derma Pen, LLC's U.S. trademark rights upon termination of the distribution agreement. Derma Pen, LLC terminated the agreement, and 4EverYoung wanted to exercise its contractual right of...
BACHARACH , Circuit Judge . This appeal involves indemnity and insurance. The indemnity issues arise out of a promise by Martin K. Eby Construction Company's predecessor to build a water pipeline. To build the water pipeline, Eby engaged another company (the predecessor to Kellogg Brown & Root, LLC), promising indemnity for claims resulting from Eby's work. While building the water pipeline, Eby accidentally hit a methanol pipeline, causing a leak. At the time, no one knew about the leak....
PHILLIPS , Circuit Judge . In 2009, the Public Service Company of Colorado entered into a collective-bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local #111, a union that represents some of the Company's employees. About two years later, the Company unilaterally modified its retired workers' healthcare benefits by increasing their copayment obligations for prescription drugs. The Union claimed that the Company had violated the collective-bargaining agreement...
