LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judge: Energytec, Inc. owns and operates gas pipelines. In 2009, the company filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 11. The bankruptcy court authorized a sale of a pipeline system to Red Water Resources, Inc., but reserved for later determination whether the sale was free and clear of Newco Energy's right to certain fees and other interests in the pipeline. Over a year after the sale, the bankruptcy court ruled that Newco's rights were not...
EDWARD C. PRADO, Circuit Judge: Tammy Belmon Bell ("Bell"), a former employee of Jon C. Thornburg ("Thornburg"), the standing bankruptcy trustee for the Western District of Louisiana, filed suit in state court alleging that she had been terminated because of her race in violation of the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law ("LEDL"), Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:301-03, 23:323. Thornburg removed Bell's suit to federal court under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. 1442(a)(1)...
JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge: Timothy and Julia Venable appeal a summary judgment in favor of the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation ("LWCC"), which cross-appeals the denial of its motion to dismiss for want of subject-matter jurisdiction. Because the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, we reverse the summary judgment and render a judgment of dismissal. I. While employed by Greene's Energy Company, LLC ("Greene's"), Timothy Venable suffered a heart attack at work in...
JENNIFER WALKER ELROD, Circuit Judge. In 2002, a Texas jury found Manuel Garza guilty of murdering San Antonio Police Officer John Riojas, and the state trial court imposed a sentence of death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Garza's conviction and sentence on direct appeal and denied post-conviction relief. In an exhaustive opinion, the district court denied Garza's federal habeas petition and denied him a certificate of appealability (COA). Garza now seeks a COA so that he may...
PRISCILLA R. OWEN, Circuit Judge. Island Operating Company and its carrier, the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (collectively, Island) have petitioned this court to review a modification of a benefits award under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWC Act). Island asks that we reverse the modified decision because the original judgment was not eligible for modification or alternatively, because the facts do not support the modification. We affirm. I In January...
PER CURIAM: 1 Defendant-Appellant Gustavo Loeza Castaneda (Castaneda) appeals his 58-month sentence for illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326. Castaneda claims the district court committed plain error by imposing a 16-level crime of violence enhancement under 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines based on Castaneda's Texas conviction for burglary of a habitation. We vacate Castaneda's sentence and remand for resentencing. I Castaneda pleaded guilty without a...
HIGGINSON, Circuit Judge: A jury found Jose Julian Andaverde-Ti oco guilty of illegal reentry subsequent to removal after conviction of an aggravated felony, in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a) and (b). The district court sentenced him to 70 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. It also revoked a previously imposed term of supervised release and sentenced him to eight months of imprisonment, four months of which were to run consecutively and four concurrently to the 70-...
JAMES E. GRAVES, JR., Circuit Judge: Billy and Ina White, John and Lynda Irvine, and Kenneth Kraemer 1 (collectively "Taxpayers") assert that the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") erroneously assessed additional taxes and interest against them in connection with their investments in various partnerships in the 1980s. Taxpayers seek refunds of the federal income taxes and penalty interest paid. Taxpayers assert that the IRS's assessment of additional taxes fell outside the applicable statute of...
HIGGINSON, Circuit Judge: Humberto Homero Duron-Caldera appeals his conviction for illegal reentry. On appeal, he argues that the district court's admission of his grandmother's affidavit violated his Confrontation Clause rights. For the reasons articulated below, we VACATE Duron-Caldera's conviction and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. On March 16, 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Duron-Caldera with one count of illegal reentry after deportation, in...
FORTUNATO P. BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge: Rey David Guerrero-Navarro challenges the district court's classification of his 2009 conviction of Residential Burglary, WASH. REV. CODE Ann. 9A.52.025, as a crime of violence for the purposes of United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual ("USSG") 2L1.2(b)(1)(A). We affirm. Guerrero-Navarro recently pled guilty to (1) knowing unlawful presence in the United States, in violation of 6 U.S.C. 202(3) & 202(4); and (2) knowing possession of a firearm,...
PER CURIAM: The Attorney General of Mississippi (the "State") filed six in parens patriae complaints in the Mississippi Chancery Court alleging six credit card companies ("Defendants") violated the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act ("MCPA") by charging consumers for products they did not want or need. Defendants removed, arguing that there is federal subject matter jurisdiction both because this is a Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA") mass action and because the State's MCPA...
PER CURIAM: The original opinion in this case was issued by the panel on September 26, 2013. We GRANT the petition for rehearing. We withdraw our previous opinion and substitute the following. Petitioner Eligio Valdiviez-Hernandez seeks review of the Department of Homeland Security's Final Administrative Removal Order issued pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) 238(b), 8 U.S.C. 1228(b). Because Valdiviez was an alien convicted of an aggravated felony, he was properly...
PER CURIAM: Janos Farkas appeals the district court's ruling granting the defendants' motion for summary judgment on claims arising out of the threatened foreclosure on two residential investment properties he owned. Farkas argues that the district court had no jurisdiction because of an insufficient amount in controversy under Section 1332. He also argues that it was not shown that these defendants had the right to foreclose. We AFFIRM. Janos Farkas purchased two residential investment...
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC PER CURIAM: The petition for rehearing is DENIED. No member of this panel or judge in regular active service having requested that the court be polled on rehearing en banc (Fed. R. Afp. P. 35 and 5th Cir. R. 35), the petition for rehearing en banc is DENIED. The opinion, 732 F.3d 428 , is hereby WITHDRAWN, and the attached substitute opinion is ISSUED in its place. The single change from the original opinion is the deletion, id. at 431, of the...
EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge: Carey Salt Company ("Carey Salt") petitions for review of a National Labor Relations Board ("Board") decision finding that the company violated Section 8(a)(1), (3), and (5) of the National Labor Relations Act ("the Act"), 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(1), (3), (5). See Carey Salt Co., 358 NLRB No. 124, 2012 WL 4021866 (Sept. 12, 2012) [hereinafter Board Decision]. The Board cross-petitions for enforcement of its order. Because we conclude that substantial evidence on...
PER CURIAM: * The district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment and denied the plaintiffs' subsequent motion to alter or amend the judgment. We AFFIRM. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS Tracey L. Johnson and David James, Jr. were police officers for the City of Shelby County, Mississippi (the "City") in 2009. In September of that year, the City's board of aldermen, which has sole authority over the City's employment decisions, terminated Johnson and James, allegedly for...
JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge: Eugene Thompson, as a member of a six-person drug conspiracy, was convicted by a jury of violations of federal drug and gun laws. He appeals the denial of his Batson challenge and questions the sufficiency of the evidence. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. I. Thompson faced four counts. He was charged in Count One with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846; in...
PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge. Star Insurance Company ("SIC") refused to defend or indemnify its insured, the City of College Station ("the City"), in a lawsuit brought by Weingarten Realty Investors ("WRI"), a real-estate investment trust not party to this appeal. The City settled the underlying litigation with WRI and sued SIC to recover defense costs, indemnification, and statutory penalty interest. Applying Texas law, the district court concluded that SIC had no duty to defend or...
JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge. BP RE, L.P. ("BPRE"), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief and, along with BP Automotive, L.P., 1 filed an adversary complaint in the bankruptcy court alleging various state-law tort and contract claims against multiple RML entities ("RML"). 2 The claims related to negotiations between BPRE and RML over the sale and lease of a car dealership and the related property. The bankruptcy court entered a final judgment denying relief, and on appeal the district...
JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge: Console supervisors at a refinery alleged that their employer, CITGO Refining and Chemicals Company, L.P. ("CITGO"), misclassified them as exempt from the over-time pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. 201-219. In two separate discovery sanctions, the district court dismissed twenty-one of twenty-four plaintiffs. 1 After granting CITGO's motion to exclude testimony regarding damages by the three remaining plaintiffs, the...
