TYMKOVICH , Chief Judge . During Daniel Tenorio's jury trial, the district court permitted the government to cross-examine Tenorio regarding whether he took a polygraph examination after he testified his confession was coerced. Tenorio challenges the line of questioning, contending the district court abused its discretion in allowing examination regarding the polygraph test. He also claims that the district court's limiting instruction about the polygraph test to the jury was improper. We...
I. INTRODUCTION McHUGH , Circuit Judge . Defendant Paul D. Edwards entered a conditional guilty plea to possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B) and 2252(b)(2), thereby reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress thousands of images and videos of child pornography recovered at his home pursuant to a search warrant. The district court sentenced Mr. Edwards to sixty-three months in prison followed by seven years of supervised release....
BRISCOE , Circuit Judge . This case arises from the death of Ute Tribe member Todd R. Murray on April 1, 2007, following a police pursuit. Murray's parents Debra Jones and Arden Post, on behalf of themselves and Murray's estate, brought a 13-count complaint in the district court alleging various constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. 1983, conspiracy to violate civil rights under 42 U.S.C. 1985, and state tort claims. These claims were alleged in varying permutations against nine...
BACHARACH , Circuit Judge . Mr. Tsutomu Shimomura claims that an officer with the Denver Police Department (Wade Davis) and an agent with the Transportation Security Administration (Kendra Carlson) made an arrest without probable cause and conspired to fabricate grounds for the arrest. For these claims, Mr. Shimomura invoked 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 , 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971), alleging that Officer...
MATHESON , Circuit Judge . On September 27, 2011, Aleshia Henderson, a jail inmate, was located in a holding cell in the medical unit of the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma (the "Jail"). She had been handcuffed and placed in leg restraints. Detention Officers Dalean Johnson and Michael Thomas were on duty at the medical unit, but they left to assist with a medical emergency elsewhere. In their absence, Inmate Jessie Earl Johnson entered Ms. Henderson's unlocked...
MATHESON , Circuit Judge . Virl Lane Birch died when the off-road vehicle in which he was riding flipped over and pinned him to the ground. His surviving family members sued Polaris Industries, the vehicle manufacturer, for strict products liability, negligence, and breach of warranty, invoking the district court's diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332. Arguing there was no evidence Mr. Birch's vehicle was defective at the time of sale, Polaris moved for summary judgment. Well after...
BALDOCK , Circuit Judge . In 2013, a grand jury charged Defendant Christopher Craig with three separate counts as part of a twenty-seven-count indictment containing nine other co-defendants. The first count charged Defendant with conspiring to (a) manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, and distribute cocaine, cocaine base, and marijuana in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 and 21 U.S.C. 841 & 846, and (b) maintain a drug-involved premises in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 and 21 U.S.C....
HOLMES , Circuit Judge . Shawron Lounds appeals from the district court's order granting summary judgment to her former employer, Lincare, Inc. ("Lincare"), on her claims of a hostile work environment in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1981 and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, we affirm in part and reverse in part. Specifically, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on...
TYMKOVICH , Chief Judge . Phillip Mocek was arrested for concealing his identity after filming airport security procedures and being questioned on suspicion of disorderly conduct. He then sued agents of the Transportation Security Administration, officers of the Albuquerque Aviation Police Department, and the City of Albuquerque for alleged constitutional violations. He asserted that he was arrested without probable cause and in retaliation for protected speech. He further contended that...
McHUGH , Circuit Judge . This case arises out of an ignominious event in the history of this Nation. In 1864, the United States Army conducted an unprovoked attack on a group of unarmed Indians, who had relocated to an area next to the Sand Creek River in the Territory of Colorado at the direction and under the protection of the Territorial Governor. When what has become known as the Sand Creek Massacre was over, most of the Indians were dead, including many women and children. After an...
BRISCOE , Circuit Judge . Plaintiffs Delbert Soseeah, Maxine Soseeah and John Borrego filed this action against defendants Sentry Insurance, Dairyland Insurance Company, Peak Property and Casualty Insurance Company, and Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin (collectively Sentry) claiming, in part, that Sentry failed to timely and properly notify them and other Sentry automobile insurance policyholders of the impact of two New Mexico Supreme Court decisions regarding the availability of...
BACHARACH , Circuit Judge . At sentencing, the district court ordered Mr. Toby Martinez to pay restitution through monthly installments. Nonetheless, the court later allowed the government to garnish Mr. Martinez's retirement accounts, which exceeded what Mr. Martinez owed in installments at the time. Mr. Martinez and his wife (Ms. Sandra Martinez) contest the garnishments, arguing in part that the government cannot enforce payments that are not yet due under Mr. Martinez's court-ordered...
McHUGH , Circuit Judge . I. INTRODUCTION Wilber Ernesto Castillo, a citizen of El Salvador, appeals his sentence for violating 8 U.S.C. 1326, which prohibits reentry into the United States by a previously removed alien. Mr. Castillo argues his sentence was miscalculated because the district court incorrectly considered a previous California robbery conviction to be a "crime of violence" for purposes of a sentencing enhancement under 2L1.2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (...
McKAY , Circuit Judge . Mr. Saenz, a citizen of Peru, came to Utah to work for the Allreds' sheep ranch. His work was authorized by an H-2A sheepherding visa, and he was paid the minimum wage for H-2A sheepherders: $750 per month plus food and lodging. He now claims this pay was inadequate. He argues the work he performed did not qualify as sheepherding and the monthly wage for sheepherders did not apply. Instead, he argues, he was entitled to the hourly wage for H-2A ranch hands, which he...
HOLMES , Circuit Judge . Appellant and Cross-Appellee OXY USA Inc. ("OXY"), the defendant in the district court, appeals from the grant of summary judgment to Appellees and Cross-Appellants—a class of plaintiffs represented by David Schell, Donna Schell, and Ron Oliver—on the question of whether their oil and gas leases required OXY to make "free gas" useable for domestic purposes. OXY also appeals from the district court's certification of plaintiffs' class and the denial of a motion to...
TYMKOVICH , Chief Judge . This case arises out of an award of attorneys' fees imposed as a sanction on attorneys who brought a voting-rights lawsuit against the Mayor of Albuquerque. After dismissing the case, the district court found the attorneys unreasonably multiplied proceedings in what it called a meritless case and sanctioned them under 28 U.S.C. 1927. They argue the award was an abuse of discretion. The Mayor cross-appealed, arguing the court abused its discretion by declining to...
HARTZ , Circuit Judge . I. INTRODUCTION Defendant Blake Snowden pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, see 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(2)(C), and to intercepting emails, see id. 2511(1)(a). In calculating his offense level under the sentencing guidelines, the district court applied a 16-level enhancement after finding that these crimes caused losses exceeding a million dollars. The resulting guideline sentencing range was 41-51 months' imprisonment....
BACHARACH , Circuit Judge . This appeal grew out of a suit brought on behalf of an 11-year-old girl (identified as "J.P"), who was a student in a class for children with special needs. One day, a deputy sheriff (J.M. Sharkey), who was working as a school resource officer, saw J.P. kick a teacher. Because the kick constituted a crime, Deputy Sharkey arrested J.P., handcuffed her, and transported her to a juvenile detention center. These actions led J.P.'s mother (identified as "J.H.") to...
SEYMOUR , Circuit Judge . In 2012, appellant Charles D. Leone II resigned his position as a principal of Madison Street Partners, LLC ("MSP"). Pursuant to the terms of MSP's Operating Agreement, fellow principals Steven Owsley and Drew Hayworth elected to buy Leone's interest in MSP. The agreement required the purchase price to be set at fair market value, as determined in good faith by MSP's managers, Mr. Owsley and Mr. Hayworth ("Managers"). After receiving valuations from two...
GORSUCH , Circuit Judge . Iqbal Makkar and Gaurav Sehgal ran the "Gitter Done," a small town convenience store in northeastern Oklahoma. When questions surfaced about the incense they carried on their shelves, the men spoke with state law enforcement officers, offered to have the officers test the incense to determine its legality, and offered as well to stop selling the product until the results came in. But this cooperation with state authorities apparently won the men little admiration...
