BENTON, Circuit Judge. Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. sued Bassett & Walker International, Inc. for breach of contract. Bassett moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The district court 2 dismissed. DFA appeals. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, this court affirms. I. DFA, a Kansas cooperative, has its principal place of business in Kansas City, Missouri. Bassett, an international commodities broker and a Canadian corporation, has its principal place of business in...
MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Joseph Young was convicted of four counts of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2113(a) and sentenced on each to concurrent 220 month terms. He appeals, arguing that the district court 1 erred by denying his motion to sever the charges, by admitting evidence of his prior convictions for bank robbery, by entering judgment on insufficient evidence, and by imposing a substantively unreasonable sentence. We affirm. Young was indicted in 2009 for robbing four...
BYE, Circuit Judge. A fire destroyed the home of Randy and Antoinette Russell. The Russells filed suit against Whirlpool, alleging the fire was caused by a defective refrigerator Whirlpool designed, manufactured, and sold. The jury found in favor of the Russells. Whirlpool appeals, contending the Russells' expert witness did not use a sufficiently reliable methodology, the Russells may not infer a product defect from circumstantial evidence under Missouri tort law, and the district court 1...
BEAM, Circuit Judge. Meridian Resource Company and Blue Cross Blue Shield-Kansas City (hereinafter BCBS-KC collectively) appeal the district court's remand based upon the local controversy exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), its determination that federal common law was not contemplated in this action, and its decision that BCBS-KC could not remove this matter under the federal officer removal statute. We vacate the district court's judgment and remand the case for further...
BENTON, Circuit Judge. William "Bill" Stegmeier was convicted of harboring a fugitive and providing a firearm to a prohibited person after allowing a felon to stay in his recreational vehicle. He appeals his conviction for insufficiency of the evidence, improper use of a special verdict form, and faulty jury instructions. Stegmeier also contends that the firearm conviction violates his Second Amendment rights. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, this court affirms. I. Thomas R....
BENTON, Circuit Judge. Brandon Reeves Tyerman was convicted of being a felon in possession of ammunition and a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a stolen firearm. He appeals, alleging that the district court 1 improperly admitted evidence, refused a jury instruction, and denied motions for a new trial based on improper testimony and cumulative error. He also attacks the sufficiency of the evidence at trial. At sentencing, the district court applied an enhancement for obstruction...
RILEY, Chief Judge. A jury convicted Jeraldon Green of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Green appeals, alleging the district court 1 erred in allowing a trial witness, Daniel Herrod, to be advised by an attorney who had previously represented Green in the early stages of the case. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND On May 17, 2011, officers approached Green, a convicted felon, to conduct a field interview. Green successfully fled from the officers. While in pursuit, the officers saw what...
SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge. John Wesley Jones pled guilty to interference with interstate commerce through robbery by threats or violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 and 1951(a); brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1); felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) and 924(e)(1); and escape from federal custody in violation of 18 U.S.C. 751(a). The district court 1 initially determined Jones qualified for...
COLLOTON, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Luis Arciniega Jasso of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841 and 846. The district court 1 sentenced him to 188 months' imprisonment on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. Jasso appeals the convictions, challenging two of the district court's evidentiary rulings. A grand jury charged Jasso and twelve others with conspiring with each...
GRUENDER, Circuit Judge. Curtis and Ethel Nelson entered into a stipulated judgment with Metropolitan Council ("Metro Council") to recover damages sustained during a construction project. The Nelsons then filed suit against Metro Council's insurer, American Home Assurance Company ("American Home"), to collect on the judgment. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court 1 entered judgment in favor of American Home, holding that the Nelsons did not present evidence to establish...
BENTON, Circuit Judge. Diana Belinda Gamboa pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute (and to possess with intent to distribute) methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. 2. The district court 1 sentenced her to 120 months' imprisonment. She appeals, arguing the district court erred in denying safety-valve relief and an opportunity to withdraw her guilty plea. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, this court affirms. Gamboa gave information to...
MURPHY, Circuit Judge. On behalf of an asserted class Joyce Johnson, a citizen of Missouri, brought this action in state court against gasoline station operators MFA Petroleum, Casey's General Stores, and QuikTrip Corporation (the operators) under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (the state act), Mo.Rev.Stat. 407.020, alleging the defendants misrepresent the grade of gas pumped at their stations. Casey's General Stores removed the case to the federal district court asserting that...
LOKEN, Circuit Judge. Toby J. Sutton commenced this lawsuit after he was terminated as a Funeral Science Director at Arkansas State University — Mountain Home. He asserted procedural due process claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Vice-Chancellor Patricia Bailey and Director-of-Instruction Kellie Thomas in their official and individual capacities, alleging they provided constitutionally inadequate pre-termination process and seeking damages and injunctive relief. Bailey and Thomas (...
MELLOY, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Defendant Efrain Orozco of two counts of possessing cocaine with intent to deliver in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) (cocaine), and 841(b)(1)(A)(iii) (cocaine base). The district court 1 imposed a ten-year statutory-mandatory-minimum sentence on Count 2 (the count involving cocaine base) and a concurrent 97-month sentence on Count 1. Orozco appeals, arguing via counsel in his opening brief that evidence discovered in a vehicle...
MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Minneapolis police arrested Robert Lee Bailey in 2003 and seized several items of his property. After his conviction and the disposition of his appeals, Bailey moved under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to have his property returned. The district court denied the motion. We reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing. See United States v. Bailey, 407 Fed.Appx. 74, 76 (8th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) (unpublished). On remand the district court...
BYE, Circuit Judge. Pedro Garcia-Colindres, a native of Guatemala in the United States illegally with his wife and son, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeal's (BIA) order affirming an immigration judge's (IJ) denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. For the reasons discussed below, we deny the petition for review. I Pedro Garcia-Colindres was born in Escuintla, Guatemala in 1953, where he remained with his wife and five children until 1993. In April of 1993,...
RILEY, Chief Judge. Leslie Montgomery appeals the district court's 1 adverse grant of summary judgment to Kyle Havner, Kathy Havner, and Havner Law Firm, P.A. (collectively, Havners) on Montgomery's claim the Havners retaliated against her, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND 2 Before September 2010, attorney Kyle Havner practiced at a private law firm in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with Montgomery as his paralegal. In...
COLLOTON, Circuit Judge. Following a jury trial, Scott Boyle was convicted of the sexual exploitation of a minor and attempting to sexually exploit a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) and (e), and of possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B) and (b)(2). The district court 1 sentenced Boyle to 180 months' imprisonment. Boyle appeals his convictions, and we affirm. I. In June 2010, Boyle and his girlfriend,...
SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge. Ansu Abraham pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and (b)(1). The district court 1 sentenced him to twelve months and one day imprisonment, as well as three years supervised release. At the time of his guilty plea and sentencing, Abraham was a Legal Permanent Resident. The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiated removal proceedings against him due to his conviction. Abraham filed a motion to...
LOKEN, Circuit Judge. Travis Collins conditionally pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and now appeals the denial of his motion to suppress that evidence, discovered in a bag near where he was arrested by officers executing a parole violation arrest warrant. Collins argues the officers unlawfully entered a home and proceeded to the bedroom where he was staying without the valid consent of a third party, the dwelling's tenant, Krista Stoekel. Reviewing...
