UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . Jesse Smith brought this pro se diversity action against Aqua-Care Marketing, LLC and three of its officers and employees, asserting, inter alia, three breach of contract claims and a claim of malicious prosecution. Ruling on cross motions for summary judgment at the conclusion of discovery, the district court 1 denied Smith's motion as untimely, denied defendants summary judgment on the breach of contract claims, and granted summary judgment on the malicious...
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . In this consolidated matter, Kenyan citizen Nemmy James Ngugi Matiru petitions for review of orders of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Having jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. 1252, this court denies the petition. The BIA dismissed Matiru's appeal from the decision of an immigration judge (IJ), which sustained a charge of removability under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(1)(G)(ii) (failure to fulfill marital agreement, which, in Attorney General's opinion, was made to...
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . Kimberly Edwards directly appeals the below-Guidelines-range sentence the district court 1 imposed after she pled guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy. Her counsel has moved for leave to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), questioning the reasonableness of Edwards's sentence. Having considered Edwards's arguments, we conclude that the district court did not impose an unreasonable sentence. See United States...
PER CURIAM . Petitioners Omega Flex, Inc., Ward Manufacturing, LLC, and Titeflex Corporation request permission to appeal the district court's order denying Article III standing to Bonnie George, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, and remanding the case to the circuit court of Pulaski County, Missouri. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1453(c)(1), this court grants the petition for permission to appeal, reverses, and remands. Petitioners manufacture and sell yellow-...
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . Richard Wann appeals a series of orders in which the district court 1 rebuffed his efforts to amend his complaint. We do not read the relevant portion of the district court's scheduling order—"Any other motion to amend the complaint shall be filed no later than June 1, 2016"—as pre-approving an amendment, eliminating the need to request leave to amend, or otherwise authorizing the filing of an amended complaint without an accompanying motion for leave. See Fed. R....
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . Mark Koch appeals from the order of the District Court 1 granting defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. After de novo review, we conclude that the District Court properly dismissed the complaint. See Skit Int'l, Ltd. v. DAC Techs. of Ark., Inc., 487 F.3d 1154 , 1156 (8th Cir.) (standard of review), cert. denied, 552 U.S. 991 (2007). Koch's filings clearly indicate that he brought the instant suit seeking to overturn a previously entered...
COLLOTON , Circuit Judge . UnitedHealth Group sued several insurers in the District of Minnesota, seeking indemnity and defense costs for underlying litigation settlements under its professional liability excess insurance policies. UnitedHealth appeals the district court's 2 grant of summary judgment in favor of four insurance companies. UnitedHealth contends that the court erred in three ways: (1) by granting National Union Fire Insurance Company's summary judgment motion based on...
COLLOTON , Circuit Judge . Owners Insurance Company appeals a judgment of the district court awarding Amy Hiltner damages for injuries that she sustained in a vehicle-related accident. The insurance company argues that the district court improperly applied a heightened duty to the driver of the vehicle, that the court erred in its apportionment of fault, and that the court abused its discretion in altering its damages award sua sponte. Because we determine that the district court...
COLLOTON , Circuit Judge . Derrick Angelo Harper pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2113(a). At sentencing, the district court 1 concluded that Harper was a career offender under USSG 4B1.1(a), and that he was subject to enhanced punishment under that section of the advisory sentencing guidelines. The court determined that Harper was a career offender because the offense of conviction was a "crime of violence," and his two prior convictions for bank...
MELLOY , Circuit Judge . Plaintiff Kenneth Graham, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, alleges the defendant insurance companies and marketing organizations advertised and sold group disability insurance policies that were void ab initio due to a failure to comply with applicable Arkansas insurance law. He seeks reimbursement of premiums, enhanced damages, and fees, alleging claims of unjust enrichment, breach of contract, and civil conspiracy. The district court granted a...
KELLY , Circuit Judge . Richard A. Torti, as Trustee of the Stuart Family Trusts, brought a lawsuit against Debra Hoag, Gentry Partners Limited (Gentry) and the John Hancock Life Insurance Company, USA (Hancock), alleging claims of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and negligence. 1 After Torti settled with Hoag and Gentry, Hancock moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for dismissal of the breach of contract and negligence claims remaining against it....
COLLOTON , Circuit Judge . PNC Bank appeals a jury verdict in favor of special deputy receiver Jo Ann Howard and Associates, P.C., and a group of state guaranty associations (together, Appellees). The jury found PNC liable for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in violation of its duties as trustee of various preneed trusts created by National Prearranged Services, Inc. On appeal, PNC makes three arguments: (1) the district court improperly concluded that Appellees' claims arise in...
LOKEN , Circuit Judge . Jacob Plassmeyer incurred medical expenses after injuring his knee during a collegiate baseball practice in February 2014. Jacob's college provided its student athletes insurance covering accidental injuries under a blanket policy issued by First Agency, Inc., as appointee of Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company (collectively referred to as "FA"). Jacob's father is also an insured participant in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota Electrical Industry Health and...
SMITH , Chief Judge . The mandatory minimum sentence for receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2) is five years' imprisonment. Id. 2252(b)(1). But if the defendant has a "prior conviction" under state law "relating to aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, or abusive sexual conduct involving a minor or ward," then the mandatory minimum sentence is 15 years' imprisonment. Id. We granted en banc review to consider whether a state juvenile-delinquency...
RILEY , Circuit Judge . These are the consolidated sentencing appeals of two participants in overlapping drug-distribution conspiracies. Joseph Evenson argues the district court 1 should not have treated him as a career offender under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines or U.S.S.G.). Miguel Torres Alvarez argues the district court should have sentenced him below what the Guidelines recommended, because of his difficult childhood and mental-health problems. With...
GRUENDER , Circuit Judge . Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Redwood Falls ("HRA") appeals the district court's order declining to grant pre-award interest on an insurance appraisal award. Because the Minnesota Supreme Court subsequently ruled that Minnesota Statute section 549.09 provides for pre-award interest on such awards, we reverse the district court's order and remand for further proceedings. HRA owns a public-housing apartment building insured by Housing Authority Property...
SMITH , Circuit Judge . In this consolidated appeal, the appellants, attorneys for plaintiffs 2 and defendants 3 in a putative class action, appeal from the district court's orders (1) finding that the appellants violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and abused the judicial process when they stipulated to the dismissal of the federal action, and (2) reprimanding some of the plaintiffs' attorneys as a sanction for the violation. Specifically, the district court found that the...
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . Dennis Lagares, Jr. and Sherry Lagares appeal from the district court's 1 order dismissing their complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction to the extent that the complaint sought to overturn a state court's child custody adjudication and for the complaint's failure to otherwise state a claim. Having considered the Lagares's arguments for reversal, we find no error in the district court's analysis and no abuse of discretion in its denial of the Lagareses'...
LOKEN , Circuit Judge . Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act (ICA) of 1940, 15 U.S.C. 80a-35(b), provides that an action may be brought "by a security holder of [a] registered investment company on behalf of such company, against [its] investment adviser... for breach of fiduciary duty in respect of [the] compensation [for services] or payments [of a material nature] paid by [the] registered investment company or by the security holders thereof to [its] investment adviser."...
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM . Chinese citizen Yuchai Chen petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upholding an Immigration Judge's (IJ's) denial of her application for asylum and withholding of removal based on her Christian religion. 1 We conclude that substantial evidence supports the determination that Chen did not establish either past persecution or that she had an objectively reasonable, well-founded fear of future persecution. See Yu An Li v. Holder,...
