Justia U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Defendant-appellant Christopher Klick was seriously injured after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning while aboard a friend’s fishing boat. An exhaust pipe had broken off at the spot where it connected with the engine. As a result, the engine had been expelling carbon monoxide gas into the engine compartment rather than through the exhaust pipe and out behind the boat. When the engine compartment hatch from within the wheelhouse was opened, carbon monoxide flowed up into the wheelhouse. Klick quickly lost consciousness and fell into the engine compartment. He awoke there several hours later, severely burned from lying on the engine. He also suffered brain damage from the carbon monoxide. The gas killed the boat’s two other occupants, but Klick survived. Klick sued the boat dealer in state court. The dealer had an insurance policy from Travelers Property Casualty Company of America that required Travelers to pay for liabilities resulting from bodily injury. The policy, however, had a pollution exclusion providing that the policy did not cover liability for injuries arising out of the release, dispersal, or migration of certain pollutants. Travelers sued in federal court, seeking a declaration that the policy did not cover liability for Klick’s injuries. The district court granted summary judgment for Travelers. We conclude that the pollution exclusion applies, and we therefore affirm. View "Travelers Property Casualty v. Klick" on Justia Law

Rex Lee Furman was convicted by jury on thirteen counts of producing child pornography; two counts of distributing child pornography; one count of receiving child pornography; one count of possession of child pornography; and one count of commission of a felony offense involving a minor when required to register as a sex offender. The district court sentenced Furman to life imprisonment, as well as to a 120-month consecutive sentence. Furman appealed, arguing the district court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on the production and distribution counts and in admitting evidence of his 1999 conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He also contends that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Finding no abuse of discretion of other reversible error, the Eighth Circuit affirmed Furman’s convictions. View "United States v. Furman" on Justia Law

Clyde Carter, Jr. injured his shoulder and neck while working as a carman at BNSF Railway Company’s yard in Kansas City, Kansas. Carter immediately reported the injury to BNSF. The following year, he filed a Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) damage action, alleging that BNSF’s negligence caused his injury. BNSF’s discovery in defending the FELA lawsuit included a July 2009 deposition of Carter. In January 2012, as trial approached, a BNSF manager reviewed discovery materials provided by BNSF’s attorneys. He discovered discrepancies between Carter’s deposition testimony and information provided on his employment application and medical questionnaire submitted to BNSF in 2005. Thompson initiated a disciplinary investigation into potentially dishonest statements. Later, BNSF opened a second disciplinary investigation to determine if Carter signed a false statement that he arrived at work on time on February 5, 2012. The investigations culminated in two "on-property" evidentiary hearings, the conclusions of which found Carter committed dishonesty violations and recommended discipline in accordance with BNSF’s Policy for Employee Performance Accountability (PEPA). It was recommended Carter be terminated for dishonesty, a "stand alone" violation that could result in dismissal without regard to an employee's prior disciplinary history. Following termination, Carter filed an FRSA complaint with the Department of Labor, alleging that BNSF initiated the investigations leading to his dismissal in retaliation for Carter reporting the August 2007 work-related injury. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration dismissed Carter’s complaint, finding he committed the violations, and BNSF proved by clear and convincing evidence that "other employees who had not engaged in protected activity have been dismissed from service for dishonesty." Carter filed objections. After an evidentiary hearing, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that BNSF violated 49 U.S.C. 20109(a)(4) and awarded reinstatement, back pay, attorneys’ fees, and $50,000 punitive damages. BNSF filed an administrative appeal. The Secretary’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) affirmed the ALJ. BNSF appealed. The Eighth Circuit found the ALJ's reasoning was based on a flawed interpretation of the FRSA; though the Administrative Review Board did not rely on the ALJ's chain-of-events causation theory, it affirmed based on findings which were either non-existent or insufficient to support the Board's contributing factor and affirmative defense rulings. Accordingly, the Court reversed and remanded with instructions. View "BNSF Railway Co. v. LABR" on Justia Law

Jade Oldrock was convicted of the aggravated sexual abuse of a child and committing a felony sex offense as a registered sex offender. The district court sentenced Oldrock to the statutory mandatory minimum sentence for each offense, which amounted to a total of 40 years’ imprisonment. Oldrock appealed, claiming the district court abused its discretion by admitting unduly prejudicial testimony from two witnesses at trial and by denying his motion for mistrial. Finding no abuse of discretion, the Eighth Circuit affirmed. View "United States v. Oldrock" on Justia Law

Gerald LeBeau (Gerald) was convicted by jury of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The jury convicted Gerald and his son Neil LeBeau (Neil) of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Gerald and Neil each appealed on various grounds, namely that the arresting officers illegally searched a hotel room in which the pair was staying, and any evidence found from that search was tainted. Finding no reversible error, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the convictions. View "United States v. LeBeau" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit reversed defendant's 24 month sentence that was imposed after she revoked her supervised release for the second time. The court held that the sentence exceeded the district court's statutory authority under 18 U.S.C. 3583. In this case, the district court ordered 13 months' imprisonment after the first revocation, so when it imposed a 24 month term for the second revocation, the district court had already imposed a total of more than the 36 month statutory maximum. The court remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Spotted Horse" on Justia Law

McShane filed suit against Gotham for failing to pay its insurance claim related to the alleged improper installation of a fire protection and suppression system by one of McShane's subcontractors, Mallory. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of Gotham's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The court held that McShane's statutory claims were properly dismissed because neither rests upon a private right of action; McShane failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted with regard to its breach of contract theories where McShane failed to allege a legal obligation to pay any judgment covered under the terms of the policy; and McShane failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted based upon waiver or estoppel. View "McShane Construction Co. v. Gotham Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The City filed suit against Baseline, alleging contract, negligence and professional malpractice, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. The City's claims stemmed from a contract with Baseline, in which Baseline would assist with the permitting, design, and construction of a water treatment plant for the City. The Eighth Circuit held that, to the extent an arbitration provision was like a forum-selection clause, the motion seeking to compel arbitration was not properly construed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(3); just as a forum selection clause has no bearing on the issue of whether venue was wrong or improper, an arbitration agreement has no relevance to the question of whether a given case satisfied constitutional or statutory definitions of jurisdiction; contrary to Baseline's contention, the July 2009 Contract's arbitration clause did not strip the federal courts of jurisdiction; and therefore the district court erred in construing the motion as a Rule 12(b)(1) challenge to subject matter jurisdiction. The court agreed with the City that Baseline's motion was properly analyzed under either Rule 12(b)(6) or Rule 56. Under both rules, the summary judgment standard applied. The court reversed and remanded for summary judgment proceedings in the district court. View "City of Benkelman, NE v. Baseline Engineering Corp." on Justia Law

Nebraska's Funeral Picketing Law (NFPL), which prohibits picketing within 500 feet of a cemetery, mortuary, or church from one hour prior through two hours following the commencement of a funeral, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1320.01 to .03, is not unconstitutional on its face because it is content neutral; narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest of protecting the privacy of grieving families and to preserve the peaceful character of cemeteries, mortuaries, churches, and other places of worship during a funeral; and ample alternate channels exist for communication of the Westboro Baptist Church's (WBC) message. The Eighth Circuit considered the amended NFPL with the 500-foot buffer zone in its as-applied review, and held that the district court did not clearly err in finding that there was no evidence to suggest that the NFPL was applied to plaintiff and not others similarly situated; by concluding that the evidence was insufficient to show that law enforcement unconstitutionally restricted plaintiff's picketing to areas well beyond the 500 foot buffer zone; and by determining that the police department did not unconstitutionally disfavor plaintiff's viewpoint or allow others to unlawfully block WBC's picket by preferentially allowing them to break Nebraska laws. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Phelps-Roper v. Ricketts" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained during a search of his cell phone. The court held that defendant had no legitimate expectation of privacy in the cell phone, and the government had substantial interest in preventing recidivism that justified the intrusion. In this case, the search occurred while defendant was serving a term of supervised release and residing at the Fort Des Moines Community Correctional Facility. View "United States v. Jackson" on Justia Law