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

On remand to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, debtors challenged the bankruptcy court's order granting in part and denying in part Starion's motion to compel payment of fees under the confirmed plan of reorganizations, and granting in part and denying in part debtors' motion to disallow attorneys' fees and costs claimed by Starion. The panel affirmed the bankruptcy court's judgment and held that its prior opinion was not clearly erroneous nor did it work a manifest injustice in this case. Therefore, it is law of the case and will not be reopened. The panel also held that the relatively short delay in submitting the requests for attorneys' fees did not prejudice debtors and was not a material breach of the plan that should prohibit Starion's right to collect its fees and costs under the plan. Finally, the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion by reducing the fees instead of denying all fees. View "McCormick v. Starion Financial" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his sentence of 156 months in prison after pleading guilty to a drug-related offense. The Fifth Circuit affirmed, holding that, although the district court did not expressly refer to the factors set forth in the commentary to USSG 3B1.2, defendant has not shown that he would have received a minimal role adjustment, much less that he would have received a lesser sentence, had the district court not procedurally erred; merely showing that defendant was less culpable than other participants was not enough to entitle him to the adjustment if defendant was deeply involved in the offense; although defendant's sentence was 36 months above the mandatory minimum sentence, the district court adequately considered the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors and imposed a within-Guidelines sentence; and defendant's sentence was not substantively unreasonable. View "United States v. Cartagena" on Justia Law

Defendants Jackson and Kemp appealed their convictions and sentences for drug-related charges. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence of Kemp's prior bad acts under FRE 404(b) because the evidence was relevant; the government sufficiently explained how the evidence related to establishing a common intent, motive, and plan; and the district court's ruling revealed no error that substantially influenced the jury's verdict. Finally, the evidence was sufficient to convict Jackson of the conspiracy offense. View "United States v. Jackson" on Justia Law

Defendant moved to proceed pro se for the fourth time on the third day of trial. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of his motion, holding that defendant's motion was untimely. In this case, defendant made the motion midway through the third day of trial, he was not prepared to represent himself, and just because the district court advised defendant that he could make his motion to proceed pro se at any time did not make his motion timely. View "United States v. Prucha" on Justia Law

Michael Dooley's estate filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that a deputy sheriff used excessive force when he shot and killed Dooley. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the deputy, holding that the district court did not err in ruling that the deputy's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable as a matter of law. In this case, the deputy was responding to a potentially dangerous situation where Dooley was dressed in military uniform and carrying a rifle. Although new information came to light after the shooting that the rifle was actually a pellet gun, a reasonable officer in the deputy's position could believe that Dooley was pointing a gun at the deputies and that they were in serious risk of harm. Furthermore, the district court did not err by granting summary judgment for defendant on plaintiffs' state tort claims because the use of force was reasonable and permitted by law. View "Dooley v. Tharp" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against McGraw-Hill, alleging claims of employment discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1981, and the Missouri Human Rights Act. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of McGraw-Hill, holding that plaintiff failed to show a pretext for discrimination on his claim that two white counterparts were paid a higher salary; plaintiff failed to establish a case of salary discrimination on his claim that he was denied a spot bonus where no similarly situated employee was treated differently; in regard to the hostile work environment claim, plaintiff failed to show a causal connection between the alleged acts of harassment and his race; one race-related comment that plaintiff allegedly overheard did not constitute harassment sufficiently severe and pervasive to support a hostile work environment claim; and, in regard to the discriminatory discharge claim, even if plaintiff established a prima facie case of discriminatory discharge, he did not meet his burden to show that McGraw-Hill's proffered reason for discharging him was pretext for discrimination. In this case, plaintiff's documented performance deficiencies constituted a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for discharging him. Finally, any claim of retaliation failed because plaintiff failed to show a causal connection between the alleged retaliatory act and protected conduct. View "Stone v. McGraw-Hill Global Financial" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed a class action in state court alleging that Progressive sold insurance policies with benefits below the statutory minimum required by Minnesota state law. On appeal, plaintiffs challenged the district court's denial of plaintiffs' motion to remand to state court after Progressive removed to federal court. The Eighth Circuit concluded that the district court properly denied the motion for remand because plaintiffs failed to establish the amount they collectively paid in premiums, and without such information, the court could not determine whether it would be legally impossible for them to recover $5,000,000. The Eighth Circuit also concluded that the district court properly dismissed plaintiffs' claim on the ground that the deductible practice challenged by plaintiffs did not violate Minnesota's No Fault Act. Accordingly, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the judgment. View "Dammann v. Progressive Direct Insurance" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed a class action against the Pegasus Pipeline's current owners and operators, Exxon, alleging that the company's operation of the pipeline was unreasonable and unsafe. The Eighth Circuit agreed with the district court's decision to decertify the class based on a lack of commonality of issues. In this case, the contract claims would require examination of how Exxon's operation of the pipeline affects plaintiffs, which varies depending on where individual class members' property was located, as well as many other factors. The Eighth Circuit also concluded that the evidence here was insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether there was unreasonable interference. The court explained that the question of unreasonable use of an easement was generally one of fact, dependent on the nature of the easement, the terms of the grant, and other relevant circumstances. Finally, the district court did not clearly abuse its discretion by denying plaintiffs' motion to alter or amend the judgment where the additional evidence at issue would not have produced a different result. Accordingly, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the judgment. View "Webb v. Exxon Mobil" on Justia Law

EMT appealed the district court's denial of summary judgment in this consolidated putative class- and collective-action case. The district court granted partial summary judgment for plaintiff on the issue of EMT's liability to pay him for unpaid overtime. The Eighth Circuit held that the district court did not err in failing to give controlling deference to 49 C.F.R. 571.3(b)(1) in interpreting the term "covered employee" with respect to section 306 of the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (TCA), Pub. L. No. 110-244, Title III, 306(a)(2008). In light of the comprehensive redesign and conversion process the paralift vans underwent before being placed into service, the paralift vans plaintiff drove were not "designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers" under TCA 306(c). Accordingly, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's conclusion that EMT was liable to plaintiff for overtime pay. View "LaCurtis v. Express Medical Transporters" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sex trafficking and drug-related convictions, holding that he was not denied a fair trial and rejecting his contention that the government failed to produce discovery in a timely manner and in a usable form that gave defendant an opportunity to review the information. Although defendant represented himself pro se, he was provided a pretrial investigator, subpoenaed numerous defense witnesses for trial, and made use of the government's discovery at trial. Furthermore, defendant provided no instances where lack of access to specific discovery prejudiced his trial defense. Finally, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's untimely request for a continuance on the day of the trial. View "United States v. Graves" on Justia Law