U.S. Tenth Circuit

U.S. Tenth Circuit - The FindLaw 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries Blog


Officer Koessel had a stroke. About eight months later, he was cleared to return, full-time, sans overtime. He was assigned to desk duty, though he was allowed to make traffic stops while on his daily commute.

The arrangement didn't last long. His coworkers expressed concerns over his fitness for duty after a captain overheard him becoming flustered after being unable to remember a word during a traffic stop. His duties were then amended again, and he was only allowed to perform backup duties, not initiate stops.

After further reports of emotional issues and a shift cut short by blood pressure issues, he was placed on administrative leave and ordered to undergo medical evaluations.

"In 2008, Plaintiff, a legally blind child with cerebral palsy and cognitive delays, was severely injured while skiing at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado.'

Though the mechanics of such an individual skiing may be only mildly relevant to the holding of the case, you might be curious as to how such a thing is possible. The child with special needs rides a bi-ski, which is connected via tethers to the ski instructor.

Twelve years ago, Damaris Rawlins was arrested for driving under the influence in Kansas City and was taken to the local drunk tank. Upon arrival, she engaged in passive resistance and went limp. The police carried her to a cell, where she said that they slammed her into the wall and floor of the cell and assaulted her. She kicked an officer's shins three times (in self-defense, of course).

She was convicted of battery of a police officer after her attorney allegedly refused to submit photographs of her injuries to the court and after the judge denied a self-defense jury instruction.

In the overly-formal world of appellate courts, it's refreshing to run across the oddly non-staid opinion from time to time. Nothing breaks the monotony like an opinion written in limerick form or ten pages of angry rants about frivolous immigration appeals and another circuits' procedures.

Lucio Salgado-Toribio will soon be forcefully removed from the United States. He's faced deportation, voluntarily or forcefully, for the last three years. In the meantime, he has utilized frivolous appeals, forum shopping, and hilariously-clever "dilatory" tactics to stay in the country while his cases were pending. Today, the Tenth Circuit had enough and after ordering his immediate removal from the country, admonished him further:

Theodore McDowell, known colloquially as “Cush” by his loved ones, was recently convicted of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Though both Mr. Cush and at least six of his coconspirators all reached the Tenth Circuit, and had opinions released on the same day, he was the only one to receive the distinctive honor of a published opinion — thanks in large part to his curtilage complaint.

In 2007, an alert officer was strolling along West Hubbell Street in Avondale, Arizona, attempting to locate a woman under investigation for assault in Surprise, Arizona (GO ROYALS!). It was the officer that was surprised, however, when his olfactory sense detected a faint hint of fresh, unburned marijuana. Though his nose pointed towards the garage, he approached the front door instead, where the smell was still present, yet far less strong.

Abasi Baker's Fourth Amendment rights were probably violated. He was convicted of seven counts of robbery, the use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The conviction was made possible after investigating officers, without a warrant, put a GPS tracker on his girlfriend's car.

He has an interesting suppression argument - especially in light of United States v. Jones, a SCOTUS decision that held that the attachment of a GPS device to a suspect's car is a search governed by the Fourth Amendment.

Relentless is a religious youth group in Roswell, New Mexico which is affiliated with a local religious institution. Youth group members routinely engage in religious expression at school, including prayer, religious outreach, and abortion discussions with fellow students.

One such campaign began in 2009, when the students, led by Pastor Tim Aguilar, distributed gifts of McDonald's chicken salad sandwiches, hot chocolate, candy canes with religious messages, and "affirmation rocks," which had spiritual references painted on one side.

Of course, none of their handouts compared to the day that they distributed rubber fetuses.

This could get ugly.

In the days before Christmas, Holly Lobby was given neither 2 turtle doves, nor 11 pipers piping. Instead, the self-described "evangelical Christian" owners were given something far less desirable: a rejection of their request for an injunction against enforcement of the Affordable Care Act's birth control provisions.

The police in Tulsa, Oklahoma got a phone call from a lady who had stumbled upon child pornography on her live-in boyfriend's computer.

The investigating officer showed up, the lady and her friend escorted him to the home office, and played back the video. After about ten seconds, the officer called the cybercrimes unit, and was instructed to seize the computer after obtaining witness statements from the lady and the friend.

Younger generations are going to look back at these mortgage foreclosure cases with nothing but utter confusion. It seems in every case, a mortgage is passed around more than a certain illicit substance at Snoop Lion concert.

In this case, Glen Llewellyn was a bit miffed after a series of mortgage holders and services reported naughty things to the credit agencies regarding his defaulted/not-defaulted loan. (He refinanced while the loan was being sold to someone else, the money got lost for a bit ... it happens).