CRIMINAL OPINIONS

SENTENCING

SENTENCING - Enhancement; Prior Conviction
on February 8, 2010 01:08 PM CST

Where the government sought to enhance a defendant’s sentence based on a prior conviction in Missouri state court for sale of a controlled substance that resulted in a suspended imposition of...
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SEVERANCE

SEVERANCE - Exculpatory Testimony; Jury Instruction
on February 8, 2010 01:12 PM CST

(1)Where a defendant testified in a joint robbery trial that his co-defendant, who was his brother, was not involved in the robbery and the defendant argued on appeal that the District Court abused...
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Unpublished Civil Opinions

Domestic Relations

Domestic Relations - Child-Support Arrearages
on February 2, 2010 03:04 PM CST

Where in 2003 a child-support magistrate reduced father’s obligation to zero dollars because father was incarcerated and entered a judgment for the total amount of father’s outstanding...
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8th U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS

EVIDENCE - Other Crimes; Limiting Instruction; Drug Transactions
on February 8, 2010 12:57 PM CST

Where a defendant pleaded not guilty and generally denied participating in crack-cocaine crimes, the admission at trial of evidence that the defendant was investigated four years later in the same...
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CIVIL OPINIONS

CIVIL PRACTICE

CIVIL PRACTICE - Certification For Appeal; Adequacy Of Explanation; Finality
on February 8, 2010 11:18 AM CST

Where a District Court certified a case for appeal under Rule 54(b) but the court’s conclusory order did not explain how judicial economy would be served or why there was no just reason for...
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CIVIL PRACTICE - FELA; Longshore Act; Jurisdiction
on February 8, 2010 12:33 PM CST

Where a Missouri resident employed by Norfolk Southern Railway who was injured while working in Virginia sued his employer under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act and the employer sought...
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IMMIGRATION

IMMIGRATION - Removal; Credibility; Persecution
on February 8, 2010 12:38 PM CST

Where an immigrant from Uganda was denied asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention against Terror, the immigration judge’s adverse credibility finding, based on...
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IMMIGRATION - Removal; Criminal Convictions; Moral Turpitude
on February 8, 2010 12:42 PM CST

Where an immigrant was convicted for unlawfully obtaining a Social Security number, the Board of Immigration’s conclusion that the crime involved moral turpitude was reasonable, and the...
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IMMIGRATION - Removal; Motion to Reopen; Changed Country Conditions
on February 8, 2010 12:45 PM CST

Where an immigration judge denied an application for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the CAT for an immigrant from Uzbekistan, the motion to reopen was properly denied because...
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Insurance

INSURANCE - Death Benefits; Insurable Interest; Pecuniary Relationship
on February 8, 2010 12:47 PM CST

Where an insurer sought a declaration that a life-insurance policy was void because the couple who were named as owners and beneficiaries of the policy did not have an insurable interest in the...
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CRIMINAL OPINIONS

ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL - Procedural Default
on February 8, 2010 12:49 PM CST

Where a defendant convicted of marijuana charges claimed ineffective assistance of counsel based on a public defender’s dual representation of him and his wife, the District Court did not err...
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COMPETENCY

COMPETENCY - Improper Considerations; Pro Se Filings
on February 8, 2010 12:51 PM CST

Where a magistrate judge considered the pro se filings of a represented defendant and his interruptions of his attorney during a hearing to find that the defendant was incompetent, the District...
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COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL

COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL - Eligibility; Fraudulent Conveyance
on February 8, 2010 12:54 PM CST

Where a District Court ordered a defendant to reimburse the government for legal services after the court made a finding that the defendant was financially able to obtain counsel, the judgment is...
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DRUG TRAFFICKING

DRUG TRAFFICKING - Sufficiency of Evidence; ‘Batson’
on February 8, 2010 12:56 PM CST

(1)Where two defendants were linked to drug trafficking through evidence including digital scales found in a car and house, drug paraphernalia and guns found in the house, and indentifying documents...
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RESTITUTION

RESTITUTION - Garnishment
on February 8, 2010 12:59 PM CST

Where a defendant found guilty of filing false tax returns was ordered to pay restitution as a condition of supervised release and the defendant moved to quash the government’s garnishment...
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SEARCH AND SEIZURE

SEARCH AND SEIZURE - Probable Cause; Scope
on February 8, 2010 01:02 PM CST

Even though officers did not address suspected drug activity in an affidavit for a search warrant of defendant’s residence, this did not affect the probable cause that existed independently...
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SEARCH WARRANT

SEARCH WARRANT - Stale Information; ‘Batson’
on February 8, 2010 01:01 PM CST

(1)Where officers included information in a warrant application obtained from a drive by of a home four days earlier, the information was not stale and under the totality of the circumstances, the...
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SENTENCING

SENTENCING - Abduction Enhancement; ‘Force’
on February 8, 2010 01:07 PM CST

Where a District Court applied a four-level enhancement for abduction to the sentence of a defendant sentenced for the attempted sexual battery of his step-daughter, the defendant used flattery,...
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SENTENCING - Loss Determination
on February 8, 2010 01:10 PM CST

Where a credit-union president who pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement argued that the amount of loss to the credit union should be reduced by the value of commissions that the defendant...
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SEVERANCE

SEVERANCE - Irreconcilable Defenses; Confrontation Clause
on February 8, 2010 01:14 PM CST

(1)Where defendants convicted in a murder case argued their defenses were irreconcilable resulting in an unfair trial, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motions to sever...
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BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL

DISCHARGEABILITY

DISCHARGEABILITY - Fraud; Justifiable Reliance; Innocent Spouse
on February 8, 2010 01:16 PM CST

Where a hotel appealed a bankruptcy court’s order discharging a debt incurred by a Chapter 7 debtor who failed to pay a $60,000 bill after hosting a “Red Hat” event at the hotel,...
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Court of Appeals

Published Civil Opinions

Evidence

Evidence - Judicial Notice of Documents
on February 2, 2010 02:49 PM CST

It is error for a District Court to take judicial notice of non-record documents that the parties have not had an opportunity to challenge or address. Thus, in this case where the guardians and...
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Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice - Dismissal; Additional Defendant
on February 2, 2010 02:51 PM CST

A medical malpractice plaintiff who misses the deadline for serving a defendant corporation with expert witness affidavits required by Minn. Stat. sec. 145.682, subd. 2(2) and 4 may not avoid...
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Unpublished Civil Opinions

Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law - Private Right of Action
on February 2, 2010 03:02 PM CST

Where plaintiff alleges that the impounding of his motorcycle by a city police officer was a violation of his right under the Minnesota Constitution to be free from unreasonable seizures, we...
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Domestic Relations

Domestic Relations - Child-Support Modification
on February 2, 2010 03:06 PM CST

Where the child-support magistrate acknowledged that application of the child-support guidelines to the parties’ current circumstances resulted in a statutory presumption that there was a...
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Domestic Relations - Maintenance
on February 2, 2010 03:08 PM CST

Where husband earned an average of $11,158 per year for the past four years as a school bus driver and approximately $1,200 per year plowing snow in his neighborhood, in addition to his income as a...
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Domestic Relations - Maintenance; Bonuses
on February 2, 2010 03:10 PM CST

Where the District Court granted permanent maintenance and set the amount of current and future maintenance payments at a level that allows wife to meet her reasonable monthly expenses and even...
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Driver’s License Revocation

Driver’s License Revocation - Urine Test Reliability
on February 2, 2010 03:12 PM CST

Where the record includes a request for a laboratory analysis showing that a sealed urine-collection kit was received by the BCA; an officer testified that he followed BCA procedures, including the...
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Guardianship / Conservatorship

Guardianship / Conservatorship - Fees and Expenses
on February 2, 2010 03:14 PM CST

Where the District Court disallowed the accounts and certain fees and expenses paid to the guardians and conservators of a non-indigent ward out of the ward’s estate, we conclude that the...
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Guardianship / Conservatorship - Fees and Expenses
on February 2, 2010 03:16 PM CST

Where the District Court disallowed the accounts and certain fees and expenses paid to the guardians and conservators of a non-indigent ward out of the ward’s estate, we conclude that the...
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Insurance

Insurance - Construction Subcontract
on February 2, 2010 03:18 PM CST

Where the “headache ball” and chains on a crane, which was owned by the general contractor and operated by an employee of the general contractor, fell and struck an employee of a...
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Juries

Juries - Bias; Employment Relationship
on February 2, 2010 03:20 PM CST

Where a child’s adoptive parents allege that the child’s injuries were the result of the treating physicians’ failure to report suspected child abuse after the child’s first...
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Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice - Expert Review
on February 2, 2010 03:23 PM CST

Where plaintiff sued a former medical provider who had treated him for a mental illness; plaintiff did not file an affidavit of expert review as required by Minn. Stat. sec. 145.682; and plaintiff...
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Products Liability

Products Liability - Pharmaceutical; Causation
on February 2, 2010 03:25 PM CST

Where plaintiff has experienced redness, scratchiness, and pain in his eyes since using eye drops which he purchased in a package of single-use vials; laboratory testing detected a type of yeast in...
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Real Property

Real Property - Land underlying Road
on February 2, 2010 03:26 PM CST

Land underlying Road Where in the 1950s the Stowrings platted a subdivision out a larger tract of land; the plat contains a dedicated roadway; the parties, who are subsequent owners of a lot and...
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Torts

Torts - Interference with Contract
on February 2, 2010 03:29 PM CST

Where a trucking company alleges that an employee of a transportation factor, under the guise of the trucking company’s “attorney-in-fact,” sent a letter on forged trucking company...
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Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment Benefits - Misconduct
on February 2, 2010 03:32 PM CST

Where claimant was authorized to obtain job-related construction supplies using the employer’s company credit card; claimant made small personal purchases on the card even after being told not...
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Unemployment Benefits - Misconduct
on February 2, 2010 03:33 PM CST

Where claimant, who worked as an assistant chef, was told during previous disciplinary actions that he needed to inform his supervisors of the progress of his prep work; during the incident that led...
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Unemployment Benefits - Misconduct
on February 2, 2010 03:35 PM CST

Where the employee manual sets forth progressive-discipline procedures for tardiness and absence but also states, “Any employee who fails to maintain an acceptable attendance record will be...
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Unemployment Benefits - Untimely Appeal
on February 2, 2010 03:37 PM CST

Where the ULJ dismissed claimant’s appeal as untimely; and claimant asks for reconsideration on the basis that her untimely appeal was attributable to a medical condition; we conclude that the...
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Unpublished Criminal Opinions

Arrest

Arrest - Probable Cause
on February 2, 2010 03:39 PM CST

Even though defendant was a passenger in a vehicle in which officers found a pistol under the left rear passenger seat, we conclude that officers lacked probable cause to arrest defendant for a...
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Drugs

Drugs - Intent to Sell
on February 2, 2010 03:43 PM CST

Where officers recovered a large amount of cash on defendant’s person and found in defendant’s vehicle 10.5 grams of methamphetamine, a notebook with markings consistent with “pay...
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Evidence

Evidence - Accomplice’s Guilty Plea
on February 2, 2010 03:46 PM CST

Where defendant was charged with criminal sexual conduct based on evidence that he engaged in sexual conduct with a 13-year girl while aided by an accomplice who used force or coercion; and when the...
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Evidence - Confession to Program Evaluator
on February 2, 2010 03:48 PM CST

Where defendant’s daughter alleged that defendant had sexually abused her; defendant was referred by county child protective services to a sex-offender treatment program where he signed a...
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Evidence - Hearsay
on February 2, 2010 03:49 PM CST

Although the postconviction court found that it was error to admit, through an officer’s testimony and cross-examination of defendant, a nontestifying witness’s description of a separate...
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Juries

Juries - ‘Batson’ Challenge
on February 2, 2010 03:52 PM CST

Where defendant is a Native American; a venire member stated she knew defendant but not well, she had lived down the road from his family 20 years earlier, and in responding to a question about...
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Juvenile

Juvenile - Adult Certification
on February 2, 2010 03:53 PM CST

Where the complaint charged the juvenile with two counts of attempted second-degree murder committed for the benefit of a gang; the District Court found that the then-16-year-old juvenile fired...
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Postconviction Relief

Postconviction Relief - Procedural Bar
on February 2, 2010 04:00 PM CST

Where petitioner’s claims are based on alleged inconsistencies in the testimony of witnesses at trial; and, for the first time on appeal, petitioner challenges his counsel’s...
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Restitution

Restitution - Obligations of Codefendants
on February 2, 2010 04:02 PM CST

Where the state agreed in defendant’s plea agreement to cap defendant’s sentence at the same sentence as his codefendant; and the codefendant, in a separate appeal, challenged the amount...
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Search and Seizure

Search and Seizure - Hot Pursuit
on February 2, 2010 04:04 PM CST

Where police, who received a report that a man had just stolen some items, went to a residence believed to be that of the suspect and saw the suspect’s car, which appeared to have been...
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Search and Seizure - Inevitable-Discovery Doctrine
on February 2, 2010 04:06 PM CST

Even though defendant was illegally arrested and police obtained a search warrant based on admissions he made after his arrest, we conclude that the District Court did not err in denying...
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Search and Seizure - Inventory Search
on February 2, 2010 04:08 PM CST

Where the driver, whose car was going to be towed, wanted to retrieve some belongings from the car and its trunk; the officer briefly scanned the interior of the vehicle and the trunk for dangerous...
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Search and Seizure - Warrant to Search Residence
on February 2, 2010 04:12 PM CST

Where five middle-school-aged students became ill at school because they ingested methamphetamine; a written statement by a student indicated that defendant’s middle-school-aged daughter had...
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Sentencing

Sentencing - Most Serious Offense
on February 2, 2010 04:14 PM CST

Where defendant was convicted of domestic assault by strangulation which has a presumptive sentencing range of 26 to 36 months, with a presumptive duration of 30 months; defendant was also convicted...
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Stop of Vehicle

Stop of Vehicle - Reasonable Suspicion
on February 2, 2010 04:15 PM CST

Where officers observed defendant’s vehicle parked on a street in a commercial area during the early morning hours when all of the businesses in the area were closed; the officers believed...
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Supreme Court

Civil Opinions

Civil Procedure

Civil Procedure - Tolling Limitations Period
on February 3, 2010 02:53 PM CST

The tolling provision in 28 U.S.C. sec. 1367(d) (2006) suspends the running of a limitations period on a state-law claim during the time that the claim is pending in federal court and for 30 days...
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Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure - ITV Hearing Time Changed
on February 3, 2010 03:02 PM CST

The time for a hearing to consider the recommendations of the ITV Task Force is changed to March 30, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.
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Orders

Court Administration - ADR Ethics Board
on February 3, 2010 02:59 PM CST

The Honorable Mark Labine is appointed and the Honorable Sharon Hall is reappointed to the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Ethics Board. Andrea Niemi is appointed as ADR Ethics Board chair and...
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Plea

Plea - No Basis for Withdrawal
on February 3, 2010 02:57 PM CST

Where defendant pled guilty to first-degree premeditated murder on the agreement that the state would dismiss his felony murder charge and not prosecute him for a triple homicide for which he was...
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Tax

Tax - Unremitted Sales Tax
on February 3, 2010 02:55 PM CST

1. Where a contractor collected amounts designated as sales tax from his customers rather than charging his customers an amount for materials that already included the amount of tax paid, the Tax...
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Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ Compensation - Workers’ Compensation
on February 3, 2010 03:05 PM CST

The decision is affirmed without opinion. 
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Workers’ Compensation - Workers’ Compensation
on February 3, 2010 03:07 PM CST

The decision is affirmed without opinion. 
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U.S. District Court

Damages

Damages - Remittitur; Copyright Infringement
on February 4, 2010 12:28 PM CST

Where a jury found that defendant, an individual, had willfully infringed 24 sound records by illegally downloading them from the Internet and awarded statutory damages in the amount of $80,000 for...
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