United States Tenth Circuit - December 2002 Opinion Summaries

RUTTER & WILBANKS CORP. v. SHELL OIL CO.

Civil Procedure, Class Actions
In approving a class action settlement of four related cases involving the production of carbon dioxide, the district court did not violate objectors'...

HOOPER v. MULLIN

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing, Habeas Corpus
Defense attorneys were constitutionally ineffective in their development and use of psychological evidence during a capital sentencing proceeding....

TRAINOR v. APOLLO METAL SPECIALTIES, INC.

Civil Rights, Labor & Employment Law
The district court erred in placing on an ADA plaintiff the burden of proving the number and status of defendant's temporary employees for purposes of...

US v. PETERSON

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing
In mail fraud and tax evasion convictions, the district court did not err in determining the amount of loss from an embezzlement, or in refusing to...

MURRAY v. THE CITY OF TAHLEQUAH

Civil Procedure
A district court cannot grant summary judgment pursuant to a local rule without making the determinations required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).

REED v. NELLCOR PURITAN BENNETT

Civil Procedure
A district court cannot grant summary judgment pursuant to local rules without making the determinations required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).

GRIPE v. CITY OF ENID

Civil Procedure, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Sanctions
A district court order, dismissing a complaint as a sanction for plaintiff's lawyer's repeated violations of court orders and rules, was not an abuse...

US v. SOTO-ORNELAS

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing, Immigration Law
The district court correctly relied on a burglary conviction as the basis for an alien's increased sentence under 8 U.S.C. section 1326(b).

US v. GORMAN

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing
In appeals from conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, 1) admission of testimony relating to marijuana was not unfairly...

ELDER v. US

Administrative Law, Injury & Tort Law, Government Law
Liability of national park employees in a wrongful death action, arising from an accidental drowning, was foreclosed by the discretionary function...