OPINIONS ARE POSTED DAILY BETWEEN 10:00 and 11:00 a.m.
Current Opinions are for Wednesday, August 10, 2022
DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
202756P.pdf 08/10/2022 United States v. Omar Taylor
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 20-2756
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
[PUBLISHED] [Erickson, Author, with Gruender and Stras, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Criminal law. The evidence was sufficient to support
defendant's sex trafficking convictions; the district court did not err
when it instructed the jury that a "happy-ending massage" was a commercial
sex act; the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting
prior bad act evidence - defendant's 2005 conviction for criminal sexual
assault in the third degree, his acts with one of the sex workers, and his
prior convictions for armed burglary and forgery; conviction for both sex
trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion
with the same victim does not create Double Jeopardy violation as the two
counts each require proof of an element the other does not. Judge Gruender
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
212309P.pdf 08/10/2022 Omar Osman Mohamed v. Merrick B. Garland
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 21-2309
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals
[PUBLISHED] [Erickson, Author, with Gruender and Benton, Circuit Judges]
Petition for Review - Immigration. Petitioner has presented no cognizable
basis that would prohibit the BIA from remanding his case for development
of the record on an issue that the record shows was not plainly argued or
developed - the nature and source of the threats petitioner received while
working as a musician and posting a video of him appearing with a
partially clothed woman and whether the threats were tied to his religion;
the agency did not err in requiring petitioner to present corroborating
evidence to satisfy his burden of proving he faced a particularized threat
of persecution; because petitioner is ineligible for withholding of
removal because he cannot show future persecution on account of a
protected ground, the court would not consider his arguments as to whether
the agency erred in finding he could relocate within Somalia.
212929P.pdf 08/10/2022 United States v. Anthony Robinson
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 21-2929
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Melloy and Gruender, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Criminal law. The district court's order directing the
Bureau of Prisons to turn over all of the funds in Robinson's inmate trust
account for payment toward an outstanding restitution obligation was not
adequately supported by the record concerning the source of the funds, and
the matter is remanded for further proceedings. See U.S. v. Kidd, 23 F.4th
781 (8th Cir. 2022).
213243P.pdf 08/10/2022 Nani Keta v. Merrick Garland
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 21-3243
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Melloy and Gruender, Circuit Judges]
Petition for Review - Immigration. The agency's negative credibility
finding concerning petitioner's testimony was supported by substantial
evidence; absence of a Kunama interpreter did not deny petitioner due
process as he was provided a Tigrinya interpreter, and petitioner
repeatedly assured the IJ that he and the interpreter understood each
other; a document used for impeachment of a petitioner's testimony need
not be made available to the petitioner before the hearing, and the
government could confront petitioner with his prior inconsistent
statement; the BIA did not err in concluding that the evidence was
insufficient as a matter of law to support the IJ's finding that
petitioner would likely be tortured; anecdotal reports of imprisonment of
returnees from Sudan, and reports of torture at the prison where they were
held were not sufficient to support a finding that petitioner in
particular was likely to be imprisoned and tortured if returned from the
U.S. to Eritrea.
213478P.pdf 08/10/2022 United States v. Robert Ivers
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 21-3478
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
[PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author, with Erickson and Kobes, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Criminal law. At his probation revocation, defendant
showed he was justifiably dissatisfied with his appointed attorney who was
unprepared to handle the proceedings; the district court erred by forcing
defendant to either proceed pro se or with his unprepared attorney, and
defendant's wavier of his right to counsel was not knowing or voluntary;
the revocation judgment is reversed, and the matter is remanded for
further proceedings. Judge Kobes, dissenting.
213879P.pdf 08/10/2022 United States v. Donte Kent
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 21-3879
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids
[PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author, with Erickson and Kobes, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Sentencing. Defendant's conviction for interference with
official acts inflicting bodily injury in violation of Iowa Code Sec.
719.1 was a crime of violence for sentencing purposes; the offense cannot
be committed recklessly and involves active and intentional conduct;
therefore, the district court did not err in sentencing defendant as a
career offender under Guidelines Sec. 4B1.1.