Dec 29, 2020
In this civil rights lawsuit, an inmate alleged that the defendant police officers used excessive force during his arrest, and that correction officers were deliberately indifferent to a jail-house beating he suffered. The court applied a subjective intent standard to…
Dec 29, 2020
In this interlocutory appeal, the Tenth Circuit addressed the scope of pendent appellate jurisdiction and the circumstances in which a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 can be maintained against a municipality without establishing a violation of the plaintiff’s constitutional rights…
Dec 24, 2020
In this divorce, the district court dismissed a petition to modify for both failure to state a claim and failure to employ dispute resolution procedures. The court of appeals reversed the rule 12(b)(6) dismissal on the basis that the lower…
Dec 24, 2020
The court held that the nonrecovery provision of Utah Code § 58-55-604 (which limits a non-licensed contractor’s ability to sue) 1) creates an affirmative obligation of the plaintiff which is not a waivable affirmative defense; and 2) allows unlicensed contractors to sue even…
Dec 17, 2020
In a combined appeal involving petitions to nullify two sets of construction liens on a condominium project, the court of appeals reversed the district court’s decision granting a petition to nullify one lien and affirmed the other. On an issue…
Dec 17, 2020
The plaintiff asserted that his former employer wrongfully terminated him in violation of public policy for asserting a worker’s compensation claim. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer. As a matter of first impression, the court…
Dec 10, 2020
The court affirmed the district court’s grant of declaratory relief and attorney’s fees to UDAK in these two related appeals, concluding that UDAK unambiguously qualified as a “Responsible Owner” as that term is used in restrictive covenants binding owners of…
Dec 10, 2020
After a shank was found in the cell he shared with another prisoner, Gallegos was tried and convicted for felony possession of a dangerous weapon. On appeal, Gallegos challenged the admission of evidence showing he previously possessed a nearly identical…
Nov 27, 2020
In this appeal from a restitution order requiring the criminal defendant to pay roughly $2,000 to Utah County for his pre-plea detention in the Utah County Jail, the Utah Court of Appeals held that the Pay-to-Stay Statute, Utah Code § 76-3-201(6),…
Nov 24, 2020
On appeal from his sentencing for possession of a firearm by a restricted person, Silva challenged the trial court’s reliance on a twelve-year-old assault conviction to treat him as a “career offender” and substantially enhance his sentence. On plain-error review,…
