November 15, 2023, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • U.S. v. Sanches, 22-11178, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Engelhardt, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming convictions for transferring a firearm to a prohibited person and for making false statements while purchasing a firearm, as well as the 60-month sentence imposed on her resulting from these convictions and incorporating an upward variance based on the defendant’s knowledge of the danger posed by the person for whom she straw-purchased the firearm and her attempt to divert police from his location after he had used the firearm to seriously injure the his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
    • Under plain-error review, the Court held that, even assuming there was a constitutional infirmity in 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(1), the error was not clear or obvious; “her Bruen arguments require extending precedent, which fails plain error review.” The Court held that plain error requires on-point precedent and a lack of disagreement among sister circuits, and without either there had been no plain error in the defendant’s convictions.
    • As to the district court’s upward variance from the Sentencing Guidelines, the Court held that “the District Court made no unreasonable failures requiring us to set aside our mandated deference to its sentencing discretion.”
  • Elmen Holdings, L.L.C. v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., 23-20023, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Elrod), breach of lease
    • Affirming summary judgment in favor of lessor on gravel lease, holding that lessee had failed to make minimum royalty payments and terminating the lease.
    • The gravel lease at issue required the lessee to pay a $4,000 annual minimum advance royalty at the beginning of each year until production of material under the lease commenced, and then a lesser amount thereafter. Though the lease was entered into in 1970, the lessee had never produced material under the lease, and maintained it each year through the payment of the advance minimum royalty. After the original lessor died in 2017, the lessee, unaware of that death, attempted to pay the original lessor. The successors of the original lessor then made demand for payment, but the lessee did not make payment to them because they failed to provide a W-9. A year later, a subsequent acquirer of the land sought to terminate the lease for non-payment, and litigation ensued, with the lessor and lessee filing cross-motions for summary judgment. The district court ruled in favor of the lessor, side-stepping the issue of whether there had been sufficient notice and opportunity for cure on the finding that the lease terminated automatically on non-payment where no material had been produced under the lease.
    • The Court affirmed the summary judgment in favor of the lessor, but on different grounds. The Court held, first, that the magistrate (whose recommendation was adopted by the district court) had not departed “so drastically” from the parties’ framing of the issues before it as to constitute an abuse of discretion. “The magistrate judge did not ‘radical[ly] transform[]’ this case to such an extent as to constitute an abuse of discretion; she merely took a different route than Martin Marietta and Elmen had suggested to ‘decide … questions presented by the parties.’ Therefore, the magistrate judge did not violate the party presentation principle by interpreting the Gravel Lease to terminate automatically upon a missed royalty payment, even if that interpretation was contrary to the parties’ reading of their contract.”
    • The Court then held that the magistrate had erred in holding that the lease allowed for automatic termination where no material had been produced. The Court held that it must read the automatic termination provision of the lease for non-production in light of the other terms of the lease, which included a broad notice-and-cure provision.
    • Nevertheless, the Court held that the lessor had provided proper notice of non-payment and that the lessee had failed to cure within the ten-day period allowed by the lease. The Court held that the lessee’s attempt to tender payment to the original lessor after she had died was not sufficient to constitute payment under Texas law: “Martin Marietta never made its required royalty payment—because the money never passed to the O’Callaghans [the successors of the original lessor]—nor tendered one—because tender is not made in Texas when the funds are not given to the person holding the debt—in 2017.” The Court also held that the successors’ email regarding non-payment to the lessee substantially complied with the requirement of written notice even where the lease required delivery in person or by certified or registered mail. The Court also rejected the lessee’s argument that it had been prevented from making payment due to the lack of a W-9, because under Texas law a tender is “an unconditional offer.”

Unpublished

  • Weeks v. Collier, 22-10126, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Engelhardt, Wilson), prisoner suit
    • Affirming dismissal of Texas state prisoner’s § 1983 claims.
  • U.S. v. Kay, 22-11011, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Stewart, Douglas), criminal, sufficiency of evidence
    • Affirming conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and fentanyl, and distribution of fentanyl, resulting in death and serious bodily injury, finding that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction.
  • Smith-Jordan v. RPM Pizza, L.L.C., 22-30750, appeal from E.D. La.
    • per curiam (Higginbotham, Smith, Elrod), personal tort, respondeat superior
    • Affirming judgment in favor of defendants in automobile accident case involving pizza delivery driver.
  • Soudelier v. Ardoin, 22-30809, appeal from E.D. La.
    • per curiam (Jones, Barksdale, Elrod), election law
    • Affirming dismissal of suit against Louisiana secretary of state on claims that allegedly improperly certified voting systems (Dominion voting machines) violated Louisiana and federal law.
  • U.S. v. Rodriguez, 22-50809, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), criminal, search and seizure
    • Affirming conviction of distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, and upholding denial of motion to suppress.
  • Trevino v. Price, 22-51032, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), prisoner suit
    • Affirming summary judgment dismissal of Texas state prisoner’s § 1983 claims.
  • U.S. v. Filippo, 23-10514, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Ho, Wilson), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Garza-Morin, 23-10559, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Stewart, Douglas), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and 10-month sentence for illegal reentry.
  • Watson v. Fiesta Mart, L.L.C., 23-20081, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jones, Barksdale, Elrod), personal tort
    • Affirming summary judgment for defendant in slip-and-fall case.
  • Banks v. Craddock, 23-30143, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), prisoner suit
    • Vacating dismissal of former pretrial detainee’s § 1983 claims, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • Johnson v. Iberia Medical Center Foundation, 23-30159, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Engelhardt, Wilson), employment discrimination
    • Affirming summary judgment dismissal of employment discrimination claims.
  • Fountain v. Thomas, 23-40171, appeal from E.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), § 1983
    • Affirming dismissal of § 1983 claims arising from state misdemeanor traffic violation.
  • Zapata v. Hays County Juvenile Detention Center, 23-50191, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jones, Barksdale, Elrod), prisoner suit, Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act
    • Affirming in part and reversing in part the dismissal of juvenile detainee’s claims under the Eighth Amendment, Rehabilitation Act, ADA, and IDEA arising from alleged failure to provide educational and mental health services, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • U.S. v. Alvarez-Meza, 23-50522, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and sentence for illegal reentry.