for the Eighth Circuit

112877P.pdf   10/01/2012  Berthel Fisher & Company  v.  Craig Larmon
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  11-2877
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author, with Murphy and Colloton, Circuit Judges]
   Civil case - Arbitration. Because plaintiff did not provide investment
   or brokerage related services to the investors, they were not plaintiff's
   customers under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Code of
   Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes, and they were not entitled
   to arbitrate their claims before FINRA.
  
113003P.pdf   10/01/2012  Spencer Ondirsek  v.  Bernie Hoffman
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  11-3003
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas - Texarkana   
   [PUBLISHED] [Benton, Author, with Loken and Gruender, Circuit Judges]
   Civil case - torts. Tony Alamo Christian Ministries' practices, which
   included beating and threatening the plaintiffs, were not protected by the
   First Amendment; claim that the jury verdict was against the weight of
   the evidence was not preserved for appeal because Alamo failed to move
   for judgment as a matter of law before submission of the case to the jury
   or after the verdict and entry of judgment in accordance with Rule 50; any
   error in instructing the jury affected only the battery count and was
   harmless in light of the fact that the verdicts on the separate outrage and
   conspiracy counts were sufficient to support the damages awarded; the $3
   million in compensatory damages awarded each plaintiff was not
   excessive in light of the prolonged and continuous mistreatment they
   suffered; however, while an award of punitive damages was justified by
   the need to punish and deter the kind of conduct which occurred here, the
   awards of $30 million to each plaintiff were unconstitutional, and a ratio
   of 4:1 is appropriate to maintain notions of fairness and due process; the
   punitive damages awards are remitted to $12 million for each plaintiff.
  
113355P.pdf   10/01/2012  United States  v.  Troy David Chaika
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  11-3355
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - St. Paul   
   [PUBLISHED] [Loken, Author, with Beam, Circuit Judge, and Perry,
   District Judge]
   Criminal case - Criminal law and Sentencing. District court did not
   abuse its discretion by refusing to permit defendant to impeach a
   cooperating witness with a prior sexual misconduct conviction as the
   conviction was unrelated to the mortgage fraud at issue and did not
   require proof of a dishonest act or false statement; no error in admitting
   testimony from the government's expert witnesses on the mortgage loan
   industry and mortgage fraud; claims of error not supported by argument
   would not be considered; sentence was not substantively unreasonable;
   district court erred by entering a final order of restitution without giving
   defendant an opportunity to object to the restitution claims being
   awarded; case remanded for further restitution proceedings.
  
121268P.pdf   10/01/2012  United States  v.  Roger Dengler
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  12-1268
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Davenport   
   [PUBLISHED] [Murphy, Author, with Loken, Circuit Judge, and
   Jackson, District Judge]
   Criminal case - Sentencing. By showing defendant was an active
   participant in the drug conspiracy, the Government proved defendant was
   not eligible for Guideline Sec. 2D1.8(a)(2)'s lower base offense level; no
   error in denying safety-valve reduction as defendant failed to produce any
   evidence that he truthfully provided the government all the information
   he had concerning the offense; sentence was not substantively
   unreasonable.
  
121558U.pdf   10/01/2012  United States  v.  Douglas Biddle
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  12-1558
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines   
   [UNPUBLISHED] [Per Curiam - Before Bye, Gruender and Benton,
   Circuit Judges]
   Criminal case - Sentencing. Anders case. Sentence was not
   substantively unreasonable.
  
126026P.pdf   10/01/2012  Bruce Knigge  v.  SunTrust Mortgage, Inc.
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  12-6026
   U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City   
   [PUBLISHED] [Schermer, Author, with Kressel and Nail, Bankruptcy Judges]
   Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Bankruptcy court correctly determined
   that the promissory note was a negotiable instrument and that Sun Trust
   was entitled to enforce it and the deed of trust; debtors were judicially
   estopped from denying that Sun Trust held an enforceable secured claim
   by their filings in this case and a prior bankruptcy.