Justia U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Petitioner, convicted of drug trafficking offenses and sentenced to 380 months imprisonment, brought a habeas petition requesting reconsideration of the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) rejection of his application to the Second Chance Act's, Pub. L. No. 110-199, elderly offenders pilot program. The district court, considering the merits of the case, denied the petition. The court concluded that the appeal was moot because the relief requested was no longer available due to the termination of the pilot program. On the merits, even if petitioner were eligible for the pilot program, his admission to the program would be at the BOP's discretion. Accordingly, the court dismissed the petition. View "McCullough v. Graber" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction of attempted entry after deportation. The court concluded that defendant's prior conviction for unlawful sexual penetration in violation of California Penal Code 289(a)(1), for which he was sentenced to more than one year in custody, constituted an aggravated felony under 18 U.S.C. 16(b) and 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(F). Accordingly, defendant was ineligible for discretionary relief as an aggravated felon and the district court appropriately denied his motion to dismiss. Therefore, defendant's 57-month sentence was reasonable and the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Sandoval-Orellana" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed separate copyright infringement suits against defendants for posting articles from the Las Vegas Review-Journal online without authorization. In consolidated appeals, the court agreed with the district court that plaintiff lacked standing in both cases because agreements assigning plaintiff the bare right to sue for infringement did not transfer any associated exclusive rights under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq. Because plaintiff lacked standing, the court also concluded that the court lacked jurisdiction to rule on the merits of the fair use claim. Therefore, the court affirmed the motions to dismiss in both cases, but vacated the portion of the district court order in Hoehn granting summary judgment on fair use. View "Righthaven LLC v. Hoehn" on Justia Law

Plaintiff spent 24 years in prison after being convicted for murder based largely upon the perjured testimony of an unreliable jailhouse informant, Edward Fink. Plaintiff filed this action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, claiming that the District Attorney's Office failed to create any system for the Deputy District Attorneys handling criminal cases to access information pertaining to the benefits provided to jailhouse informants and other impeachment information, and failed to train Deputy District Attorneys to disseminate this information. At issue on appeal was whether a district attorney acted as a local or a state official when establishing policy and training related to the use of jailhouse informants. The court concluded that the policies challenged by plaintiff were distinct from the acts the district attorney undertook on behalf of the state. Even taking into account the control and supervisory powers of the Attorney General, the District Attorney represented the county when establishing policy and training related to the use of jailhouse informants. Therefore, a cause of action could lie against the county under 42 U.S.C. 1983. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment on the pleadings. View "Goldstein v. City of Long Beach" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his drug-related convictions, arguing that his due process rights were violated by the government's destruction of evidence and that the trial judge erred in denying his motion to dismiss. In the alternative, defendant argued that the trial judge erred in requiring a showing of bad faith in order to give a remedial jury instruction. The court held that while Supreme Court precedent demanded that a showing of bad faith was required for dismissal, it was not required for a remedial jury instruction. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's denial of the dismissal and reversed the denial of the remedial jury instruction. Accordingly, the court remanded for a new trial with a remedial instruction. View "United States v. Sivilla" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a Mexican citizen, petitioned for review of the BIA's order denying withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. 1231(b) and returning him to Mexico. The BIA concluded that the social group petitioner proposed, framed in the terms presented to the BIA - insulin-dependent persons with mental-health problems, including posttraumatic stress and depressive disorders - was not "particular" as the statute required. The BIA also concluded that the record did not show a clear probability of persecution because of membership in a particular social group. The court concluded that the BIA correctly found that petitioner failed to show that he was a member of a particular social group or that he would be persecuted because of his membership in a particular social group. Accordingly, the court denied the petition. View "Mendoza-Alvarez v. Holder Jr." on Justia Law

Amy and Vicky, child pornography victims, petitioned for a writ of mandamus pursuant to the Crime Victims Rights Act (CVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3771. The court concluded that the district court did not commit legal error or abuse its discretion in declining to impose joint and several liability in this case. Petitioners' request that this court overrule United States v. Kennedy, which required a court to identify a causal connection between the defendant's offense conduct and the victim's specific losses before awarding restitution pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259, was previously considered and denied. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for a writ of mandamus. View "In re: Amy & Vicky, et al v. USDC, Sacramento" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed from the judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim against correctional officials at the Saguaro Correctional Center (SCC), asserting that the decision to house him in the same cell with a member of a rival gang after he had fought with another member of that same gang violated his Eight Amendment rights. The district court rejected defendant's claims that defendants were deliberately indifferent to the risk he faced from the cell assignment. The court concluded that, despite the late Rand v. Rowland notice, plaintiff did not suffer a deprivation of substantial rights when the district court decided the summary judgment motion on the merits. Plaintiff's response demonstrated that he understood the nature of summary judgment and complied with the requirements of Rule 56. Thus, reversal and remand of the district court was not required. Further, the undisputed evidence in the record showed that defendants were not deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of an attack if the rival gang member and plaintiff were placed in a cell together. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants. View "Labatad v. CCA, et al" on Justia Law

Defendant was a dentist who was charged with crimes relating to cocaine possession and distribution. On appeal, defendant challenged his convictions and sentence imposed for one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, one count of distribution of cocaine, and two counts of maintaining a drug-involved premises. The government cross-appealed the district court's denial of forfeiture of the seized equity from the sale of defendant's home. The court affirmed defendant's conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute; affirmed the district court's determination of the drug amount and refusal to grant a minor role adjustment; vacated the distribution count because it was duplicitous; vacated the convictions for maintaining drug-involved premises because the district court committed plain error by utilizing a "significant purpose" instruction rather than a "primary or principal use" instruction; and reversed the district court's denial of the government's forfeiture motion. The court remanded for further proceedings. View "United States v. Mancuso" on Justia Law