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

The Ninth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for two counts of sex trafficking by force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion. The panel held that defendant had ample notice of the charges against him and the jury was properly instructed on the nature of those charges. Therefore, defendant's argument that force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion were separate elements of the crime was unavailing. The panel clarified that the prosecution was required to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt—without a requirement to subdivide the inquiry to the atomic level—and that jury instructions should not only match the statutory language but should be internally consistent. The panel also held that there was no constructive amendment of the indictment where the omission of the phrase "or any combination of such means" in the indictment did not seriously affect the integrity of the proceedings. In this case, the evidence at trial that defendant used force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion in trafficking his victims was voluminous and overwhelming. View "United States v. Mickey" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the museum in an action brought by plaintiff to recover artwork that was taken by the Nazis from her faither-in-law. The panel held that the Dutch government's transfer of the paintings and its later decisions about the conveyance were "sovereign acts" requiring application of the act of state doctrine. The panel applied the act of state doctrine here, because the relief sought by plaintiff would necessitate the court's declaring invalid at least three official acts of the Dutch government performed within its own territory. The panel also held that exceptions to the act of state doctrine did not apply and the policies underlying the doctrine supported its application in this case. View "Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit granted a petition for review of the BIA's decision denying petitioner's application for asylum and withholding of removal. The panel held that the Chinese police prevented petitioner from practicing his faith and did so through coercive means. In this case, petitioner suffered physical mistreatment that caused him to seek medical attention and the police effectively prevented him from practicing his religion and living a Christian life. Therefore, petitioner suffered ongoing harm which, under circuit precedent, compelled a finding of past persecution. The panel remanded for the BIA to apply the rebuttable presumption that petitioner will experience further persecution if returned to China. However, the panel held that petitioner failed to establish a clear probability of torture. View "Zhihui Guo v. Sessions" on Justia Law

Professional golf caddies filed suit against the PGA Tour after it required them to wear bibs containing advertisements at professional golfing events. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of all claims with prejudice, holding that the caddies consented to wearing the bibs and that they did not do so under economic duress. Therefore, the caddies failed to state claims for breach of contract and quasi-contract relief, California state law publicity claims, a Lanham Act false endorsement claim, or a plausible economic duress claim. The panel also held that the caddies failed to allege plausibly that the Tour secured their consent through economic duress, and thus the district court properly dismissed the antitrust claims for failure to state a relevant market and the California unfair competition claims for failure to plead that any of the Tour's conduct was unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent. The panel remanded to allow the district court to reconsider whether to grant the caddies leave to amend their federal antitrust and California unfair competition claims. View "Hicks v. PGA Tour, Inc." on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of qualified immunity to officers in an action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, brought by plaintiffs, attendees of a political rally for Donald Trump, who were attacked by anti-Trump protesters as they attempted to leave the rally. The panel held that the officers violated clearly established rights and were not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage of the proceedings. The panel held that the attendees alleged sufficiently that the officers increased the danger to them by shepherding them into a crowd of violent protesters and that the officers acted with deliberate indifference to that danger. The panel also held that the City's liability was not inextricably intertwined with the officers' liability. Therefore, the panel lacked jurisdiction over the City's appeal. View "Hernandez v. City of San Jose" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed defendant's convictions for two separate fraud schemes pursuant to trials in 2009 and 2012. The panel held that defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel was not violated in the 2009 case when the district court partially rejected the eighth request for a continuance, after continuing the trial for over two and half years; the district court reasonably concluded that defendant had repeatedly alternated between invoking his right to self-representation and his right to counsel in order to manipulate proceedings and cause delay and thus his Sixth Amendment claim in the 2012 case was rejected; and the district court did not err in refusing to authorize funds to hire a psychiatrist to conduct a mental evaluation, in not sua sponte conducting a competency hearing, and in not declaring a mistrial during the 2012 trial. In this case, a reasonable court would not doubt defendant's competency. View "United States v. Turner" on Justia Law

On remand from the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit held that the unlawful entry into a residence by two sheriff's deputies, without a warrant, consent, or exigent circumstances, was the proximate cause of the subsequent shooting and injuries to plaintiffs. Therefore, the panel permitted the federal claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The panel held that if an officer has a duty not to enter in part because he or she might misperceive a victim's innocent acts as a threat and respond with deadly force, then the victim's innocent acts cannot be a superseding cause. In this case, the victim's action of moving the gun so that it was pointed in the deputies' direction was not a superseding cause of plaintiffs' injuries.The panel also held that plaintiffs had an independent basis for recovery under California negligence law in light of Hayes v. County of San Diego, 57 Cal. 4th 622, 639 (2013). On remand, the panel noted that the judgment shall be amended to award all damages arising from the shooting in plaintiffs favor as proximately caused by the unconstitutional entry, and proximately caused by the failure to get a warrant. Judgment shall also be entered for plaintiffs on the California negligence claim for the same damages arising out of the shooting. View "Mendez v. County of Los Angeles" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit granted Frimmel's petition for review of the ALJ's final decision and order declining to suppress employment records ICE obtained through an investigation of Frimmel's compliance with employment verification requirements. ICE had initiated an investigation of Frimmel after the Maricopa Sheriff's Office (MCSO) conducted illegal raids of two restaurants and the home of Bret Frimmel, owner of Frimmel.The panel held that MCSO committed knowing or reckless material omissions and distortions in search warrant affidavits that resulted in a search violating the Fourth Amendment, and the violation was egregious because a reasonable officer should have known the conduct was unconstitutional. The panel also held that ICE's investigation was not attenuated from MCSO's illegal raid and ICE's evidence was the fruit of MCSO's illegal raid. Finally, the panel held that MCSO's conduct easily met the flagrancy standards and it had immigration enforcement in its "zone of primary interest." Therefore, the exclusionary rule would serve to deter MCSO from Fourth Amendment violations by the probability that illegally obtained evidence would not be useful to ICE, even in a civil proceeding. The panel reversed the ALJ's ruling that denied suppression of ICE's evidence pursuant to the exclusionary rule, remanding for further proceedings. View "Frimmel Management, LLC v. United States" on Justia Law

The federal catchall statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. 1658(a) applies to private suits alleging violations of section 303(c) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's action under the SCRA as time-barred. The panel held that the complaint arose under an Act of Congress enacted after 1990 and was thus governed by the four year statute of limitations period in section 1658(a). In this case, plaintiff filed suit almost six years after the sale of his home and thus his complaint was untimely. View "McGreevey v. PHH Mortgage Corp." on Justia Law

Alliance filed suit against Federal Defendants to enjoin implementation of the East Reservoir Project on the Kootenai National Forest in northwest Montana. While this appeal was pending, the Forest Service reinitiated consultation with the FWS and subsequently issued a new biological opinion for the Lynx Amendment, completing a reconsultation process. Therefore, the panel rejected Alliance's assertion that the Forest Service's decision to approve the Project was arbitrary and capricious because it improperly relied on the Lynx Amendment in determining the impact of Project activities on lynx and lynx critical habitat. The panel dismissed the claim and remanded to the district court with directions to vacate the part of its summary judgment ruling that addressed this lynx related claim and to dismiss it as moot.However, the panel held that Alliance was entitled to summary judgment on its claim that the Forest Service failed to comply with the Motorized Vehicle Access Act (Access Amendments). In this case, the Forest Service's failure to analyze whether the Project will increase the total linear miles of permanent roads within the Tobacco BORZ polygon (the overlapping area in which Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bears were sometimes found) beyond the baseline did not satisfy the plain terms of the Access Amendments and was therefore arbitrary and capricious. The panel reversed the district court's judgment as to this claim and remanded for further proceedings. View "Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Savage" on Justia Law