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

The Ninth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for storage of hazardous waste in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. 6928(d)(2)(A), holding that the district court properly refused to allow evidence of defendant's diminished capacity because the crime was one of general intent. The panel also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by applying a four-level sentencing enhancement under USSG 2Q1.2(b)(3) because the cleanup of the property "required a substantial expenditure" given the magnitude of the hazardous materials in defendant's yard and the cost of $498,562 to clean them up. View "United States v. Spatig" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's judgment in favor of DOE in a suit filed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Plaintiff, the parent of J.B., filed suit individually and on behalf of J.B., challenging J.B.'s individualized education plan (IEP). The panel held that the case was not moot; DOE violated the IDEA by failing to address transition services in the proposed IEP; DOE violated the IDEA by failing to specify in the IEP the Least Restrictive Environment during the regular and extended school year, and the IEP did not detail the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of the proposed specialized instruction in J.B.'s Science and Social Studies activities; nothing in 20 U.S.C. 1414(d) indicates that an IEP must specify the qualifications or training of service providers nor was it established in the record that DOE agreed to provide such an aide at the IEP meeting; and DOE violated the IDEA by failing to specify Applied Behavioral Analysis as a methodology in the IEP. View "R. B. v. Hawaii Department of Education" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief in petitioner's death penalty case where he was convicted of kidnapping and first degree murder. The panel rejected petitioner's argument that the Arizona Supreme Court's adjudication of his Eighth Amendment claim was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court; law enforcement misconduct claim; and two ineffective assistance of counsel claims regarding the failure to develop information regarding the victim's bones and the failure to present evidence from mental health experts. View "Atwood v. Ryan" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief for petitioner in this death penalty case. The panel held that the California Supreme Court reasonably concluded that petitioner received adequate notice of the attempted rape special circumstance and petitioner's constitutional rights were not violated when the prosecutor presented the special circumstance to the jury. In this case, the amended information specifically alleged a special circumstance premised on Cal. Penal Code 190.2(a)(17), which encompassed attempted rape. Furthermore, defense counsel also acknowledged that petitioner received adequate notice of the special circumstance and that petitioner was not prejudiced by the prosecution's arguments premised on attempted rape. After expanding the certificate of appealability to include previously uncertified claims, the panel concluded that, upon further consideration, these claims lacked merit. View "Cain v. Chappell" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants in a copyright infringement action. The panel held that DRK, a stock photography agency that markets and licenses images created by others to publishing entities, is a nonexclusive licensing agent for the photographs at issue and has failed to demonstrate any adequate ownership interest in the copyrights to confer standing. The panel also held that DRK lacked standing as a beneficial owner of the copyrights. Finally, the panel affirmed the district court's denial of DRK's motion to modify the scheduling order for leave to amend its complaint. View "DRK Photo v. McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to seal all documents related to, or disclosing the existence of, a USSG 5K1.1 motion to reduce his sentence by five levels based on his substantial assistance in the prosecution of other offenders involved in an international drug cartel. The panel held that the circumstances in this case required the district court to seal all documents revealing defendant's cooperation and to strike references to section 5K1.1 in the docket entry text. The panel next considered the report and recommendations from the Committee on Court Administration and Case Management of the Judicial Conference of the United States concerning the protection of ongoing government investigations, cooperators, and their families. The court held that a sealed supplement in all dockets would prevent the fact of cooperation from becoming immediately apparent and also deter the illicit use of court documents to harm cooperators. View "United States v. Doe" on Justia Law

The Borrowers filed suit against Wells Fargo based on Wells Fargo and its predecessors' alleged miscalculation of interest on the Borrowers' loans. The Ninth Circuit held that the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA) did not preempt the Borrowers' "Interest Rate Calculation" breach of contract claim, which arose under Washington law, because a common law breach of contract claim was not the type of law listed in paragraph (b) of 12 C.F.R. 560.2, but comes within paragraph (c) of that regulation and is a law that only incidentally affects the lending operations of federal savings associations. The panel affirmed summary judgment for Wells Fargo on the Borrowers' "Use of Unapproved Indexes" breach of contract claim, and the other claims related to this alleged conduct by the Lenders. In this case, the Lenders gave notice to their primary regulators of their intent to substitute the Indexes used to calculate interest on the Borrowers' loans and the regulators did not object. The panel also affirmed the denial of the Borrowers' motion for discovery sanctions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 because the Borrowers failed to show prejudice resulting from this ruling. Finally, the panel vacated the district court's denial of attorneys' fees without prejudice. View "Camidoglio LLC v. Wells Fargo" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit held that 11 U.S.C. 363(f), authorizing a trustee to sell a debtor's assets free and clear of third-party interests, applied in this case, and did not conflict with section 365(h), which protects the rights of lessees, because the trustee did not "reject" the leases. The panel affirmed the district court's judgment affirming the bankruptcy court's decision that a bankruptcy trustee's sale of a debtor's property was free and clear of unexpired leases. Therefore, section 363(f)(1) authorized the sale of SHP's property free and clear of the Pinnacle and Opticom leases. Since the trustee did not reject the leases, section 365 was not implicated. View "Pinnacle Restaurant at Big Sky LLC v. CH SP Acquisitions, LLC" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for a new trial on the basis of improper contact with the jury. The panel held that defendant failed to carry his burden to offer any credible evidence to establish that his ex-girlfriend had said nasty things about him to the jurors at trial. The district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to recall the jury for live questioning, by recusing itself under 28 U.S.C. 455(a) and (b), and by excluding defendant from pre-hearing telephonic conferences. Finally, defendant forfeited any right to challenge the destruction of surveillance videos and, even without forfeiture, his claim failed because he failed to allege bad faith. View "United States v. McChesney" on Justia Law

After relator alleged that her former employer violated the federal False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3730(a), (b), and Nevada FCA, the United States and Nevada declined to intervene. The employer then moved to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the motion to compel arbitration on an alternate ground, holding that the plain text of relator's arbitration agreement did not encompass the FCA case. View "US/Nevada ex rel. Welch v. My Left Foot Children's Therapy, LLC" on Justia Law