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

Petitioner, a citizen of Guatemala, filed an action in District Court alleging that the BIA's decision to deny his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 701-706. The court held that 8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(5) prohibited APA claims that indirectly challenged a removal order. All claims challenging the procedure and substance of agency determinations "inextricably linked" to the order of removal were prohibited by section 1252(a)(5), no matter how the claims were framed. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. View "Martinez v. Napolitano, et al" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Russia, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial of withholding of removal and adjustment of status. The court held that it lacked jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(2)(C) over petitioner's challenge to the discretionary determination finding him ineligible for withholding because the crime underlying his removeability was a particularly serious crime; the court upheld the revocation of petitioner's asylee status pursuant to 8 C.F.R. 208.24(a)(2), also due to his conviction; and the court denied petitioner's constitutional challenge to the provisions precluding adjustment of status after his asylee status was revoked. View "Pechenkov v. Holder Jr." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed an action in district court under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by an officer's warrantless entry into her front yard and sought damages for her injuries. Plaintiff sustained serious injuries as a result of the officer's act of kicking down the front gate of her yard while in pursuit of a suspect who had committed at most a misdemeanor offense. The district court found that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity and granted his motion for summary judgment. The court held, however, that the law at the time of the incident would have placed a reasonable officer on notice that his warrantless entry into the curtilage of a home constituted an unconstitutional search, which could not be excused under the exigency or emergency exception to the warrant requirement. Therefore, the officer was not entitled to qualified immunity and the court reversed the judgment of the district court. View "Sims v. Stanton" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his sentence for illegal re-entry into the United States. The government contended that defendant waived his right to appeal in his written plea agreement. The court held that the district court's statement near the end of the sentencing hearing that defendant "may have a right to appeal" was equivocal or ambiguous and therefore did not vitiate defendant's explicit waiver of the right to appeal in his written plea agreement. View "United States v. Arias-Espinoza" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence gained through a frisk after a vehicle stop. The court concluded that the police officers had no particularized suspicions directed at the unthreatening defendant to justify the Terry frisk at its inception; the searching officer exceeded the lawful scope of the frisk by lifting defendant's shirt to retrieve an object; and therefore, the court reversed and remanded with instructions to grant defendant's motion to suppress. View "United States v. I.E.V., Juvenile Male" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of conspiring to possess and of possessing pseudoephedrine, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine. On appeal, defendant contended that the district court erred as a matter of law in refusing a requested jury instruction specifying that "reasonable cause to believe" must be evaluated from her perspective, based on her knowledge and sophistication. The court held that the district court erred in refusing defendant's requested instruction and that the error was not harmless. View "United States v. Munguia" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his jury conviction for offenses relating to the sale of eagle parts. He contended that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when an undercover agent used a concealed audio-video device to record an illegal transaction defendant conducted in his home. The court rejected this argument because the Fourth Amendment's protection did not extend to information that a person voluntarily exposed to a government agent, including an undercover agent. The court also rejected defendant's Confrontation Clause challenge, and his objection to the admission of certain photographs of eagles and other bird parts at his trial under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. The court reversed, however, defendant's conviction on Counts 2 or 3 and Counts 4 or 5 because those were multiplicitous. View "United States v. Wahchumwah" on Justia Law

Defendant was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and a firearm. Defendant moved to suppress evidence of these crimes that was discovered in the subsequent warrantless search of his car. The government presented its substantive arguments orally at the suppression hearing and in its written response to the magistrate judge's Report, and therefore the court held that those arguments were preserved for appeal. Moreover, because the police had probable cause to suspect that evidence of a crime would be found in defendant's car, which had the potential for mobility and was being used as a licensed motor vehicle, the court held that the government's warrantless search of defendant's car was permissible under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. Therefore, defendant's motion to suppress should not have been granted and the court reversed the judgment. View "United States v. Scott" on Justia Law

The Church appealed a sanction order granting attorneys' fees and costs to appellees. The court held that appellant did not take reasonable steps to avoid imposing an undue burden on appellees, who were non-parties to the underlying case. In reversing the sanctions order, the court held that Rule 45(c)(1) could not properly support a sanction where the cost of complying with the subpoena was minimal and there was no showing that the subpoena was facially defective or issued in bad faith. View "Mount Hope Church, et al v. Bash Back!" on Justia Law

Defendant pleaded guilty to possession and transportation of child pornography. The court affirmed the district court's imposition of a sentencing enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3C1.1 for obstruction of justice in a case in which defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court wrote that defendant's conduct was obstructive with respect to the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of his felon-in-possession conviction; and it was immaterial that he intended to obstruct only the prior child pornography case in which he was on pretrial release. View "United States v. Manning" on Justia Law