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Federal Judiciary

California Appellate Report

Commentary on recent Ninth Circuit.
By Shaun Martin

Post Frequency: 4.3/day

Last Entry: November 04, 2020 at 16:52:00

American Meat Institute v. Lehman (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 12, 2009)

Posted on December 22, 2009
Proposition 65 requires consumer warnings in California regarding various health risks. The American Meat Institute doesn't like 'em, or at least doesn't like 'em as applied to their product. So they sue, seeking a declaration that these warnings are pre-empted by federal law...

Hamazaspyan v. Holder (9th Cir. - Dec. 21, 2009)

Posted on December 21, 2009
Thank you, Judge Bea.Sometimes you've got to explain things to the slow-witted. Like me.This case involves an immigration petitioner who didn't receive notice and was deported in absentia. The relevant holding is, I'm sure, important to immigration practitioners, but I only want to talk about footnote three...

Independent Living Center v. Maxwell-Jolly (9th Cir. - Dec. 21, 2009)

Posted on December 21, 2009
Judges Reinhardt, Willie Fletcher and Milan Smith are not exactly dummies. In the slightest. So when you say something to them that they know -- or strongly suspect -- is wrong, they're likely to call you out on it. As they do here.It's a Medi-Cal reimbursement case, and the panel handed down its opinion (which was adverse to the California Attorney General's position) in July...

People v. Hernandez (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 17, 2009)

Posted on December 17, 2009
The facts are five double-spaced pages. Read them. Decide (1) what you think the proper sentence should be, and (2) whether they influence at all your attidue towards drugs and/or legalization arguments.There are no winners in this one.

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People v. Saleem (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 17, 2009)

Posted on December 17, 2009
What's "body armor"?California makes it illegal to wear body armor if you're a serious violent felon. Which makes sense to me. Ethan Saleem's previously been convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He's pulled over at 3:00 a.m. in Wilmington wearing a flak jacket, in circumstances that make me fairly confident that he was likely up to no good...

Walton v. Mueller (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 15, 2009)

Posted on December 16, 2009
I imagine that people will have varying reactions to this one.Timothy J. Walton is an attorney here in California. He gets 40 different spam messages and sues (representing himself, of course), and gets a default judgment for $40,000 (plus some various injunctive relief)...

Pelayo-Garcia v. Holder (9th Cir. - Dec. 14, 2009)

Posted on December 14, 2009
Here's an example of the problem with the categorical (and modified categorical approach), at least when applied to particular statutes when combined with inadequate records and/or lazy/overworked state officials.Luis Antonio Pelayo-Garcia is from Mexico and is convicted in California of "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor" under section 261...

People v. Cason (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 7, 2009)

Posted on December 11, 2009
I've got no real problem with Justice Ramirez's opinion. I recognize that there's a lingering question regarding whether California's anti-pimping statute really covers pimps who solicit existing prostitutes. After all, the statue says that you're guilty only if you cause someone "to become a prostitute...

Mayfield v. United States (9th Cir. - Dec. 10, 2009)

Posted on December 10, 2009
You always think it couldn't possibly happen to you. Until it does. I'm sure that's what Brandon Mayfield thought, anyway. Check this out:"On March 11, 2004, terrorists? bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people and injuring another 1600 people, including three U...

Robinson v. Kramer (9th Cir. - Dec. 9, 2009)

Posted on December 10, 2009
Is this an unintentional reference to Seinfeld?It's a California habeas case, so I'm pretty sure that the respondent in this one is Matthew Kramer, who's the warden of one of our fine prisons. But here's the caption on the Ninth Circuit's opinion:LORENZO ROBINSON, Petitioner-Appellant,v...

People v. O'Neal (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 9, 2009)

Posted on December 09, 2009
Low level scams seem so boring nowadays. Or even low-level "investments," like the ones here, where you're getting five figures from people in your church to market a dubious product on the basis of exceptionally dubious representations.Nonetheless, I mention this case for two reasons...

McFarland v. Guardsmark (9th Cir. - Dec. 9, 2009)

Posted on December 09, 2009
Rarely can I quote an entire published opinion verbatim. But I can here. It reads: "Johnny McFarland (?McFarland?) appeals from the district court?s decision denying his motion for partial summary judgment and granting partial summary judgment to Guardsmark, LLC in this dispute arising under Cal...

In Re Marriage of Kacik (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 19, 2009)

Posted on December 08, 2009
You can't argue that Justice Sills isn't direct. He is. You know what he's saying, and he'll say it directly.Some justices on the Court of Appeal, for example, "urge" the Legislature to "consider" various issues. But here's how Justice Sills does it in this case:"III...

In Re S.C. (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 8, 2009)

Posted on December 08, 2009
Only two published opinions today, both by the California Court of Appeal. So a slow judicial news day.I thought that I was going to violently disagree with this one. (Okay, so not truly "violently," but you know what I mean.) But in the end, I don't...

People v. Ervine (Cal. Supreme Ct. - Dec. 7, 2009)

Posted on December 07, 2009
It's always fascinating to see who gets to live and who's ordered killed. Those of us in California get to read every one of the latter cases (at least state-sponsored ones) due to automatic review in the California Supreme Court.Here, Dennis Ervine has a domestic dispute with his wife, and the next morning, the police come to his house to arrest him for it...

Lemoge v. United States (9th Cir. - Dec. 7, 2009)

Posted on December 07, 2009
I'm not an invariable hard-a**. But I wonder if the Ninth Circuit isn't being a little soft here.I agree with everything the panel says in Section A. Judge Burns (down here in San Diego) should clearly have discussed all four factors -- not just three of them -- in deciding whether to grant the plaintiff's Rule 60(b) motion for relief from dismissal...

Gomez v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 20, 2009)

Posted on December 04, 2009
It's not that I disagree with anything that Justice Scotland says in the first paragraph of this opinion. Which reads:"State prison inmates are a litigious bunch when it comes to filing writ petitions challenging conditions of confinement or raising a multitude of other grievances...

U.S. v. Kuo (9th Cir. - Dec. 3, 2009)

Posted on December 03, 2009
Want to see a case where I'd have probably been much harsher in imposing a sentence than the district court? Here you go.It's a sex slave trafficking case, involving defendants who imprisoned women in American Samoa and forced them to engage in prostitution...

U.S. v. Thompson (9th Cir. - Dec. 3, 2009)

Posted on December 03, 2009
How can you delay a fairly straightforward federal drug trial for almost four full years? Play with the rules regarding new lawyers and self-representation, and also feign incompetence.Though that'll only work for so long. After several years, everyone will catch on, and you'll finally be forced to go to trial...

People v. Dotson (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 30, 2009)

Posted on December 02, 2009
The police are hanging out at the Thunder Valley Casino at 4:00 a.m. looking to pick up whomever they can. They stop a vehicle because it doesn't have any license plates, but don't bother to look in the window to see if there was a red temporary sticker...

In Re Marriage of Buie & Neighbors (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 1, 2009)

Posted on December 01, 2009
I have to mention this case. For two (admittedly trivial) reasons. First, I like the caption. "In Re Marriage of Buie & Neighbors". No, it's not a case from Utah. The wife's name is Tatia Buie, and the husband's name is Walter Neighbors. Still. Funny...

Holbert v. Fremont Investment & Loan (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 30, 2009)

Posted on December 01, 2009
Want to know how the huge credit crisis -- or at least a large part of it (the housing part) -- got started? From stuff like this:"[P]laintiff was more than 65 years old and lived in a home in Citrus Heights, California that she and her husband had purchased in 1999...

People v. Zarazuza (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 30, 2009)

Posted on November 30, 2009
I love the color of this opinion. Which the Court of Appeal published earlier today.The good stuff is in the first page or so, which reads:"We publish this order to put to rest a challenge to a procedure commonly used by defendants to perfect appeals from judgments in criminal cases...

In Re Marriage of Tejada (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 25, 2009)

Posted on November 30, 2009
As Chevy Chase says to Tim Matheson (as Matheson's wife, played by Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, looks on) in Fletch: "Sally Ann and Alan were married eight years ago. Making Alan a bigamist. Even in Utah." What Fletch doesn't discuss -- but what the Court of Appeal does here -- is what this means for the property that Matheson and his (second) "wife" acquired...

People v. Scott (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 24, 2009)

Posted on November 27, 2009
No opinions today from anyone. But lest us working stiffs be deprived, here's something from a couple days ago. To get one's blood boiling notwithstanding turkey-induced sleepiness.It's one thing to call another opinion by the Court of Appeal wrongly decided...

Standard Microsystems Corp. v. Winbond Electronics Corp. (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 24, 2009)

Posted on November 25, 2009
Ever get the feeling that, sometimes, the justices might take things a little . . . personally?Not overly so, mind you. Since they're talking about the law, after all. But check out this paragraph from Justice Rushing:"On February 8 and 11, 2008, respectively, WIL and WEC filed separate motions to set aside the default and quash service of process...

People v. Archer (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 17, 2009)

Posted on November 24, 2009
I've known some pill poppers in my day. Still do. It's a scary -- and dangerous -- thing to get addicted to the stuff. And seemingly oh so easy. I say that with no disrespect. Thankfully, I don't have to live with chronic pain. I can only imagine what that must be like...

Boose v. Tri-County MTD (9th Cir. - Nov. 21, 2009)

Posted on November 23, 2009
Plaintiff was probably going to lose this one anyway. It's an ADA case, and the central arguments are technical and complicated. Once she saw the panel draw -- O'Scannlain, Randy White, and Ron Wyte (a Bush appointee sitting by designation from the Northern District), I don't think you'd have much hope if you're on the plaintiff's side...

Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona (9th Cir. - Nov. 20, 2009)

Posted on November 20, 2009
You know why, inter alia, my second- and first-grade children don't read the Federal Appellate Reporter? No pictures.But that's all changing. Check out page 15399 of the slip opinion by Judge McKeown. Yay! A picture!Sure, it's just a picture of a sign on some grass...

Galleria Plus v. Hanmi Bank (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 19, 2009)

Posted on November 19, 2009
I appreciate that this opinion is only three (double-spaced) pages long. That's nice.I just wish I agreed with it.I understand where Justice Epstein's coming from. I really do. But I just don't agree.Were I on the Court of Appeal, I could write a dissent that would be even more concise than Justice Epstein's opinion...

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