391 results for 'court:"9th Circuit"'.
J. Graber dismisses in part an immigrant's appeal from the 41-month prison sentence imposed following his guilty plea for attempted reentry by a removed noncitizen. The immigrant challenged the validity of his waiver of a grand jury indictment, but he waived the right to appeal that issue by pleading guilty unconditionally. The lower court correctly decided all other issues stemming from the matter. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Graber, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-705, Categories: Immigration
J. Clifton reverses in part and affirms in part a district court judgment in a putative class action under ERISA. The class alleged that UnitedHealthcare applied a "more stringent review process" to benefits claims for outpatient, out-of-network mental health and substance use disorder treatment than to otherwise comparable medical and surgical treatments. The class adequately stated a claim for a violation of the Parity Act and dismissal on that claim and the breach of fiduciary duty claim are reversed. However, the lower court correctly dismissed claims based on a violation of the terms of the employment plan. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Clifton, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 22-55761, Categories: Employment, Erisa, Health Care
J. Bennett finds that the district court properly granted Amazon’s motion to compel arbitration and dismissed without prejudice a case arising from a dispute between Amazon and the delivery service partners (DSP) with whom it contracts to provide local delivery services. The business entities entered into DSP agreements with Amazon that contained an arbitration provision. A transportation worker exemption did not extend to business entities or to commercial contracts such as the DSP agreement. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 22-35818, Categories: Arbitration, Contract
[Consolidated] J. Callahan dismisses three consolidated appeals challenging the district court’s decision to remand each of the underlying product liability actions back to California state court. The three consolidated product liability matters were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Callahan, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-55403, Categories: Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Friedland vacates six defendants’ convictions for mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud arising from defendants’ sales companies’ tactics in selling printer toner. While "not just any lie that secures a sale constitutes fraud; the lie must instead go to the nature of the bargain." The government’s theory of fraud in this case was overbroad because it did not require the jury to find that defendants deceived customers about the nature of the bargain.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Friedland, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 21-50162, Categories: Fraud
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J. Mendoza finds that the district court ruled improperly in part in a securities-fraud complaint against children's entertainment company Genius Brands International. The shareholders adequately pleaded that Genius fraudulently concealed its relationship with a stock promoter, as well as adequately pleaded loss causation with respect to claims that Genius misrepresented that Disney or Netflix would be acquiring the company. However, they did not adequately plead loss causation relating to Genius' alleged misrepresentations regarding its relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reversed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Mendoza, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-55760, Categories: Fraud, Securities
J. Gould finds that the lower court must reevaluate the amount of attorney fees owed to a transgender inmate for a successful Eighth Amendment claim. The inmate obtained an injunction requiring the state of Idaho, private prison company Corizon, and individual Idaho prison officials to provide the inmate with adequate medical care, including gender-confirmation surgery. The lower court awarded $2.58 million in attorney fees to the inmate, but improperly assessed the fees by calculating the lodestar amount to include fees incurred litigating unsuccessful claims advanced in the complaint. However, the district court correctly applied an enhancement to the lodestar amount given that counsel operated under extraordinary time pressure. Vacated in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Gould, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-35876, Categories: Health Care, Attorney Fees, Prisoners' Rights
J. Mendoza vacates a sentence which was imposed at a previous resentencing and remands for resentencing. Defendant’s failure to challenge specific aspects of her initial sentence on a prior appeal does not waive her right to challenge comparable aspects of a newly imposed sentence. Defendant has twice been sentenced by the district court and twice appealed those sentences, stemming from her involvement in a money-laundering scheme. Vacated.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Mendoza, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-50240, Categories: Fraud, Sentencing, Money Laundering
J. Gould vacates defendant's convictions on two counts of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter or reside unlawfully in the United States for private financial gain following remand from the Supreme Court. The matter is vacated because the jury instructions for the two counts omitted certain elements, making the instructions erroneous. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Gould, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 17-10548, Categories: Immigration, Jury
J. Spraker reverses, in part, the bankruptcy court's dismissal of an attorney's claims the California State Bar's efforts to collect discovery sanctions and disciplinary costs violated a stay. Although the debts were non-dischargeable when her case converted to chapter 7, an automatic stay prevented it from pursuing the costs during the pendency of her case. Reversed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Spraker, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: CC-23-1024-SFL, Categories: Bankruptcy
J. Smith finds that the district court properly denied absolute and qualified immunity to two County of San Bernardino social workers in a matter in which the social workers allegedly violated individuals’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by failing to provide them with notice of a juvenile detention hearing in which the County’s Child and Family Services sought custody of a minor and provided false information to the Juvenile Court about why a mother was not noticed for the hearing. The social workers failed to show that they were entitled to absolute immunity for actions taken in their role as social workers. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 22-56054, Categories: Family Law, Immunity
J. Nelson finds that the district court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress methamphetamine found during an officer’s inventory search of his backpack. The police may constitutionally conduct an inventory search of belongings when the property is lawfully retained and the search is done in compliance with police regulations, even after the individual has been released. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 21-30251, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Desai finds that the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of a distributor of smoking-related products on its claim to invalidate four of a cannabis company's trademark applications. The distributor alleged that the company infringed its "RAW" mark by selling cannabis products with the mark “Raw Garden.” Under United States Code, when an action involves a claim of infringement on a registered trademark, a district court has jurisdiction to consider challenges to the trademark. "Lack of a bona fide intent to use a mark in commerce is a valid basis to challenge a trademark application." However, in a separately filed memorandum disposition, the district court’s summary judgment ruling is reversed on the distributor's trademark claims and affirmed on the company's counterclaim to cancel the distributor's trademark for unlawful use. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Desai, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 22-16190, Categories: Trademark, Jurisdiction
J. Spraker upholds the bankruptcy court's order sustaining a creditor's objection to a debtor's homestead exemption claim. Under California law, two structures on one property - one the debtor's home and the other a rental - are not considered a single unit for homestead exemption purposes. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Spraker, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: CC-23-1120-SGC , Categories: Bankruptcy, Property
J. Thomas finds that the district court properly denied a habeas corpus petition in a case in which defendant was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of murder of one woman and the rape, sodomy and forced oral copulation of another. Defendant claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge a pathologist's qualifications after he was contracted to perform an autopsy in the matter. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Thomas, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 20-99011, Categories: Death Penalty, Habeas, Ineffective Assistance
J. Montalvo finds that the district court properly denied defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a case in which the district court rejected defendants' claim that a life without parole sentence, imposed after he pleaded guilty to public indecency, was grossly disproportionate to his offense in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The sentence under Oregon’s legislatively-mandated sex offender recidivism statute was correct when factoring in defendant's criminal history. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Montalvo, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-35076, Categories: Constitution, Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Sung finds that the district court improperly entered judgment upholding the denial of social security benefits by an administrative law judge (ALJ) and remanded with the instruction that the district court remand to the agency for further proceedings. The matter is remanded to the Commissioner of Social Security so that an ALJ can further develop the record and make specific findings on whether the claimant had transferable work skills. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Sung, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 22-35427, Categories: Employment, Social Security
J. Forrest finds that the district court properly entered conviction after a jury found defendant guilty of knowingly importing cocaine and methamphetamine. However the matter is remanded for resentencing. The district court erred by not making an explicit reliability finding related to an expert’s testimony about the value of the drugs found in defendant's vehicle, but the error was harmless. However, the matter is remanded for resentencing in line with recent authority clarifying the process for conducting a "mitigating role inquiry." Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Forrest, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 22-50069, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Bea finds that the district court properly vacated the attachment of a vessel in an admiralty action seeking fulfillment of arbitration awards. The arbitration awards, arising from a contract dispute, were owed to shipping companies by a different corporate entity. The shipping companies sought to “pierce the corporate veil” of the gas company and hold a corporation liable for the arbitration awards on a theory that the corporation was the alter ego of the gas company. The district court did not err in concluding that the shipping company failed to show a reasonable probability of success on their veil-piercing theory. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bea, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 23-15245, Categories: Admiralty, Corporations
J. Callahan finds that the district court properly dismissed, for failure to state a claim, an action alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act when a biopharmaceutical company's chief executive officer and vice president announced that it might have discovered a “cure” for Covid-19. In context, the company’s representations in a press release, a Fox News article and a BioSpace.com article were not materially false or misleading. The allegations in stockholders' class-action complaint did not support the requisite strong inference of scienter in the company’s intent to improperly manipulate the price of the company's shares. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Callahan, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 22-55641, Categories: Securities, Covid-19
J. Vratil grants in part an immigrant's review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming the denial of asylum. The record supported that the immigrant experienced past harm rising to the level of persecution, that the BIA was incorrect in its internal relocation analysis for purposes of asylum and withholding of removal, and substantial evidence supported the denial of protection under the Convention Against Torture. However, substantial evidence supported the BIA’s findings that the immigrant did not suffer past torture and is not likely to suffer future torture.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Vratil, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 22-211, Categories: Immigration
J. Desai strikes a father and daughter's opening brief in its entirety because it materially failed to comply with Circuit rules and dismisses the appeal. The father filed an opening brief replete with misrepresentations and fabricated case law. The brief included only a handful of accurate citations, almost all of which were of little use because they were not accompanied by coherent explanations of how they supported the father’s claims. The father and daughter alleged that their constitutional rights to association and due process were violated. They also alleged several state-law claims.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Desai, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 22-56121, Categories: Constitution, Due Process
J. Bress dismisses a petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals after it denied an immigrant's motions for remand and administrative closure. The matter was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bress, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 22-970, Categories: Immigration, Jurisdiction
J. Collins finds that the district court properly denied defendant's habeas corpus petition challenging his state court convictions for attempted murder, battery and burglary arising from his stabbing attack on multiple employees at the Clark County Social Services office in Henderson, Nevada. Defendant contended that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to pursue a defense of voluntary intoxication with respect to the charges that required the state to prove specific intent. Defendant did not present sufficient evidence for the ineffective assistance claims. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Collins, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 21-15806, Categories: Habeas, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Thomas finds that a bankruptcy appellate panel properly affirmed a bankruptcy court’s summary judgment in favor of a judgment creditor in the creditor’s adversary proceeding against two Chapter 7 debtors. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Thomas, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 23-60017, Categories: Bankruptcy
J. McEvers finds that the district court properly entered an amended criminal judgment and a district court order denying defendant's request to withdraw his conditional guilty pleas and his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant was charged with two counts of gross sexual imposition. Defendant did not show that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McEvers, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 2024ND47, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, Plea
J. Sanchez declined to dismiss an appeal as moot in consolidated appeals from district court orders subjecting two defendants to a condition of pretrial release that temporarily barred them from possessing firearms pending trial. The Bail Reform Act of 1984’s firearm condition on pretrial release is constitutional as applied to defendants.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Sanchez , Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-50316 , Categories: Firearms
J. Sanchez declined to dismiss an appeal as moot in consolidated appeals from district court orders subjecting two defendants to a condition of pretrial release that temporarily barred them from possessing firearms pending trial. The Bail Reform Act of 1984’s firearm condition on pretrial release is constitutional as applied to defendants.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Sanchez, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-50314, Categories: Firearms
Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit finds that the district court properly denied a preliminary injunction sought by five individual donors and two independent-expenditure organizations who sued the Alaska Public Offices Commission alleging that certain campaign finance regulations violated the First Amendment after enacting Ballot Measure 2 to "illuminate the use of dark money in their state’s elections." "Contribution-reporting and on-ad donor-disclaimer requirements were substantially related and narrowly tailored to the government’s asserted interest in providing the electorate with accurate, real-time information." Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-35612, Categories: Elections, First Amendment
J. Fletcher finds that the district court properly denied a company's motion to compel arbitration and remands to address an individual's challenge of a $1.99 expedited payment fee. The appeal arises from a putative class action alleging that two fees imposed by the owner and operator of retail stores that lease household and electronic items through rent-to-own contracts violate consumer laws. Challenges to other fees brought in the class action were not moot. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Fletcher, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 22-16868, Categories: Arbitration, Class Action