2013 Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence and convictions for criminal copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit labels. The court held that the term "willfully" required the government to prove that a defendant knew…

Justia Opinion Summary: The government appealed the district court's dismissal of an indictment charging defendant of possession of a firearm as a misdemeanant under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) because defendant was not provided with appointed counsel.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence and conviction for possessing child pornography. The court held that the 2005 search of his computer at a CompUSA store was lawful because the police officers who conducted it did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed her conviction for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content over 0.08 percent; and failure to maintain control of a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud by use of manipulative and deceptive devices. On appeal, defendant challenged his sentence of 36 years' supervised…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff first applied for social security disability insurance (SSI) benefits ten years ago. When the benefits were denied, plaintiff requested a hearing but the SSA ruled that her request was untimely and denied a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a class action on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated, alleging that USSA committed numerous violations of California labor laws, including, inter alia, requiring them to work through their…

Justia Opinion Summary: Stake Center petitioned for a writ of mandamus reversing the district court's denial of its motion for forfeiture under The Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3771. Stake Center moved the district court to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 habeas corpus petition challenging his sentence for committing lewd and lascivious acts with force against a child. The court concluded that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, the crew of an Ecuadorian fishing boat, filed suit against the United States, alleging that the United States harmed plaintiffs and their property when the Coast Guard boarded the boat in search of drugs. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The district court denied habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254 to petitioner but issued a certificate of appealability (COA) on five issues. The district court then appointed appellate counsel under the Criminal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit under the Quiet Title Act (QTA), 28 U.S.C. 2409a; Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 500 et seq.; and Declaratory Judgment Act (DJA), 28 U.S.C. 2201-02, seeking to quiet fee-simple title to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former Arizona state prisoner, filed suit against defendants, alleging that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12131-12134, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA), 29 U.S.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiff was criminally charged, plaintiff filed a civil action against United Airlines in state court, alleging that its personnel falsified police reports, falsely diagnosed an epileptic seizure, and threatened…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case was one of twenty-six pending before the district court alleging injuries related to the ingestion of propoxyphene, an ingredient found in the Darvocet and Darvon pain medications, as well as their generic…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, guardian to Madlyn Liebsack, filed suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 2671 et seq., after Madlyn was left in a permanent vegetative state when she was treated with an elevated level of…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the Department denied Memorial's application for a Certificate of Need to perform elective percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), Memorial filed suit alleging that the PCI regulations were an unreasonable…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of murdering his wife, petitioned for federal habeas corpus relief, claiming that his constitutional right to adequate notice of the nature of the charges against him was violated when the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to illegally entering the United States during an "Operation Streamline" proceeding. The court concluded that, although the district court did not err by advising defendants of their rights en…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the City's enactment of an ordinance which had the practical effect of prohibiting new group homes - i.e., homes in which recovering alcoholics and drug users live communally and mutually…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a welder who injured his back in 2003, petitioned for review of the Benefits Review Board's affirmance of an ALJ's finding that petitioner's pay increases after the date of injury were reflective of his…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from the City's offering of municipal bonds to finance the development of a cable and Internet system. Nuveen subsequently brought federal and state securities claims against the City, alleging that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the jury verdict finding him guilty of sexual exploitation of a child in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) and knowingly receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(2). The court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of Armenia, sought review of the BIA's order affirming the IJ's decision declaring her asylum application frivolous. The BIA affirmed the IJ's determination that petitioner knowingly filed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitioned for review of the denial of her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court concluded that…

Justia Opinion Summary: NRIC challenged the Sixth Northwest Power Plan (the Plan) that the Council adopted in May 2010. NRIC argued that the Plan failed to give due consideration for protection, mitigation, and enhancement of fish and wildlife…

Justia Opinion Summary: I-TAP, an approved apprenticeship program for Federal purposes, but not recognized by California as a state-approved apprenticeship program, filed suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the ground that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with production, distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. Law enforcement officers found 3,400 electronic images and 632 electronic videos of commercial child pornography pursuant…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the forfeiture of $671,170 in currency seized from a vehicle rented by claimant, a Canadian citizen. Claimant appealed the district court's dismissal of his verified claim and answer, and the resulting…

Justia Opinion Summary: Rock River, a producer, seller, and distributor of music records, filed suit against UMG, alleging that UMG inappropriately blocked Rock River from distributing its album of Bob Marley and the Wailers remixes by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Rocky Mountain and American Fuels filed two separate actions against CARB, contending that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Cal. Code Regs. tit. 17, 95480-90, violated the dormant Commerce Clause and was preempted by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, along with one of his accomplices, was found guilty of murder. After petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was denied, the court granted a certificate of appealability to the issue of whether the…

Justia Opinion Summary: On interlocutory appeal, the government challenged the district court's grant of reconsideration and suppression of evidence found at an apartment defendant had entered several times in recent days before the search. At…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, sentenced to death on each of two counts of first-degree murder, appealed the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 habeas corpus petition. On appeal, petitioner raised claims regarding the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Warden appealed the denial of his motion to dismiss petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In this instance, petitioner filed his federal petition well over one year after his conviction became final.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff is a former prison gang member and police informant. Defendants are producers of the documentary television series, "Gangland." Plaintiff filed suit for various claims alleging that defendants' failure to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography. On appeal, defendant challenged his 240-month concurrent sentences. The court vacated and remanded for resentencing where the district court erred in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Barry Bonds's conviction of obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1503, arose from Bonds's testimony before a grand jury investigation regarding whether the proceeds of the sales of performance enhancing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, born in Mexico, appealed the denial of her request for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court issued the opinion to clarify that DHS could seek to terminate a prior grant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death, appealed the denial of his petitions for post-conviction relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The court concluded that most of the new…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of the handcuffing and removal from school of then eleven-year-old C.B. by Sonora Police officers. The district court rendered a verdict ostensibly in favor of defendants, but the district court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The government appealed the district court's order granting defendant's motion to suppress and the order denying the government's motion for reconsideration. Defendant had given a border patrol agent permission to "look…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Conservancy alleged that the United States was improperly diverting water from Icicle Creek, a tributary of the Wenatchee River, to the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery and otherwise violating Washington state law.…

Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiff was disciplined for serving process on defendant, a prison official, plaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging unconstitutional retaliation. On appeal, plaintiff challenged the district court's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of second degree burglary, challenged the district court's dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that it was untimely. The court held, however, that petitioner was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The SEC brought a civil enforcement action against numerous defendants allegedly involved in a scheme to sell unregistered securities of CMKM. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the SEC, ruling that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against Google under the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. 2511, after the antennas and software installed in Google's Street View cars collected basic identifying information transmitted by Wi-Fi networks, as…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the California Franchise Tax Board's wish to assess $13 million in unpaid income taxes on the individual partners of a general partnership that owned the property at issue, the Wilshire Courtyard. At…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Bonilla and Calixtro appealed their convictions and sentences stemming from charges related to their involvement in a plan to hold an illegal alien hostage until he paid defendants certain sums of money. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, four landlords, challenged the constitutionality of the City's Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP). The Housing Department places property into REAP when a landlord fails to repair habitability violations and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerned a dispute over attorney's fees related to a settlement of numerous civil rights lawsuits against the City and others. The court held that several important principles bear on the district court's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony murder, one count of robbery, and one count of grand theft. On appeal, petitioner challenged the district court's denial of his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, former President of the United Steel Workers Local 12-369, filed suit against defendants alleging claims of discrimination on the basis of race and gender, and retaliation for having engaged in protected…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Somalia, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision dismissing her asylum claim for lack of timeliness. Petitioner filed petitions for review in this court following the denial of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., after the Trustees' of their pension plan determined that plaintiffs' respective post-retirement jobs as…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of China, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision denying a motion to reopen. Petitioner entered the United States to flee an abusive relationship and claimed that she feared persecution in China…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of a crack cocaine offense. On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's denial of his motion for a reduced sentence under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The court affirmed the judgment, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: Donald and Kristi Gravelet-Blondin filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the City and Sgt. Shelton for excessive force and unlawful arrest, as well as malicious prosecution for the tasing and arrest of Donald. Kristi…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of second degree robbery, petitioned for review of the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 habeas corpus petition, alleging prosecutorial misconduct when the prosecutor knowingly elicited…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed the district court's grant of habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254 to petitioners, convicted of first degree murder. The district court concluded that petitioners' Sixth Amendment rights were violated…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to four drug offenses. On appeal, defendant challenged the trial court's finding that he violated a condition of his supervised release by associating with known felons. Under United States v.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Secretary appealed the district court's order certifying a nationwide class of Medicare beneficiaries and granting summary judgment in the beneficiaries' favor. The beneficiaries raised two claims: (1) the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a professor, filed suit alleging that university administrators retaliated against him in violation of the First Amendment for distributing a short pamphlet and drafts from an in-progress book. The court held…

Justia Opinion Summary: The district court found that the Secretary violated the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA), 25 U.S.C. 450 et seq., the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 500 et seq., and the Fifth…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Apple alleging federal and state antitrust claims. Plaintiff alleged that Apple encoded iTS music files with its proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM), called FairPlay, which rendered…

Justia Opinion Summary: Drakes Bay challenged the Secretary's discretionary decision to let Drakes Bay's permit for commercial oyster farming expire according to its terms. Drakes Bay subsequently sought a preliminary injunction under Section…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants appealed their sentences after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess an unregistered firearm. Defendants had purchased a grenade launder from an undercover ATF agent. In consolidated appeals, at issue was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Dandino petitioned under 49 U.S.C. 521(b)(9) for review of an order of the FMCSA affirming a civil penalty to Dandino for transporting goods after the agency had revoked its operating authority and before that authority…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the EPA sent two letters to Anderson notifying Anderson of its potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, foie gras producers and sellers, appealed the district court's denial of their motion to preliminarily enjoin the State of California from enforcing California Health & Safety Code 25982. Section 25982 banned…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a former prison guard in India, challenged the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's conclusion that petitioner failed to establish eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal because he had assisted in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of felony murder after he and his girlfriend robbed the house of her stepmother. After they left the stepmother hogtied and face-down with a sheet taped around her head, the stepmother was not…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of using a thermal lance to cut open the back of an ATM in order to steal the money it contained. Under 18 U.S.C. 844(h)(1), a mandatory ten-year consecutive sentence was imposed on anyone who…

Justia Opinion Summary: Landon Wynar, a sophomore high school student, was suspended from school after he made a string of increasingly violent and threatening instant messages sent from home to his friends. Landon and his father sued the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for illegally storing hazardous wastes without a permit in violation of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. 6928(d)(2). The hazardous wastes at issue were used…

Justia Opinion Summary: Applicants sought a four-month exemption from the per page Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system fee. At issue was whether the court had jurisdiction to review the district court's administrative order…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sought to enjoin enforcement of Senate Bill 1172, which banned state-licensed mental health providers from engaging in "sexual orientation change efforts" ("SOCE") with patients under 18 years of age, because…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned Hawaii's "Act 163," Haw. Rev. Stat. 302A-1134(c), which barred students from attending public school after the last day of the school year in which they turned 20. At issue was whether state-funded…

Justia Opinion Summary: In two separate cases, the government charged defendant with being an alien in the United States after deportation, as well as misrepresenting his identity and citizenship to fraudulently obtain supplemental social…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to investment fraud. The district court ordered defendant to pay restitution pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 (MVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3663A. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant removed plaintiff's putative class action to federal court, contending that there was federal jurisdiction over the action under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), Pub. L. No. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of sixteen counts of making a false claim for farm benefits in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1014 and subsequently appealed the district court's loss calculation. The court concluded that the record…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant repeatedly violated his terms of supervised release after a child pornography conviction and the district court revoked his supervised release. Opper v. United States held that, in criminal proseuctions, where…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment that Congress has no power to regulate the activities contemplated by the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, Mont. Code Ann. 30-20-104, and injunctive relief preventing the federal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an atheist, filed suit seeking damages and injunctive relief after he was forced as a condition of parole to participate in a residential drug treatment program that required him to acknowledge a higher power.…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from charges that defendant falsified a 2000 charitable organization tax return in order to conceal his support of an independence movement in Chechnya. The case involved significant amounts of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Belarus, petitioned for review of an order of the BIA affirming an IJ's determination that she was not entitled to asylum, withholding of removal, or relief under the Convention…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of fifteen counts of wire fraud, eleven counts of money laundering, and three counts of tax evasion. At issue on appeal was whether the district court correctly applied U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(9)(A)…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to violating Nev. Rev. Stat. 484C.110(3)(g), which prohibited driving with over 2ng/ml of marijuana in the blood, assimilated into federal law under the Assimilative Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. 13. On…

Justia Opinion Summary: Planned Parenthood and others filed suit challenging Ariz. Rev. Stat. 35-196.05(B) as a violation of the federal Medicaid Act, 42 U.S.C. 1396a. Ariz. Rev. Stat. 35-196.05(B) barred patients eligible for the state's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against the district alleging claims for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213. On appeal, plaintiff…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the Supreme Court issued its decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, Ernst & Young filed a motion to compel arbitration of state wage and hour claims asserted by its former employee. The district court denied…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of El Salvador, was convicted of brandishing a firearm in the presence of the occupant of a motor vehicle, in violation of California Penal Code section 417.3. An IJ subsequently…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Peru, was found removable because he had committed a theft offense that qualified as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43). At issue was whether the government proved that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Debtor was required to make contributions to the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund pursuant to a multiemployer bargaining agreement (the Agreement). When the Agreement expired, debtor no longer was a signatory to a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sought to add a claim under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. 77k, against former outside directors of Peregrine. The district court denied leave to amend the complaint, concluding that…