United States v. Arpaio, No. 17-10448 (9th Cir. 2020)
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After defendant was found guilty of criminal contempt in a bench trial for willfully violating a preliminary injunction prohibiting him from enforcing federal civil immigration law, he was granted a pardon by the President. The district court granted defendant's motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, but refused to vacate the guilty verdict.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, holding that United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U.S. 36 (1950), which provides for vacatur in cases mooted while on appeal, did not apply in this case. Because the mootness issue here arises from the fact that the district court's findings of guilt can be given no future preclusive effect, the panel held that the Munsingwear rule did not apply to defendant and he was not entitled to vacatur. In this case, defendant was never sentenced and thus there was no final judgment of conviction. Furthermore, the verdict was not essential to the judgment, but was inconsistent with, the final judgment, which dismissed the criminal contempt charge. Finally, defendant's challenges to the district court's finding of guilt were moot and thus the panel did not address them.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment dismissing former Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio’s criminal proceeding with prejudice, and denying vacatur of the district court’s verdict finding Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt, in a case in which Arpaio was granted a pardon by the President before the district court could sentence him. The panel held that because the verdict can have no future preclusive effect, Arpaio’s claimed errors in the verdict are moot; and Arpaio’s appeal from the denial of vacatur of the verdict is appealable as a final order over which this court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Arpaio claimed that the district court abused its discretion by refusing to vacate the district court’s verdict under the Munsingwear rule, which provides for vacatur in cases mooted while on appeal. The panel held that in this case, vacatur would not further the purposes of Munsingwear because the district court’s verdict finding Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt has no legal consequences. The panel explained that the verdict did not satisfy either of the two conditions for preclusive effect in a subsequent action because (1) there was no final judgment of conviction, as Arpaio was never sentenced; and (2) the verdict was inconsistent with, and thus not essential to, the final judgment, which dismissed the criminal contempt charge. UNITED STATES V. ARPAIO 3
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on April 17, 2018.
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