9th Circuit Court

9th Circuit discharges $6K that bankrupt attorney owed ex-client

A suspended California lawyer fighting to get her law practice privileges reinstated has at least one less obstacle to contend with. In a Thursday ruling, a federal appeals court agreed with Marilyn Scheer—who handled the appeal pro se—that a debt of nearly $6,000 she owed a former client for unearned…

Apr 18, 2016 1:30 PM CDT

Lawyer ordered to disgorge $11.4M to former clients loses challenge to consumer bureau’s power

A federal appeals court has upheld the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in an appeal by a California lawyer ordered to disgorge $11.4 million he collected from underwater homeowners. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision (PDF) on April 14, the…

Apr 18, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

ABA urges 9th Circuit to nix profits clawback from insolvent law firm’s unfinished business

After an hourly rates client of an insolvent law firm terminates the relationship, can a bankruptcy trustee later claw back some of the future profits earned by the client’s new counsel? After Howrey LLP dissolved in 2011, Chapter 7 trustee Allan Diamond brought this question to court and sued eight…

Apr 11, 2016 3:20 PM CDT

9th Circuit: Jury must decide suit over police dog who bit woman as she slept in her office

A civil rights lawsuit brought by a woman who was bitten by a police dog as she was sleeping in her office one night in 2010 was dismissed by a federal trial court three years later. Granting a summary judgment motion filed by the city of San Diego, the court…

Apr 8, 2016 10:20 AM CDT

Lawyer who filed late appeal showed ‘obstinate incompetence,’ Kozinski says

A well-known federal appeals judge is criticizing a criminal defense lawyer for “obstinate incompetence” in his representation of a murder defendant on appeal. Judge Alex Kozinski criticized lawyer Gregory Mitts while concurring in a decision (PDF) to give Mitts’ client a chance to show he was entitled to pursue a…

Mar 29, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

Fast-track death-penalty appeals get a boost with 9th Circuit standing decision

Justice Department regulations that would allow states to certify capital cases for fast-track habeas appeals can’t be challenged by two organizations that represent death-row inmates, a federal appeals court has ruled. Fast-track appeals are a step closer as a result of the March 23 appellate decision, the Wall Street Journal…

Mar 28, 2016 8:05 AM CDT

Federal judge ‘excoriated and mocked counsel,’ 9th Circuit says; he is booted from a fourth case

A federal judge in Nevada had no jurisdiction to grant a motion for summary judgment after the parties stipulated to dismissal, a federal appeals court has ruled. The judge, Robert Clive Jones of Reno, was tossed from the settled case in a March 2 nonprecedential order (PDF), Trial Insider reports.…

Mar 17, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

ABA urges California governor to grant ‘executive reprieve’ to convicted murderer

Supporting a clemency petition for a man convicted of murdering a California couple, one of their children and a visiting child in 1983, the president of the American Bar Association is urging the state’s governor to grant an “executive reprieve” until his guilt or innocence can be determined. Although Kevin…

Mar 16, 2016 2:30 PM CDT

9th Circuit OKs civil rights suit by man mistakenly jailed on warrant for another man

A federal appeals court has given a green light to a civil rights suit by a man who spent several days in a Los Angeles jail after being mistakenly booked under a warrant for another man. Mario Garcia shared the same first name, last name and birth date with the…

Feb 4, 2016 10:50 AM CST

9th Circuit upholds Arizona’s restrictions on judicial campaign activities

A federal appeals court has found that Arizona’s restrictions on judicial campaign activities do not violate the First Amendment. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the restrictions in an opinion (PDF) on Wednesday. Courthouse News Service and the Metropolitan News-Enterprise have stories. “Judges engaging in political…

Jan 29, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Arizona governor wants the state out of the 9th Circuit

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced today that he is working with the state’s U.S. congressional delegation to push for legislation that would remove Arizona from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Arizona Republic reports. “The Ninth Circuit is by far the most overturned and overburdened court…

Jan 28, 2016 3:20 PM CST

9th Circuit blasts judge who ruled for rancher, boots him from grazing-rights case

A federal appeals court not only vacated and reversed portions of a judgment in a high-profile Nevada grazing-rights case on Friday but booted the trial judge from the case on remand. Saying that U.S. District Judge Robert Clive Jones had displayed bias against the federal government and grossly abused his…

Jan 19, 2016 12:10 PM CST

En banc 9th Circuit nixes conviction of vet who wore unearned medals, cites free speech

A federal appeals court has nixed the criminal conviction of an Idaho man who served in the U.S. Marine Corps but never earned medals he later wore, including the Purple Heart. Finding a portion of the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional under First Amendment standards, an 11-judge en banc panel of…

Jan 12, 2016 12:20 PM CST

Ex-lawyer serving time in rare dog-maul murder case asks 9th Circuit to nix conviction

A former lawyer serving time after a rare second-degree murder conviction in a dog-mauling case is hoping a federal appeals court will overturn her conviction in the death of a San Francisco neighbor more than a decade ago. Arguments that the judge and prosecutor in Marjorie Knoller’s trial behaved inappropriately…

Nov 16, 2015 4:50 PM CST

9th Circuit overturns judge who deemed California’s death-penalty system ‘dysfunctional’

A federal appeals court has overturned a federal judge’s finding that “systemic delay and dysfunction” in California’s process of reviewing capital sentences had made the death penalty unconstitutionally arbitrary. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against inmate Ernest DeWayne Jones because he sought to apply a…

Nov 13, 2015 9:17 AM CST