In Estate of Anderson v. Marsh, published January 15, 2021, a divided 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed, for lack of jurisdiction, an interlocutory appeal from a district court order denying a motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. After a high-speed chase, an officer approached a vehicle that had crashed into a fence. The…
In Roger v. County of Riverside, published January 22, 2020, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2 reversed a judgment for the defendant county entered on demurrer and summary judgment. The plaintiff was a physician whom the court held in contempt when he refused to produce documents a court-appointed receiver requested to be produced in…
In Regents of the University of California v. Superior Court (Rosen), published December 3, 2018, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 7, on remand from the California Supreme Court, affirmed denial of the defendant Regents and university personnel's motion for summary judgment in a negligence case brought by a UCLA student who was stabbed in…
In Foster v. Hellawell, published November 20, 2018, a divided Ninth Circuit panel affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court order denying a police officer summary judgment based on qualified immunity. A 911 call was received that a man had displayed a gun and was walking toward stores that had previously been robbed. …
In Whalen v. McMullen, published October 30, 2018, the 9th Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a Washington State Patrol detective in a suit alleging the officer conducted a search of the plaintiff's house that violated the Fourth Amendment. The plaintiff was receiving Social Security Disability benefits. A task force that investigates potential social security…
In Mellen v. Winn, published August 17, 2018, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of the defendant police detective. When the detective was the lead investigator of a murder, a key witness told the detective that the plaintiff had confessed to involvement in the murder. One of the detective's fellow police…
In Hernandez v. City of San Jose, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, on interlocutory appeal, affirmed denial of a motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity. The plaintiffs, who attended a rally for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, alleged that police officers who knew that a mob around the rally had attacked Trump supporters previously that…
In Pike v. Hester, published June 6, 2018, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 lawsuit arising out of a dog search of the plaintiff's office. The plaintiff, a county employee and football coach, had an acrimonious relationship with…
In Felarca v. Birgeneau, published May 31, 2018, the 9th Circuit reversed denial of summary judgment, on qualified immunity grounds, to multiple police officers and university officials arising out of police use of force against student protesters who violated an order to take down an encampment on campus and disperse. Viewing the facts in the light…