Darren Thomas v. Los Angeles County

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: April 8, 2010
• Docket: 09-55297
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 08 2010

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

DARREN THOMAS; JESUS AVILA; No. 09-55297 ERNESTO AVILA; TRACY BATTS; AARON BREITIGAM; ANTONIO D.C. No. 2:90-cv-05217-TJH CABALLERO; RUBEN CALDERON individually and as Guardian Ad Litem for Christina and David Calderon, minors; MEMORANDUM * CAROLINA CALDERON; LINDA CALDERON; JORGE CALDERON; DEMETRIO CARILLO; ELZIE COLEMAN; DOLORES DALTON, Guardian ad Litem for a minor Ron Dalton; MARRIANNE ENGLISH, inidividually and as parent and heir of Lawrence Johnson; Deceased; SERGIO GALINDO; RAUL GONZALES; MARCELO GONZALEZ; RICHARD HERNANDEZ; JEFFREY HOLLIMAN; SOCORRO HUERTA, Guardian ad litem for minor Fernandez Martinez; ERIC JONES; SANDRA LEONARD, heir of William Leonard; deceased; CANDI LEONARD, heir of William Leonard; deceased; YIDEFONZA LORENZANA; ALFREDO MAYA, inidividually and as Guardian ad litem for Irene Maya; RAUL MAYA, individual and as Guardian ad litem for Raul Maya Jr, a minor; CARLOS MAYA; MARGUERITA MAYA;

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. RUBEN MAYA; LUPE MAYA; NATALIE MELENDREZ, Guardian ad litem for a minor Jessie Melendrez; GEORGE MENDIBLES; ESTELLA MONTOYA, individually and as Guardian ad litem for Rebecca Montoya a minor & Crystal Trevino & Monique Trevino; RAPHAEL OCHOA; JOSE ORTEGA; DELIA OSITA; PATSY PEREZ Guardian at litem for Adolpho Alejade a minor & Brian Alejade a minor; RITA PRECIADO, Guardian ad litem for Salvador Preciado a minor; TERESA RODRIGUEZ, individually and as Guardian ad litem Alice Orejel a minor Maria Orejel a minor; SERGIO SANCHEZ; JOSE SANCHEZ; ALFREDO SANCHEZ; CHARLES SCOTT; MICHAEL STERLING; KEVIN MARSHALL; WILLIAM SCOTT; ALVIN WASHINTON; DANNY WILLIAMS; JULIA POLK Administrator for Estate of Lloyd Polk; ESTELA SANCHEZ; ALFONSO SANCHEZ; FRANCISCO TOVAR, individually and as guardian ad litem for minors Francisco Tovar Jr, Yesenia Tovar, Marcela Tovar, Jaime Tovar, Jesus Tovar and Herman Tovar; ELSA TOVAR; MARTA VELEZ,

Plaintiffs,

and

FREDDIE FUIAVA,

Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant,

-2- v.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, a public entity; LOS ANGELES SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, a public entity; CITY OF LYNWOOD, a public entity & a municipal corporation; SHERMAN BLOCK individually and as Sheriff of the County of Los Angeles; ROBERT EDMONDS, individually and as Undersheriff of the County of Los Angeles; JERRY HARPER, individually and as Assistant Sheriff of the County of Los Angeles; RICHARD FOREMAN, individually and as Assistant Sheriff of the County of Los Angeles; BERT J. CUEVA, individually and as Commander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lynwood Station; PAUL ARCHAMBAULT, #213669; ANTHONY CAMPBELL, #013405; JAMES CORRIGAN, #213671; ROBERT DELGADILLO, #230237; MICHAEL J. GARCIA, #207136; KELLY MCMICHAEL, #260309; DOUGLAS GILLIES #244674; J. LESLIE, #223389; JASON MANN, #196175; GUY MATO #188894; JOHN MOSSOTTI, #232692; EDWARD M. NORDSKOG #241276; MICHAEL PIPPIN, #116212; DAN RAIMO, #207220; THOMAS ROSAS, #111632; J. SHEEHY, #207157; ELIZABETH NMI SMITH #222075; GREGORY THOMPSON, #196144; THOMAS ZAMPIELLO, #128 who is sued individually and in his official capacity; JUAN ALVARADO; UNKNOWN ANDERSON, Sgt #160080;

-3- CHARLES BARTON; TIMOTHY E. BENSON, #246380; GARY BLACKWELL; STEVE BLAIR #236778; ROBERT BLUME, #273451; UNKNOWN BRANDENBURG #209523; C. BRANTLEY, Lt.; TIMOTHY BROAD; KATHERINE BROWN- VOYER, #258489; T. BROWNELL; RICHARD CALZADA; SCOTT CARTER #150582; RICHARD L. CASTRO, Lt.; JOHN CHAPMAN, #220837; JAVIER CLIFT; JOHN NIM CORINA, #213435; DANIEL COOPER; DANIELLE CORMIER; UNKNOWN COSTLEIGH, #173151; FRUSTINO DELVALLE; UNKNOWN DEVINE, Sgt; ROBERT DILLARD; CRAIG DITSCH; STEPHEN DOWNEY, #219137; RAYMOND ESQUERRA, #137451; LANCE FRALICK; RONALD E. GILBERT, #207131; UNKNOWN GIRON, #033144; NEILS GITTISARN, #236616; TIMOTHY GLOVER; CURTIS GOLDEN; FRANK NMI GONZALES; KEVIN GORAN, #222021; RAYMOND GOTT Captain; RUBEN GRACIA, #213459; ALBERT GROTEFEND, #034657; JOSEPH NMI GUZMAN; ALLEN HARRIS; TOMMY HARRIS, Sgt.; T. J. HARVEY, #038535; A. HERRERA, Lt.; UNKNOWN HOLBROOK, #209619; JOSEPH HOLMES, #041885; ERIC HUBNER, #37190; DALE HUFFMAN #265013; KEVIN J. KIFF, #235151; LOY LUNA, #201663; ALLYN LAWRENCE MARTIN, #223374; SCOTT LEE MCCORMICK, #248043; ABEL A.

-4- MORENO, #195912; JACK NEIHOUSE; UNKNOWN NELSON, #220245; UNKNOWN NUNEZ, #067434; RODOLFO O’DELL; UNKNOWN O’HARA #183119; RICHARD OROSCO, #068734; JAMES PACINA; ANDRE PINESETT, #260171; UNKNOWN RADELEFF, Lt.; JACK RAMIREZ #211246; R. A. REED, #236792; MICHAEL NMI REYNOLDS; UNKNOWN RIFKIN, #207195; ALLEN NMI RIPLEY; MARTIN RODRIGUEZ; WILLIAM ROMAN, #077668; T. RUNNING; MICHAEL SALVATORE, #044852; MICHAEL SCHNEIDER, #244092; LARRY SHULTZ; SAMUEL SILVA; M. SPARKS, Lt.; BRIAN NMI STEINWAND, #218524; JACK TARASIUK #244912; GERALD RICHARD THOMPSON, #238853; GREG THURMAN; PATRICK VALDEZ; MICHAEL VOGE, #186761; BYRON WAINIE #222015; K. WALL, #238868; TODD LAWRENCE WALLACE, #248150; JOHN A. WEST, #248032; JAMES WHITTEN; MICHAEL NMI WILBER; ROBERT WINDRIM; CHRIS JAMES YOUNG, #248084, each of whom is sued individually in his or her official capacity as an agent or employee of the County of Los Angeles,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court

-5- for the Central District of California Terry J. Hatter, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted April 6, 2010 ** Pasadena, California

Before: FERNANDEZ, SILVERMAN and GRABER, Circuit Judges.

Intervenor-Appellant Freddie Fuiava’s petition for habeas corpus is currently

pending in state court. The state court partially granted Fuiava’s motion under

California Penal Code § 1054.9 to take additional discovery in support of his

petition. Fuiava then moved to intervene in this closed case in the Central District

of California seeking modification of any protective order covering the discovery

generated during the life of this case. After the district court denied his motion

without stating a reason for its denial, a panel of this circuit remanded to give the

district court an opportunity to state the reasons for its ruling. See Thomas v.

County of L.A., No. 06-56228, 275 Fed. Appx. 664 (9th Cir. 2008) (citing Foltz v.

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2003)).

On remand, the district court again denied the motion to intervene,

concluding that Fuiava had not articulated how access to the evidence he sought

would be relevant to his collateral litigation. The district court further concluded

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

-6- that the reliance interest of the County in maintaining the protective order

outweighed the policy of avoiding duplicative discovery. Fuiava appealed and we

now vacate the district court’s order because the motion to intervene to modify the

protective order is moot.

In response to the panel’s inquiries, neither party has identified a protective

order that covers the discovery in this case. Fuiava’s motion to intervene seeking

modification of a protective order is therefore moot. No protective order prevents

Fuiava from obtaining the discovery he seeks.

The district court’s order denying Fuiava’s renewed motion to intervene to

modify the protective order is VACATED and the case is REMANDED with

directions to dismiss the motion as moot.

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