Heikkila v. Barber

164 F. Supp. 587, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 984, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3852
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJuly 1, 1958
Docket35373
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 164 F. Supp. 587 (Heikkila v. Barber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heikkila v. Barber, 164 F. Supp. 587, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 984, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3852 (N.D. Cal. 1958).

Opinion

EDWARD P. MURPHY, District Judge.

This is a civil contempt proceeding instituted by a show cause order issued on motion of William Heikkila, the plaintiff in this action. The respondents are Bruce G. Barber, named defendant in this action and District Director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Thirteenth Immigration District, and Stan Olson, Assistant District Director for Deportation of the same district. The bases of the contempt charges are: (1) deportation of plaintiff while the action was pending; and (2) violation of a restraining order issued by Judge Harris of this court.

The Facts.

This case has a long history, none of which is pertinent here. For present purposes it suffices to note the following: plaintiff was ordered deported and his application for suspension of deportation was denied; after exhausting his administrative remedies, plaintiff instituted the present action seeking appropriate declaratory and injunctive relief. Defendant Barber answered the complaint and filed a motion to dismiss. After oral argument and filing of briefs, all matters were submitted. The events which followed are set out in chronological order:

January IJ, 1958. This court issued the following order:

“Any and all relief prayed for by the plaintiff herein is hereby denied and the action is dismissed.
“Let findings of fact and conclusions of law be prepared and submitted in accordance with the rule.
“It Is So Ordered.”

On the same day, the clerk made the following entries in the docket:

“Filed order denying relief prayed by plaintiff and dismissing action. Counsel to prepare findings, conclusions & judgment.
“(Murphy)”
“Mailed copies order to counsel.”

March 11. Defendant’s counsel submitted to the court and lodged with the clerk proposed findings of fact and con *590 elusions of law and a proposed formal judgment.

April 8. No objections thereto having been submitted, 1 the court found satisfactory and signed the proposed findings and conclusions and the proposed formal judgment, erroneously dating them April 4. The formal judgment reads:

“Judgment.
“The above matter having been heard by the Honorable Edward P. Murphy, Judge of the above-entitled Court, and the Court having heretofore filed its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, now, therefore,
“It Is Hereby Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that plaintiff is entitled to no relief by his complaint herein; that said complaint and action be and the same are hereby dismissed, and that defendants have judgment for costs in the sum of $20.00.”

On the same day the clerk made the following entries in the docket:

“Filed findings and conclusions.

“(Murphy)”
“Entered judgment — filed April 3, 1958 — complaint dism. & deft, to recover costs in sum $20.00.
“(Murphy)”
“Mailed notices.”

April 14. Plaintiff filed a motion “to modify the findings of fact and conclusions of law heretofore entered on the 3rd day of April, 1958,” setting the hearing date initially as April 28, which was later changed to May 2.

April 18. At 5:30 p. m. 2 plaintiff was arrested as he left work and driven to the San Francisco International Airport. There he was placed aboard a government plane together with Olson and another immigration officer. The plane left at 6:20 p. m. and arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia at 11:30 p. m. the same day. Plaintiff was there placed in the Vancouver City Jail.

April 19. Plaintiff’s counsel secured' from Judge George B. Harris an order-restraining “Bruce Barber, and all persons acting in concert with him or under his direction or control * * * from, holding in custody, deporting or attempting to deport the plaintiff William Heikkila until the 29th day of April, 1958, or the further order of this court.” The order was served on an officer of the-Immigration Service the same day. Barber was notified of the order the following day, while Heikkila was still in Vancouver. Olson was not notified of the-order until his return to the United States on April 21.

April 20. Plaintiff was placed aboard a Canadian Pacific Airlines plane bound for Amsterdam. The plane left at 2:00-p. m. In Amsterdam he was placed by Netherlands authorities aboard a plane-bound for .Helsinki via Copenhagen (change of planes in Copenhagen). The arrival in Helsinki appears to have been on the afternoon of April 22. The intervening times and dates are not clear.

Deportation of Plaintiff While the Action was Pending.

The first basis of plaintiff’s contempt-charges is that the respondents effected his deportation while the action was still pending in this court.

In this connection there has been much argument as to whether the order of January 14 was a final judgment for purposes of appeal. The issue thus-framed is defective in two important respects: (1) it ignores the later order-of this court dated April 4 and entered April 3; (2) the finality of a judgment for purposes of appeal does not necessarily determine its finality for other purposes.

Taking the view most favorable-to plaintiff, it is clear from the many rulings in the Ninth Circuit that at the very least a final judgment in this action- *591 was entered on April 4. 3 See, e. g., Reynolds v. Wade, 1957, 241 F.2d 208; Cedar Creek Oil & Gas Co. v. Fidelity Gas Co., 1956, 238 F.2d 298; Steecone v. Morse-Starrett Products Co., 1951, 191 F.2d 197; In re California Associated Products Co., 1950, 183 F.2d 946; Kam Koon Wan v. E. E. Black, Ltd., 1950, 182 F.2d 146; Colvin v. Woods, 1950, 180 F.2d 893; Hoiness v. United States, 1947, 165 F.2d 504; J. E. Haddock, Ltd., v. Pillsbury, 1946, 155 F.2d 820; Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Pillsbury, 1946, 154 F.2d 559; see also the recent discussion by the Supreme Court in United States v. F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Co., 1958, 356 U.S. 227, 78 S.Ct. 674, 2 L.Ed. 2d 721.

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Bluebook (online)
164 F. Supp. 587, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 984, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3852, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heikkila-v-barber-cand-1958.