Martin Reiner v. Shane Hofeling, ET AL.

District Court, E.D. California·Decided April 7, 2026·No. 2:25-cv-02376·Unknown

Opinion

MARTIN REINER, Case No. 2:25-cv-02376-DC-CKD (PS) Plaintiff, v. ORDER AND FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS (ECF Nos. 8, 9, 12, 21) Defendant. Pending before the Court are Defendants Leah Wilson, Ellin Davtyan, Shane Hoefling, Donna Sampson, the Honorable Patricia Guerrero, and Biying Jia’s motions to dismiss and Defendants Guerrero and Jia’s motion to declare Plaintiff Martin Reiner a vexatious litigant.1 (ECF No. 8, 9, 12.) Plaintiff is appearing without counsel. Pursuant to Local Rule 230(g), the Court submits the motion upon the record and briefs on file and vacated the March 26, 2026 hearing. For the reasons that follow, the Court RECOMMENDS granting Defendants’ motions to dismiss without leave to amend and granting Defendants Guerrero and Jia’s motion to declare Plaintiff a vexatious litigant. / / / 1 This matter proceeds before the undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, Fed. R. Civ. P. 72, and Local Rule 302(c). I. BACKGROUND2 A. Prior Proceedings On March 19, 2014, the State Bar Court of California found Plaintiff Martin Reiner to have willfully disobeyed three court orders issued by workers’ compensation administrative law judges and recommended he be suspended from practicing law for two years. See In the Matter of Martin Barrett Reiner, Case No. 09-O-10207.3 Upon finding that Plaintiff willfully violated the terms of his suspension order, Plaintiff was disbarred on August 24, 2015. See In the Matter of Martin Barrett Reiner, Case No. 14-N-06382-PEM. Plaintiff subsequently filed 19 actions before the Superior Court of California, Counties of Los Angeles, and before the United States District Court in the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California and in the Central District of Columbia. (ECF No. 22.) Plaintiff was subsequently declared a vexatious litigant in the State of California as well as in the Central and Northern Districts of California. (ECF No. 21 at 2.) B. Current Litigation Plaintiff commenced this action on August 20, 2025, against Defendants Shane Hofeling, Donna Sampson, Biying Jia, the Honorable Patricia Guerrero, Leah Wilson, and Ellin Davtyan. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that these Defendants engaged in concerted misconduct after Plaintiff had allegedly “uncovered insurance fraud” while defending a case being litigated before the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (“WCAB”). Id. at ¶¶ 14-16. Plaintiff asserts that the California Bar failed to prove all elements necessary to satisfy their burden of proof and committed extrinsic fraud. Id. at ¶¶ 15-16. Plaintiff further alleges Defendant Jia engaged in wrongdoing as a California Supreme Court deputy clerk by “wrongfully obstructing” Plaintiff’s petition for review of his disciplinary matters on August 21, 2023. Id. at ¶ 17. Plaintiff alleges Defendant Guerrero was aware of the alleged misconduct and a “conspiring

2 These facts primarily derive from the complaint (ECF No. 1), which are construed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff as the non-moving party. Faulkner v. ADT Sec. Servs., 706 F.3d 1017, 1019 (9th Cir. 2013). However, the Court does not assume the truth of any conclusory factual allegations or legal conclusions. Paulsen v. CNF Inc., 559 F.3d 1061, 1071 (9th Cir. 2009). 3 “[A] court may take judicial notice of its own records in other cases[.]” United States v. Wilson, 631 F.2d 118, 119 (9th Cir. 1980). participant.” Id. at ¶ 18. Plaintiff alleges that the misconduct extends to the State Bar Association as well, alleging that Defendants Wilson and Davtyan, officers of the California State Bar Association instructed the California Franchise Tax Board (“CFTC”) to “wrongfully impose a levy [on Plaintiff’s bank].” Id. at ¶ 15. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Sampson, a CFTC employee, failed to properly investigate Plaintiff’s reported concerns. Id. at ¶ 19. Plaintiff alleges Defendants Jia, Wilson, Davtyan, Sampson, and Doe Defendants participated in a conspiracy to deprive Plaintiff of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under Section 1983 in their individual capacities and against Defendants Hofeling and Guerrero in their official capacities. Id. at ¶¶ 22-23. A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and may hear only those cases authorized by federal law. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994). Jurisdiction is a threshold inquiry, and “[f]ederal courts are presumed to lack jurisdiction, ‘unless the contrary appears affirmatively from the record.’” Casey v. Lewis, 4 F.3d 1516, 1519 (9th Cir. 1993) (quoting Bender v. Williamsport Area Sch. Dist., 475 U.S. 534, 546 (1986)); see Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. Cal. State Bd. of Equalization, 858 F.2d 1376, 1380 (9th Cir. 1988). Without jurisdiction, the district court cannot decide the merits of a case or order any relief and must dismiss the case. See Morongo, 858 F.2d at 1380. A federal court’s jurisdiction may be established in one of two ways: actions arising under federal law or those between citizens of different states in which the alleged damages exceed $75,000. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332. “Subject- matter jurisdiction can never be waived or forfeited,” and “courts are obligated to consider sua sponte” subject matter jurisdiction even when not raised by the parties. Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 141 (2012). A. Requests for Judicial Notice (ECF Nos. 8-1, 13, 20, 22-6) A court may “judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it: (1) is generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction; or (2) can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Federal Rule of Evidence 201(b). Public records are properly the subject of judicial notice because the contents of such documents contain facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute, and the facts therein “can be accurately and readily be determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Federal Rule of Evidence 201(b); see Intri-Plex Techs. v. Crest Grp., Inc., 499 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007). Defendants Wilson and Davtyan request judicial notice of the existence and authenticity of the State Bar Court Hearing Department and court records attached as Exhibits 1-8 in support of their motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 8-1.) Defendants Guerrero and Jia request judicial notice of the authenticity of the State Bar Court opinions, dockets and Superior Court records attached as exhibits 1-5 in support of their motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 13). Defendants Guerrero and Jia also request judicial notice of several Superior Court and United States District Court filings and records attached as Exhibits 1-75 in support of their motion to declare Plaintiff a vexatious litigant. (ECF No. 22-6.) Good cause appearing, the request to take judicial notice of these court records is grant

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Martin Reiner v. Shane Hofeling, ET AL., (E.D. Cal. 2026).

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