Eastern District of California Blog

Ninth Circuit Reinstates Kings County Jail Wrongful Death Suit

A federal appellate court has reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of an inmate who was killed by his co-defendant and cellmate inside the Kings County Jail five years ago.

Judge Lawrence O’Neill dismissed the federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Fresno in February 2015.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, however, ruled this month that O’Neill erred: “In California, prison officials owe detainees a duty to protect them from foreseeable harm.”

And under California law, “a jailer may be held partially liable even if the harm was primarily due to the detainees’ own negligence,” the ruling says.

The lawsuit centers on the April 2012 killing of John Cotta, 30, of Tulare. In June 2013, Heath Derrick Parnell pleaded guilty to murdering Cotta inside a jail cell that the two men shared.

Fresno Bee, 4/11/17

Ninth Circuit Reverses EDCA Court's Judgment For Plaintiffs In FTCA Case

In S.H. v. United States, No. 15-15000 (9th Cir. Apr. 10, 2017), the Ninth Circuit vacated the EDCA court's judgment in favor of plaintiffs who brought a Federal Tort Claims Act action against the United States, holding that plaintiffs' claims arose in Spain and thus were barred by the Act's foreign country exception.  Plaintiff S.H. was born prematurely while her family was stationed at a United States Air Force base in Spain and, as a result of her premature birth, S.H. suffered permanent brain injury that led to a diagnosis of cereal palsy after she returned to the United States.

Vallejo Kidnapping Civil Case Heats Up

With Matthew Muller's federal kidnapping case concluding with a guilty plea and 40-year sentence, the Sacramento Bee has a lengthy article on ongoing skirmishes in the EDCA civil lawsuit his victims filed against the City of Vallejo and its police department over their handling of the investigation.

Guilty Pleas For Growing Marijuana On Native American Site

Three men pled guilty Monday in Fresno federal court for conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana on a Native American site in Domeland Wilderness area, the office of U.S Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said.  Fresno Bee, 4/3/17

Pretrial Skirmishes In Former Fresno Police Deputy Chief's Drug Trafficking Case

Pablo Lopez has two pieces this week in the Fresno Bee on pretrial filings in the Keith Foster drug trafficking case that is scheduled to begin trial in Fresno on May 9.  The April 2 article discusses some of the wiretap pleadings and the April 3 piece summarizes the prosecution's trial brief.  Here are the first few paragraphs of the second:

Keith Foster blames his family for getting involved in drug dealing and losing his job as deputy chief of the Fresno Police Department, according to a trial brief filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

The brief divulges new information about the evidence against Foster, the former No. 2 man for Police Chief Jerry Dyer, and his co-defendants. It also suggests that Foster would have used his connections within the police department to protect one of his nephews who was caught with six pounds of marijuana.

The 15-page brief, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Duce Rice, gives details about what Foster said to an FBI agent after his arrest in March 2015.

A federal indictment charges Foster with participating in three separate conspiracies involving two of his nephews and their friends to distribute heroin, oxycodone pills and marijuana.

So far, four defendants, including Foster’s nephew, Denny Foster, have accepted plea agreements. Keith Foster, his nephew Randy Flowers, and Ricky Reynolds are scheduled to stand trial in federal court on May 9.

Ex-Staffer of Sacramento City Councilwoman Loses Family Medical Leave Act Suit

A federal court jury exonerated the city of Sacramento on Tuesday on charges that it violated the family-leave rights of a staffer who was fired by City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby.

The panel returned its verdict after about three hours of deliberations following last week’s civil trial in front of U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr.

Sarah R. Novo, Ashby’s former director of constituent affairs, filed the lawsuit four years ago. She claimed the city violated the federal Family Medical Leave Act when she was let go from her job in March 2012.

Ashby said after the verdict that the city “acted lawfully and within our guidelines” and “with the best interests of serving the people of Sacramento as our first priority.”

Sac Bee, 4/4/17; see also Sac Bee, 4/3/17.