Aquino v. County of Monterey Sheriff's Department

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Aquino v. County of Monterey Sheriff's Department, 698 F. App'x 901 (9th Cir. 2017)

Aquino v. County of Monterey Sheriff's Department

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Summary judgment was denied on defendant-appellant Ivan Rodriguez’s claims of qualified immunity because the district court found genuine issues of material fact remained unresolved concerning each claim. We agree and thus affirm.

Plaintiff-appellee Nicolas Aquino moved this court to impose sanctions against Rodriguez for filing a frivolous appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 38 (“[I]f a court of appeals determines that an appeal is frivolous, it may, after a separately filed motion or notice from the court and reasonable opportunity to respond, award just damages and single or double costs to the appel-lee.”). “ ‘An appeal is considered frivolous if the result is obvious or the appellant’s arguments are wholly without merit.’ ” Ingle v. Circuit City, 408 F.3d 592, 595 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Adriana Int’l Corp. v. Thoeren, 913 F.2d 1406, 1417 (9th Cir. 1990)).

The request for sanctions in Aquino’s answering brief does not provide Rodriguez sufficient notice. See Higgins v. Vortex Fishing Sys., Inc., 379 F.3d 701, 709 (9th Cir. 2004) (“A request made in an appellate brief does not satisfy Rule 38....” (quoting State of Cal. Emp’t Dev. Dep’t v. Taxel (In re Del Mission Ltd.), 98 F.3d 1147, 1154 (9th Cir. 1996))). However, we may,. sua sponte, impose sanctions for filing a frivolous appeal under Rule 38 “after ... notice from the court and reasonable opportunity to respond.” Fed. R. App. P. 38. We order Rodriguez to show cause in writing, within 14 days' after this memorandum disposition is filed, why we should not award attorneys’ fees and double costs to Aquino under Rule 38—includ-ing addressing the questions raised at oral argument about Rodriguez’s potentially frivolous positions. Aquino may file a reply within 14 days after service of Rodriguez’s response.

AFFIRMED.

**

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.

Reference

Full Case Name
Nicolas AQUINO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. COUNTY OF MONTEREY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT; Ivan Rodriguez, an Individual, Defendants-Appellants
Status
Unpublished