Ministry of Defense and Support v. Cubic Defense
| Decision Date | 07 October 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-55015.,No. 02-57043.,No. 99-56498.,99-56498.,02-57043.,03-55015. |
| Citation | 385 F.3d 1206 |
| Parties | The MINISTRY OF DEFENSE AND SUPPORT FOR THE ARMED FORCES OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, as Successor in Interest to the Ministry of War of the Government of Iran, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CUBIC DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC., as Successor in Interest to Cubic International Sales Corporation, Defendant, v. Stephen M. Flatow, Plaintiff-intervenor-Appellant, and Dariush Elahi, Plaintiff-intervenor. The Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as Successor in Interest to the Ministry of War of the Government of Iran, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Cubic Defense Systems, Inc., as Successor in Interest to Cubic International Sales Corporation, Defendant, v. Stephen M. Flatow, Plaintiff-intervenor-Appellant, and Dariush Elahi, Plaintiff-intervenor. The Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as Successor in Interest to the Ministry of War of the Government of Iran, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cubic Defense Systems, Inc., as Successor in Interest to Cubic International Sales Corporation, Defendant, v. Stephen M. Flatow, Plaintiff-intervenor, and Dariush Elahi, Plaintiff-intervenor-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; Rudi M. Brewster, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. Nos. CV-98-01165-B, CV-98-01165-RMB.
Anthony J. Van Patten, Anthony J. Van Patten, Inc., Glendale, CA, and Mina Almassi, Los Altos, CA, for the Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Steven R. Perles, Perles Law Firm, P.C., Washington, DC (argued) and Thomas Fortune Fay, Washington, DC, for appellant Stephen Flatow.
Jonathan R. Mook, DiMuro, Ginsberg & Mook, P.C., Alexandria, VA, (argued) and Philip J. Hirschkop, Hirschkop & Associates, P.C., Alexandria, VA, for appellee Dariush Elahi.
Before: B. FLETCHER, WARDLAW, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.
These consolidated appeals arise from attempts by Stephen Flatow ("Flatow") and Dariush Elahi ("Elahi") to collect on default judgments they obtained against the Islamic Republic of Iran ("Iran") in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. That court found Iran liable for the terrorist acts that resulted in the deaths of Flatow's daughter and Elahi's brother. In both cases, the district court assessed substantial compensatory and punitive damages against Iran.
In the underlying case, Iran's Ministry of Defense ("MOD") successfully petitioned the District Court for the Southern District of California to confirm an arbitration award issued in its favor by the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC"). The $2.8 million award had been issued against a supplier of military equipment, Cubic Defense Systems, Inc. ("Cubic"), and related to a claimed breach of contract by Cubic in providing military hardware to MOD. Shortly after the district court confirmed the arbitration award, Flatow moved to intervene in the case. The district court denied Flatow's motion, and that decision is the subject of the appeal in case No. 99-56498. Later, both Flatow and Elahi moved to attach MOD's judgment against Cubic. In turn, MOD moved the district court for a determination that its judgment against Cubic was immune from attachment. The district court granted MOD's motion with respect to Flatow, but denied it with respect to Elahi. Flatow and MOD appeal those determinations in case Nos. 02-57043 and 03-55015, respectively.
The denial of a motion to intervene as of right is an appealable final order. Leisnoi, Inc. v. United States, 313 F.3d 1181, 1184 (9th Cir.2002). In addition, district court orders entered after the entry of judgment are generally reviewable by a separate appeal. See United States v. One 1986 Ford Pickup, 56 F.3d 1181, 1184-85 (9th Cir.1995). We therefore have jurisdiction over the consolidated appeals pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
On April 10, 1995, Alisa Michelle Flatow, an American college student living in Israel, died of injuries she sustained as a result of a suicide bombing in the Gaza Strip. See Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 999 F.Supp. 1, 7-8 (D.D.C.1998). Her father, Stephen Flatow, later brought suit against Iran, its Ministry of Information and Security ("MOIS"), and various Iranian officials in the District Court for the District of Columbia.1 The Iranian government and its officials did not enter an appearance, and the district court entered a default judgment against them on March 11, 1998. Id. at 6. Prior to entering judgment, however, the court conducted an evidentiary hearing and set forth detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court found that Flatow had established his claim to relief in that the Iranian government and the other defendants had sponsored terrorist acts and performed acts which caused the death of Flatow's daughter.2 Id. at 9-10. The district court also held that it had subject-matter jurisdiction over the action and personal jurisdiction over the defendants. Id. at 34. The judgment against the Iranian defendants was for $20,000,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000,000 in punitive damages. Id. at 32, 34.
On October 23, 1990, Dr. Cyrus Elahi was assassinated in Paris, France. See Elahi v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 124 F.Supp.2d 97, 103 (D.D.C.2000). Dr. Elahi was a naturalized United States citizen and an important official in an Iranian opposition group working from France. Id. at 102-03. French authorities arrested a number of Iranian nationals, and determined that the assassination had been orchestrated by the Iranian government through MOIS. Id. at 104. In 2000, Dr. Elahi's brother, Dariush Elahi, filed suit against Iran and MOIS in the District Court for the District of Columbia. As with the Flatow case, the Iranian government did not enter an appearance with that court, and the court therefore entered a default judgment in favor of Elahi in December 20, 2000. Id. at 99-100. Before entering judgment, the district court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law. The judgment against Iran was for compensatory damages in the amount of $11,740,035, and punitive damages of $300,000,000. Id. at 115.
In October 1977, MOD's predecessor entered into a pair of contracts with Cubic, a California-based defense firm, relating to the sale and servicing of an Air Combat Maneuvering Range ("ACMR") for use by the Iranian Air Force. Ministry of Def. v. Cubic Def. Systems, Inc., 29 F.Supp.2d 1168, 1170 (S.D.Cal.1998). Following the Iranian revolution of 1979, the delivery of the ACMR did not take place for reasons that the two parties dispute. See id. In September 1991, and pursuant to the terms of the contracts, MOD filed a request for arbitration with the ICC in Zurich, Switzerland. Id. After submissions from both MOD and Cubic, the ICC ruled in favor of MOD and issued a Final Award requiring Cubic to pay MOD $2.8 million. Id. at 1171.
In June 1998, MOD filed a petition in the District Court for the Southern District of California to confirm the award entered by the ICC pursuant to the New York Convention.3 Id. at 1170. After reviewing Cubic's arguments in opposition, the district court granted MOD's petition and confirmed the ICC Award on December 7, 1998. Id. at 1174.4 Both Cubic and MOD took cross appeals of the district court's decision, and those appeals remain pending.
On February 1, 1999, Flatow filed a Motion for Leave to Intervene in the district court. Flatow pointed out that he had obtained a Summons in Garnishment directed at Cubic from the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and that he expected to receive an Order of Condemnation from that court as to MOD's cause of action in the Cubic case. The district court denied Flatow's motion on April 6, 1999, finding that, under Rule 24(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the motion was untimely and Flatow had failed to establish "an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject matter of the litigation." On June 10, 1999, Flatow filed a motion for reconsideration of the district court's decision, but the district court denied the motion on August 10, 1999. Flatow filed a notice of appeal from the denial of his motion for reconsideration on September 9, 1999. We heard oral arguments on this appeal (99-56498) on December 6, 2001, but vacated submission of the case pending the resolution of a motion by MOD to dismiss the appeal. MOD claimed that Flatow's acceptance of payments under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 rendered him unable to collect against the Cubic judgment. We directed that MOD's motion to dismiss be filed in the district court and stayed the intervention appeal pending that court's decision.
At the same time that Flatow's motion to intervene was being rejected, Flatow filed a notice of lien with the district court on April 27, 1999. The notice indicated that Flatow had registered his default judgment against Iran in the Southern District of California, and claimed that any monies to be distributed as part of the Cubic judgment should be directed to him. A similar notice of lien was filed by Elahi on November 1, 2001.
On September 13, 2002, MOD filed motions seeking a judicial determination that its judgment against Cubic Defense Systems was immune from attachment by both Flatow and Elahi. The district court heard oral argument on the motion on October 28, 2002, and rendered its decision on November 26, 2002. The district court granted MOD's motion as to Flatow and ordered the striking of Flatow's notice of lien, but it denied the...
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