Mujica v. AirScan Inc.
Decision Date | 12 November 2014 |
Docket Number | 10–55516,10–55587.,Nos. 10–55515,s. 10–55515 |
Citation | 771 F.3d 580 |
Parties | Luis Alberto Galvis MUJICA, on behalf of himself and as representative of the Estates of Tereza Mujica Hernan, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra; Mario Galvis Gelvez, on behalf of himself, individually, and as heir of the decedents Tereza Mujica Hernandez, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra; John Mario Galvis Mujica, through his guardian ad litem and on behalf of himself, individually, and as heir of the decedents Tereza Mujica Hernandez, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra, Plaintiffs–Appellees, v. AIRSCAN INC., Defendant–Appellant, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Defendant. United States of America, Movant. Luis Alberto Galvis Mujica, on behalf of himself and as representative of the Estates of Tereza Mujica Hernan, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra; Mario Galvis Gelvez, on behalf of himself, individually, and as heir of the decedents Tereza Mujica Hernandez, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra; John Mario Galvis Mujica, through his guardian ad litem and on behalf of himself, individually, and as heir of the decedents Tereza Mujica Hernandez, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra, Plaintiffs–Appellees, v. Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Defendant–Appellant, AirScan Inc., Defendant, United States of America, Movant. Luis Alberto Galvis Mujica, on behalf of himself and as representative of the Estates of Tereza Mujica Hernan, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra; Mario Galvis Gelvez, on behalf of himself, individually, and as heir of the decedents Tereza Mujica Hernandez, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra; John Mario Galvis Mujica, through his guardian ad litem and on behalf of himself, individually, and as heir of the decedents Terza Mujica Hernandez, Edilma Leal Pacheco and Johanny Hernandez Becerra, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. Occidental Petroleum Corporation; AirScan Inc., Defendants–Appellees, and United States of America, Movant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Paul L. Hoffman (argued), Adrienne J. Quarry, and Victoria Don, Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow, Harris Hoffman & Harrison, LLP, Venice, CA; Terry Collingsworth and Christian Levesque, Conrad & Scherer, LLP, Washington, DC; Daniel M. Kovalik, Pittsburgh, PA; Bridget Arimond, Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern University Law School, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs–Appellants–Cross–Appellees.
Daniel P. Collins (argued), Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendant–Appellee–Cross–Appellant Occidental Petroleum Corporation.
Thomas E. Fotopolous, and Sara M. Fotopolous, Fotopolous & Fotopolous, P.A., Titusville, FL; Kenneth J. Berke, Berke & Kent LLP, Calabasas, CA, for Defendant–Appellee–Cross–Appellant AirScan, Inc.
Marco B. Simons, Richard L. Herz, and Jonathan Kaufman, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Earthrights International.
William J. Aceves, California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA, for Amicus Curiae Constitutional and International Law Scholars.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California, George H. Wu, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 2:03–cv–02860–GW–JWJ.
Before: JAY S. BYBEE and SANDRA S. IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and THOMAS S. ZILLY, Senior District Judge.*
This suit arises out of the 1998 bombing of a Colombian village by members of the Colombian Air Force (CAF). Plaintiffs,1 citizens and former residents of Colombia, brought suit in California against two U.S.-headquartered corporations, Occidental Petroleum and AirScan, for their alleged complicity in the bombing. In two opinions issued in 2005, the district court first refused to dismiss the case on grounds of forum non conveniens and international comity, Mujica v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., 381 F.Supp.2d 1134 (C.D.Cal.2005) (“Mujica I ”), but then granted Defendants' motion to dismiss all of the claims under the political question doctrine. Mujica v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., 381 F.Supp.2d 1164 (C.D.Cal.2005) (“Mujica II ”).
In a prior appeal, we declined to decide the issues presented and remanded the case to the district court for two purposes: first, “to consider whether a prudential exhaustion requirement applies in this case, and if so, whether that requirement bars any claims in this case,” and, second, to “consider the effect, if any,” of two Colombian court opinions related to the bombing. Mujica v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., 564 F.3d 1190, 1192 (9th Cir.2009) ( “Mujica III ”). On limited remand, the district court found that prudential exhaustion was not required. It also found that, if prudential exhaustion were required, Occidental had met its burden of pleading and proving the availability of local remedies. Mujica v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., Case No. CV–03–2860 (C.D.Cal., Mar. 8, 2010) (“Mujica IV ”). Plaintiffs and Defendants appealed and cross-appealed.
We hold that Plaintiffs lack a valid claim under either the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) or the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). We affirm the district court's judgment of dismissal with respect to Plaintiffs' state-law claims, but we do so on the ground of international comity. Although the district court rejected dismissal on that ground, we conclude that the district court abused its discretion by applying the incorrect legal standard in its comity analysis, specifically by concluding erroneously that a “true conflict” between domestic and foreign law is required for the application of international comity in all circumstances. Mujica I, 381 F.Supp.2d at 1155. Guided by the correct standard for the application of comity, and informed by the district court's findings of fact in Mujica IV regarding the adequacy of Colombia as an alternative forum, we conclude that the state-law claims before us are not justiciable under the doctrine of international comity.
The district court described the facts of the underlying events as follows:
Mujica II, 381 F.Supp.2d at 1168–69 (internal citations omitted).
The 1998 Santo Domingo bombing led to two legal actions in Colombia: a criminal action brought by the Colombian government against three CAF officers who were allegedly responsible for the bombing and a civil suit brought by Plaintiffs (and several other persons) against the government of Colombia.
The Colombian Public Prosecutor's Office opened a preliminary investigation into the Santo Domingo bombing the day after it occurred, on December 14, 1998. On September 21, 2007, in In re Cesare Romero Pradilla, et al. , the Twelfth Criminal Court of the Circuit of Bogota, Colombia convicted three CAF officers of manslaughter. On September 24, 2009, the same court affirmed the verdict on remand from a higher court, finding that all three defendants were guilty of manslaughter and related crimes. The court then sentenced two of them to no more than 380 months' imprisonment and one to no more than seventy-two months' imprisonment.
The court also imposed fines on all three defendants.
On September 25, 2000, Plaintiffs (and others) filed a complaint against the Republic of...
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