Yagman, Matter of
| Decision Date | 06 November 1986 |
| Docket Number | 84-5957,Nos. 84-5839,s. 84-5839 |
| Citation | 796 F.2d 1165 |
| Parties | , 5 Fed.R.Serv.3d 305, 13 Media L. Rep. 1545 In re Matter of Stephen YAGMAN, Appellant, Jerry BROWN and Gerry Fleischer, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Michael BADEN and Sidney Weinberg, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Stephen Yagman, Yagman & Yagman, P.C., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants in No. 84-5839.
Ramsey Clark, Weldon Brewer and Laurence W. Schilling, New York City, for Yagman in No. 84-5957.
Harry Schneider, Woodland Hills, Cal., Anthony A. De Corso, Mark E. Beck, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Before ANDERSON, PREGERSON and WIGGINS, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs Jerry Brown and Gerry Fleischer appeal from the district court's grant of a directed verdict upon the motion of defendants Michael Baden and Sidney Weinberg. Plaintiffs' counsel, Stephen Yagman, appeals from the district court's imposition of sanctions against him individually and against his professional corporation. We affirm the directed verdict and reverse the order of sanctions.
On June 2, 1981, in Signal Hill, California, Signal Hill police officer Jerry Brown arrested Reginald Ronell Settles, a football The death and subsequent events were extensively publicized in the local media. An autopsy conducted by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, which found multiple traumatic injuries on the body, including hemorrhaging of the esophagus, resulted in a determination that the cause of death was suicidal hanging. Because of continued media controversy and public dissatisfaction, however, Coroner Thomas Noguchi empaneled a coroner's jury. In September, 1981, the jury decided, by a vote of five to four, that the death was caused by another person or persons. Noguchi did not change his decision as to the cause of death after receiving this advisory verdict.
star at nearby California State University at Long Beach. While attempting to book Settles at the Signal Hill station, a scuffle took place between Brown and Settles. Police cadet Gerry Fleischer came to Brown's aid and helped subdue Settles. Brown then finished the booking procedure and Settles was taken to a holding cell. About one hour later, Settles was found dead in his cell, hanging by the neck from a mattress cover which had been looped over the cell's door jam.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney conducted a criminal grand jury investigation of Settles' death from June 3, 1981 to January 8, 1982. On January 8, 1982, the District Attorney announced that the investigation had not developed sufficient evidence to warrant criminal charges, but that if any new information came to his attention, he would go forward with additional investigation. (Reporter's Transcript, March 20, 1984, p. 27). Shortly before this announcement, in December, 1981, the Settles family filed a civil action against Brown, Fleischer, and the City of Signal Hill and its officials, seeking damages for Reginald Settles' death. Attorney Stephen Yagman represented Brown in defense of this civil action.
In early 1982, the Settles family decided that a second autopsy of the body was needed. Dr. Sidney Weinberg, the Medical Examiner of Suffolk County, New York, and Dr. Michael Baden, Weinberg's deputy, agreed to conduct the re-autopsy for no fee. (Reporter's Transcript, March 22, 1984, p. 10). The re-autopsy was conducted on March 24, 1982 in the Suffolk County autopsy facilities, which the Settles family rented from the county for a fee of $500.00. In addition to Weinberg and Baden, the re-autopsy was attended by Dr. Werner Spitz, who was retained by the City of Signal Hill, Dr. Noguchi, representing the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Gilbert Garcetti, and attorneys representing the various parties.
Three months later, on June 26, 1982, the doctors gathered in Suffolk County to discuss the re-autopsy. An initial meeting was held in Dr. Weinberg's office, attended by doctors Weinberg, Baden, Spitz, and Noguchi, two attorneys representing the Settles family, Deputy District Attorney Garcetti, Signal Hill attorney Inlow Campbell, and, for a brief period, attorney Stephen Yagman. At the meeting, each of the four doctors spoke in turn about the findings of the re-autopsy and the cause of death. Following the meeting in Dr. Weinberg's office, the doctors held a press conference where they again spoke individually about the results of the re-autopsy and the cause of death. Various representatives of the news media (including national television) were present.
On July 1, 1982, Brown and Fleischer (plaintiffs), represented by Stephen Yagman (Yagman), filed a diversity action in United States District Court alleging that they had been defamed by Weinberg and Baden (defendants) during both the private meeting in Weinberg's office and the press conference. The case was calendared before District Judge Lawrence T. Lydick and progressed toward trial for nearly two years. During this time, Judge Lydick ruled on numerous motions, including several for summary judgment, to compel discovery, and for sanctions. On March 14, 1984, six days before the scheduled trial date, the action was transferred to Chief Judge Manuel L. Real.
As scheduled, the parties met on March 20, 1984, in front of Judge Real. Due to court calendar conflicts, trial was reset to begin April 3, 1984, with no objections. Judge Real used available time on March 20 and 22 to hear evidence and argument on the choice of law issue, eventually ruling that California law would be applied.
The action was tried on April 3-5, 1984. During the course of the trial, Judge Real made several rulings about which plaintiffs complain. For example, the court ordered opening statements to be made to the entire prospective jury panel before the jury voir dire was conducted. Also, the court ordered plaintiffs to put on evidence of damages before evidence of liability. Further, the court excluded various of plaintiffs' proposed evidence, including the testimony of a proposed expert witness. Most importantly, when plaintiffs rested their case, the court granted defendants' motion for a directed verdict. Thereafter, the court imposed sanctions totaling $250,000.00 against Yagman and his professional corporation, based on the authority of Fed.R.Civ.P. 11; 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1927, and Central District Local Rule 27.1.
Plaintiffs appeal the directed verdict against them on all grounds specified by the court, as well as various subsidiary rulings made by the court throughout the trial. In addition, plaintiffs levy charges of bias against Judge Real and allege that they were denied a fair trial. In a consolidated appeal, Yagman is represented by separate counsel in challenging the court's imposition of sanctions.
The choice of law issue was vigorously contested before trial. In a twist of arguments, the California resident plaintiffs asked that New York law be used, while the New York resident defendants contended that California law should be applied. The district court, after briefing and a hearing, agreed with defendants and chose California law. We review this question of law de novo. Jenkins v. Whittaker Corp., 785 F.2d 720, 724 (9th Cir.1986) (citing In re McLinn, 739 F.2d 1395, 1398 (9th Cir.1984) (en banc)).
In order to make the correct choice of law in a diversity case such as this, the federal court must apply the choice of law rules of the forum state. Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co., 313 U.S. 487, 496, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 1021, 85 L.Ed. 1477, 1480 (1941); Fleury v. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 698 F.2d 1022, 1025 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 846, 104 S.Ct. 149, 78 L.Ed.2d 139 (1983). California uses a "governmental interest" approach to the choice of laws. Nelson v. International Paint Co., 716 F.2d 640, 644 (9th Cir.1983); Fleury, 698 F.2d at 1025; Hurtado v. Superior Court of Sacramento County, 11 Cal.3d 574, 579, 114 Cal.Rptr. 106, 109, 522 P.2d 666, 669 (1974). Under this approach, it is obvious that both California and New York are "interested" states. Each has an interest in having its laws applied, due primarily to the fact that residents of each are parties to this action, and despite the fact that the residents urge against application of their own state's laws.
What is not so obvious, however, is whether there is any material difference between the substantive laws of New York and California, as they apply to this case. It is axiomatic that, unless there is a difference between the laws of the states, a choice need not be made. Nelson, 716 F.2d at 644; Fleury, 698 F.2d at 1025. Plaintiffs have not demonstrated any differences, 1 and defendants accurately point out that in many instances the laws of the two states will be identical since they address federal constitutional issues that are controlled by United States Supreme Court authority. Nevertheless, plaintiffs have indicated in passing that they prefer New York law because it has no privileges and immunities which might bar their claims. Because the district court's directed verdict rested in part upon privileges supplied by California law, we will assume for purposes of deciding this issue that differences do exist between the laws of New York and California.
Under the California governmental interest approach, where two interested states have conflicting laws, the court will apply "the law of the jurisdiction whose interest would be more impaired if its law were not applied." Nelson, 716 F.2d at 644 (citing Liew v. Official Receiver and Liquidator, 685 F.2d 1192, 1196 (9th Cir.1982)). Without question, the...
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