September 25, 2007 Ninth Circuit Opinions
On September 25, 2007, the Ninth Circuit issued two new published opinions, and amended one previously issued opinion:
In U.S. v. Jenkins, the Ninth Circuit amended the opinion originally filed July 17, 2007 by replacing two sentences with a more detailed passage. The outcome is otherwise unchanged, and the government’s petition for en banc hearing is still pending.
In Dennis v. Experian Information, the Ninth Circuit granted the motion for rehearing and issued a new opinion. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of Dennis, reversing the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Experian, finding that no reasonable jury could find Experian had not been negligent in reporting that Dennis had had a judgment entered against him. The Court admonished Experian as to the impo5tantce of training its employees to understand court documents. The court withdrew the opinion published at 485 F.3d 483.
In U.S. v. Dearing, the Ninth Circuit affirmed convictions for Medicaid fraud. The Court found the evidence that the defendant was repeatedly warned of illegal billing practices occurring at his company was sufficient to sustain a finding of willful intent. The evidence that he discouraged his employees from warning him in this way would aid a jury to that finding, as well.