Villanueva v Santa Clara County

Filing 61

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO VACATE by Magistrate Judge Paul Singh Grewal denying 50 (psglc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/3/2016) (Additional attachment(s) added on 3/3/2016: # 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE) (ofr, COURT STAFF).

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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BENJAMIN VILLANUEVA,
Plaintiff,

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(Re: Docket No. 50)

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SANTA CLARA COUNTY,
Defendant.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO
VACATE

v.

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Case No. 15-cv-04828-PSG

In September 2015, the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara granted a
motion to dismiss a lawsuit by Plaintiff Benjamin Villanueva.1 Now before this court is
Villanueva’s motion to vacate the state court order.2 Under what is known as the Rooker-Feldman
doctrine, “federal district courts are without jurisdiction to hear direct appeals from the judgments
of state courts.”3 “The doctrine bars a district court from exercising jurisdiction not only over an
action explicitly styled as a direct appeal, but also over the ‘de facto equivalent’ of such an
appeal.”4 That is precisely what Villanueva requests here, and this court has no jurisdiction to
grant Villanueva the relief he seeks. The motion is DENIED.5

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See Villanueva v. Harper, Case No. 2015-1-CV-276372 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Sept. 1, 2015).

See Docket No. 50. Separately, Villanueva has appealed that order through the state court
system. See Docket No. 55-3, Ex. G.
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Cooper v. Ramos, 704 F.3d 772, 777 (9th Cir. 2012); see also D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman,
460 U.S. 462, 476 (1983); Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 415-16 (1923).
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Cooper, 704 F.3d at 777 (quoting Noel v. Hall, 341 F.3d 1148, 1155 (9th Cir. 2003)).

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Pursuant to Civ. L.R. 7-1(b), the court resolves this motion without oral argument. The court
also notes that Villanueva did not timely file a reply brief under Civ. L.R. 7-3(d).
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Case No. 15-cv-04828-PSG
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO VACATE

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SO ORDERED.

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Dated: March 3, 2016
_________________________________
PAUL S. GREWAL
United States Magistrate Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Case No. 15-cv-04828-PSG
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO VACATE