United States Ninth Circuit

In an action raising state law negligence claims for money damages, which was brought against a state agency and officials by an individual who was beaten by other inmates while incarcerated in a state prison in Hawaii, summary judgment for defendants on sovereign immunity grounds is affirmed where the State defendants did not waive their sovereign immunity by filing the third-party complaint against the attacking inmates because they had timely asserted immunity prior to filing the third-party complaint, and the third-party complaint was a defensive move which was not incompatible with an intent to preserve sovereign immunity.

Appellate Information

• Argued 01/10/2007
• Decided 05/25/2007
• Published 05/25/2007

Judges

• HOLLAND, Judge., Before:  PROCTER HUG, JR. and WILLIAM A. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges, and H. RUSSEL HOLLAND, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Sean D. Unger, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, San Francisco, CA, argued the case for the plaintiff-appellant.  Peter Meier, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, San Francisco, CA, was also on the brief.


• For Appellees:
  
• Kimberly Tsumoto Guidry, Deputy Attorney General, Honolulu, HI, argued the case for the defendants-appellees.  Mark J. Bennett, Attorney General of Hawaii, and Girard D. Lau, Deputy Attorney General, Honolulu, HI, were also on the brief.