United States Ninth Circuit

In an suit to resolve conflicting claims to the proceeds of a life-insurance policy, judgment that defendant, the wife of decedent, conspired in, aided and abetted the murder of decedent and was thus disqualified under state law from receiving life insurance proceeds is affirmed where: 1) defendant, having asserted the privilege against self-incrimination at her deposition, was properly precluded from testifying at trial that she was not involved in the murder; 2) an adverse inference could properly be drawn from defendant's exercise of the privilege against self-incrimination; 3) a witness was properly characterized as an out-of-state resident and thus unavailable for trial; and 4) alleged hearsay in the witness's deposition testimony in fact consisted of admissible co-conspirator statements made in furtherance of the conspiracy to murder decedent.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/06/2008
• Decided 08/28/2008
• Published 08/28/2008

Judges

• FOGEL, District Judge:, Before:  KIM McLANE WARDLAW and SANDRA S. IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and JEREMY FOGEL, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Richard L. Garrigues (argued) and Varoujan Nalbandian, Torrance, CA, for the appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Richard E. Haskin (argued), Gibbs, Giden, Locher & Turner LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for the appellee.