Bwd Properties 2, LLC v. Robert Franklin ( 2023 )


Menu:
  •                                                                               FILED
    NOT FOR PUBLICATION
    JUL 19 2023
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                         MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
    U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    BWD PROPERTIES 2, LLC; et al.,                   No.   22-15799
    Plaintiffs-Appellees,              D.C. No.
    2:06-cv-01499-RCJ-EJY
    v.
    ROBERT LEE FRANKLIN; et al.,                     MEMORANDUM*
    Defendants,
    v.
    BOBBY LEN FRANKLIN, DBA
    Daydream Land & Systems Development
    Company,
    Defendant-third-party-
    plaintiff-Appellant,
    v.
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Third-party-defendant-
    Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    *
    This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
    except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
    for the District of Nevada
    Robert Clive Jones, District Judge, Presiding
    Submitted July 17, 2023**
    San Francisco, California
    Before: HAWKINS, S.R. THOMAS, and McKEOWN, Circuit Judges.
    Bobby Len Franklin appeals the district court’s denials of his motion for
    declaratory judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 57 and 60(b)(2), motion to set aside the
    permanent injunction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(d)(3), and objection/appeal to a
    magistrate judge order arising from a quiet title action brought by BWD Properties
    2, LLC (“BWD”). We have jurisdiction under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    . We review for
    abuse of discretion a district court’s ruling on a motion pursuant to Rule 60(b),
    Casey v. Albertson’s Inc., 
    362 F.3d 1254
    , 1257 (9th Cir. 2004), a denial of a
    motion to vacate under Rule 60(d)(3), United States v. Sierra Pac. Indus., Inc., 
    862 F.3d 1157
    , 1166 (9th Cir. 2017), and a district court’s discovery ruling, IMDb.com
    Inc. v. Becerra, 
    962 F.3d 1111
    , 1119 (9th Cir. 2020). We affirm.1 Because the
    parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of the case, we need not
    recount it here.
    **
    The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
    without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
    1
    We also grant BWD’s motion for judicial notice, Dkt. 18.
    2
    The district court lacked jurisdiction over Franklin’s Rule 60(b)(2) motion
    for declaratory relief because it was “not filed within one year of entry of
    judgment.” Nevitt v. United States, 
    886 F.2d 1187
    , 1188 (9th Cir. 1989). “We
    need not, therefore, reach the merits” of this issue. 
    Id.
    The district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Franklin’s
    motion to set aside the permanent injunction under Rule 60(d)(3), because
    Franklin’s evidence did not meet the “high standard” to establish fraud on the
    court. Trendsettah USA, Inc. v. Swisher Int’l, Inc., 
    31 F.4th 1124
    , 1132 (9th Cir.
    2022) (noting that “a party seeking to establish fraud on the court must meet a high
    standard” and must demonstrate “fraudulent conduct . . . [that] harmed the integrity
    of the judicial process” (citation omitted)).
    The district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Franklin’s
    objection/appeal to the magistrate judge’s denial of the discovery motions as moot,
    because the case has been closed for many years with judgment in favor of BWD.
    See Laub v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 
    342 F.3d 1080
    , 1093 (9th Cir. 2003) (“A district
    court is vested with broad discretion to permit or deny discovery, and a decision to
    deny discovery will not be disturbed except upon the clearest showing that the
    denial of discovery results in actual and substantial prejudice to the complaining
    litigant.” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).
    3
    AFFIRMED.
    4