Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_15-cv-04828/USCOURTS-cand-5_15-cv-04828-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 320
Nature of Suit: Assault, Libel, and Slander
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Personal Injury

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Case No. 15-cv-04828-PSG

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO VACATE

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

BENJAMIN VILLANUEVA,

Plaintiff,

v.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY,

Defendant.

Case No. 15-cv-04828-PSG

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 

VACATE

(Re: Docket No. 50)

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

 

1

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

2

See Docket No. 50. Separately, Villanueva has appealed that order through the state court 

system. See Docket No. 55-3, Ex. G.

3 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).

4 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).

Case 5:15-cv-04828-PSG Document 61 Filed 03/03/16 Page 1 of 2
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Case No. 15-cv-04828-PSG

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO VACATE

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 3, 2016

_________________________________

PAUL S. GREWAL

United States Magistrate Judge

Case 5:15-cv-04828-PSG Document 61 Filed 03/03/16 Page 2 of 2