Opinion ID: 771934
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Different Interpretations of the Indictment

Text: 42 In opposing Appellants' motion for fees and costs before the district court, the government argued that its interpretation of the indictment was broader than the district court's and the Ninth Circuit's, and that the government consequently believed that the indictment related in part to conduct that was not considered by the courts and that was clearly not protected by the Section 7 immunity provisions. The government offered this argument to negate bad faith, and the district court appears to have approved of the argument to some extent. Appellants argue that this was error. We need not, however, and do not decide the merits of this contention. 43 The government's argument regarding its interpretation of the indictment related only to bad faith, and that is how the district court treated it. But lack of bad faith is already established by the district court's finding that the government honestly believed that the Section 7 immunities did not apply to Appellants. Appellants' attack on the government's other argument regarding bad faith does not undermine that conclusion.