Murphy v. Kodz

351 F.2d 163 L. C. MURPHY, as Special Administrator of the Estate of Arthur G. Goodnow, now deceased, Viola Goodnow and A. H. Davidson, Appellants, v. Ruth H. KODZ, as surviving widow of Constantine Kodz, deceased, Appellee. No. 19508. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. September 21, 1965. Charles L. Hardy, Kramer, Roche, Burch & Streich, Phoenix, Ariz., for appellant. Anthony D. Terry, Hull, Terry & Ford, Tucson, Ariz., for appellee. Before POPE, KOELSCH and BROWNING, Circuit Judges. KOELSCH, Circuit Judge. 1 This appeal presents a thorny question going to the jurisdiction of the District Court of a case removed to it from a state court after the removal predicate is subsequently dropped from the proceedings. 2 Plaintiff Ruth H. Kodz commenced a wrongful death action in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona against Howard Shupe, the Estate of Arthur Goodnow, Goodnow's employer A. H. Davidson, and another. Plaintiff's decedent was killed in a midair plane collision occurring while the aforementioned were engaged in forest fire suppression activities. 3 Shupe, alleging that he was an officer of the United States Forest Service, acting in his official…