Charles Pettis Ex Rel. United States v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc. And Brown & Root, Inc., Defendants

577 F.2d 668 49 A.L.R.Fed. 836, 25 Cont.Cas.Fed. (CCH) 82,700 Charles PETTIS ex rel. UNITED STATES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MORRISON-KNUDSEN CO., INC. and Brown & Root, Inc., et al., Defendants- Appellees. No. 77-2825. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. July 5, 1978. Bruce J. Terris (argued), Washington, D. C., John W. Stayton, Jr. (argued), Austin, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant. Thomas Richard Spradlin (argued), Clifford, Warnke, Glass, McIlwain & Finney, Washington, D. C., John W. Slayton, Jr., (argued), Austin, Tex., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho. Before SNEED and TANG, Circuit Judges, and INGRAM, * District Judge. SNEED, Circuit Judge: 1 This case comes to us on Pettis' appeal from the district court's dismissal of his False Claims Act suit against Morrison-Knudsen and Brown & Root on the grounds that 31 U.S.C. § 232 (C) deprived the court of jurisdiction because the information on which the suit was based was already in the possession of the United States at the time the suit was brought. 1 Pettis contends that this provision is inapplicable to an informer who supplied the…