Victor Miranda v. Southern Pacific Transportation Company

710 F.2d 516 Victor MIRANDA, Plaintiff, v. SOUTHERN PACIFIC TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, a Delaware corporation, Defendant. In the Matter of R. Edward PFIESTER, Esquire, and G. Richard Ford, Esquire, Appellants. No. 80-5413. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 5, 1982. Decided July 12, 1983. H. Andrew Wasmund, Bank, Wasmund & Davidson, Manhattan Beach, Cal., for appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court For the Central District of California. Before WALLACE, HUG and ALARCON, Circuit Judges. HUG, Circuit Judge: 1 Pfiester and Ford, opposing counsel in a civil case, appeal a district court's order imposing sanctions of two hundred and fifty dollars on each of them for failing to comply with the local rules regarding the pretrial conference. On appeal, they contend that: (1) the district court has no authority to impose monetary sanctions without a finding of contempt; (2) the district court violated due process by imposing the sanctions without affording them notice, an opportunity to prepare a defense, and a hearing; and (3) the sanctions were invalid as contempt penalties because there was no evidence demonstrating their willful…