United States v. Alice M. Grant

Defendant-appellant Alice M. Grant appeals from the district court’s judgment of civil contempt for failure to comply with the court’s order to pay a $20,000 fine. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse.

I

This case is now before this court for the third time. We stated the underlying facts relevant to this appeal in our last disposition, United States v. Grant, 816 F.2d 440 (9th Cir.1987) (Grant II):

Id. at 441 .

The defendant appealed in Grant II and we reversed. Finding that “the district court did not provide fair prior warning to the defendant that nonpayment of the fine could result in a loss of liberty,” we held that the district court abused its discretion in revoking Grant’s probation. Id. at 442 .

Subsequently, on June 8, 1987 the district court ordered Grant to pay the $20,000 fine by June 30, 1987. Grant failed to pay the fine by that date. In response, the district court ordered Grant “to show cause why she should not be held in contempt for failure to comply with the orders of this Court ... to pay a $20,000 fine.” On September 14, 1987 the district court found Grant in…