Michael H. Mellen v. County of Los Angeles

19 F.3d 28 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Michael H. MELLEN, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants-Appellees. No. 92-55900. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 3, 1994. Decided March 3, 1994. Before: D.W. NELSON, REINHARDT, and BRUNETTI, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * 2 Attorneys Robert Mann and Donald W. Cook ("Appellants") appeal discovery sanctions in the amount of $1,000 imposed by the district court in an underlying Sec. 1983 civil rights action. We reverse. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 3 Appellants represent several individual plaintiffs in dog bite cases against the County of Los Angeles ("the County"). The suits allege that, under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1983 and 1985, as well as several state statutes, certain sheriff's deputies violated the civil rights of several arrestees when the deputies ordered their police dogs to attack them after the arrestees were handcuffed and…