Gabaee v. Community Redevelopment Agency

419 F.3d 1036 M&A GABAEE, a California Limited Partnership, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY of the City of Los Angeles, a public agency; City of Los Angeles, a municipal corporation, Defendants-Appellees. No. 04-56134. No. 04-56740. * United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted May 5, 2005. Filed August 17, 2005. Bruce Tepper, Los Angeles, CA, argued the cause for the appellant; Fernando Villa and Amy B. Alderfer, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Santa Monica, CA, were on the brief. JoAnn Victor, Jackson & Assoc., Los Angeles, CA, argued the cause for the appellees; David S. Cunningham III, Jackson & Assoc., and Mary K. Dennis, Office of the City Attorney of Los Angeles, CA, were on the brief. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Stephen V. Wilson, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. Nos. CV-04-02798-SVW, CV-04-05424-SVW. Before O'SCANNLAIN and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges, and WHALEY, ** District Judge. O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge. 1 We must decide whether Younger abstention is called for when a parallel state-court proceeding has formally begun but not yet reached proceedings of…