Estate of Michelson v. Yacht Golden Viking II

MEMORANDUM *

Randolph and Marlon Holden appeal the district court’s judgment in favor of the Appellees and the subsequent awarding of *663 proceeds from the sale of the vessel Golden Viking II to Dwight and Loretta Lindholm. Because the parties are familiar with the facts of this case we do not recite them here. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We now affirm.

The Holdens incorrectly assert that claim preclusion bars the district court from ordering the disbursement of the proceeds from the sale of the vessel to the Lindholms. Claim preclusion did not bar the district court from ordering the disbursement because the underlying suit and the state action arose out of a different transactional nucleus of facts and involved different rights. Fund for Animals, Inc. v. Lujan, 962 F.2d 1391, 1398 (9th Cir.l992)(holding claim preclusion is inapplicable when the state and federal claims involve a different cause of action).

Similarly, the Holdens’ assertion that the general verdicts that were entered in the state case precluded the district court’s findings of breach of contract and right to possession of the boat is unpersuasive. It is impossible to know on which…