Opinion
No. 10-16803 D.C. No. 4:08-cv-00327-JMR
11-03-2011
MARTHA G. SAPUKOTANA, the surviving spouse of Sarath Sapukotana; et al., Plaintiff - Appellee, v. VAN STRAALEN FARM TRUCKING, a Washington corporation; et al., Defendants - Appellees, and PALINAWADANAGE RAMYA CHANDRALA FERNANDO, Intervernor - Appellant.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
MEMORANDUM
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Arizona
John M. Roll, District Judge, Presiding
San Francisco, California
Before: GRABER and IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and KAPLAN, District Judge.
The Honorable Lewis A. Kaplan, Senior District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation.
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The Mississippi Chancery court determined that Sarath Sapukotana had dissolved his marriage to Ramya Chandralatha Fernando and, consequently, that Martha Sapukotana, not Fernando, was Sarath Sapukotana's widow. This issue was actually litigated and was essential, see Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-63 (2010), to that court's judgment appointing Martha Sapukotana as administrator of the estate. Harris v. Bd. of Trs. of State Insts. of Higher Learning, 731 So. 2d 588, 590 (Miss. 1999). This state court judgment regarding Fernando's status would have preclusive effect in other Mississippi courts and therefore must be given full faith and credit in federal court. See 28 U.S.C. § 1738; Kremer v. Chem. Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 466 (1982).
Because Fernando is not Sapukotana's surviving wife, she has no significantly protectable interest in the wrongful death suit arising from his death, see Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 12-612(A) (2010). Therefore, the district court did not err in denying Fernando's motion to intervene. City of Emeryville v. Robinson, 621 F.3d 1251, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010).
AFFIRMED.