William Webster v. State of Washington

NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT SEP 25 2012 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS WILLIAM D. WEBSTER, No. 11-35014 Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:09-cv-05776-RBL v. MEMORANDUM * STATE OF WASHINGTON, doing business as State of Washington Department of Retirement Systems, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Ronald B. Leighton, District Judge, Presiding Submitted September 10, 2012 ** Before: WARDLAW, CLIFTON, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges. William D. Webster appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his action arising from a state court’s property division order in his * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). marital dissolution. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo the district court’s dismissal under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. Carmona v. Carmona, 603 F.3d 1041, 1050 (9th Cir. 2010). We affirm. The district court properly dismissed Webster’s action as barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine because the action is a “forbidden de facto appeal” of the state court’s order regarding Webster’s pension benefits. Id. at 1050-51 (Rooker- Feldman doctrine barred plaintiff’s claims seeking to enjoin state family court orders regarding pension benefits); see also Henrichs v. Valley View Dev., 474 F.3d 609, 616 (9th Cir. 2007) (Rooker-Feldman doctrine barred plaintiff’s claim because alleged legal injuries arose from the “state court’s purportedly erroneous judgment” and the relief he sought “would require the district court to determine that the state court’s decision was wrong and thus void”). AFFIRMED. 2 11-35014