Filed 11/18/21 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ---- JAMES ACRES, C089344 Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. 34-2018- 00236829-CU-PO-GDS) v. LESTER MARSTON et al., Defendants and Respondents. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Sacramento County, David I. Brown, Judge. Reversed in part and affirmed in part. James Acres, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. Forman & Associates, George Forman, Jay B. Shapiro, Margaret C. Rosenfeld for Defendants and Respondents Arla Ramsey, Anita Huff, Thomas Frank, Lester Marston, Rapport and Marston, David Rapport, Darcy Vaughn, Ashley Burrell, Cooper DeMarse, and Kostan Lathouris. Lerch Sturmer, Jerome N. Lerch, Debra Sturmer, Nicole A. Deterding for Defendants and Respondents Boutin Jones, Inc., Michael Chase, Daniel Stouder, and Amy O’Neill. Berman Berman Berman Schneider & Lowary, Howard J. Smith for Defendants and Respondents Janssen Malloy LLP, Megan Yarnall, and Amelia Burroughs. Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, Kevin W. Alexander, Allison L. Jones for Defendants and Respondents Lester Marston, Ashley Burrell, Cooper DeMarse, and Darcy Vaughn. 1 Suits against Indian tribes (and other sovereign entities) are generally barred by sovereign immunity. So too are some suits against tribal employees, though not because these employees enjoy sovereign immunity by virtue of their position. These suits are instead barred by sovereign immunity because, although nominally directed against an employee, they are really against the tribe. To determine the true defendant in these cases, courts focus on the remedy the plaintiff seeks. A suit against a tribal employee is really against the tribe if the plaintiff’s requested relief must necessarily come from the tribe itself. But if, on the other hand, the plaintiff’s suit would only impose personal liability on the sued employee, then the suit is, as pleaded, against the individual alone and sovereign immunity is inapplicable. This case concerns the aftermath of an Indian tribal casino’s unsuccessful suit in tribal court against appellant James Acres following a contract dispute. After dismissal of the tribal case, Acres filed his own suit in state court against two officials of the casino, the casino’s attorneys, a tribal court judge, the clerk of the tribal court, and various other individuals and entities. He alleged, among other things, that the parties he sued (collectively, respondents) wrongfully conspired to file the lawsuit against him in tribal court. He then sought monetary relief from respondents as redress for this alleged conduct. The trial court, however, found Acres’s claims against all respondents barred by sovereign immunity and, as to the tribal judge and several others, also barred by judicial or quasi-judicial immunity. On appeal, we reverse in part. Because Acres’s suit, if successful, would bind only the individual respondents, and not the tribe or its casino, we find these respondents are not entitled to sovereign immunity. But, as to those respondents who have asserted personal immunity from suit (e.g., judicial immunity), we agree those respondents, with one exception, are immune from suit. 2 BACKGROUND I Tribal Casino’s Suit Against Acres …
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