Greensprings Baptist Christian Fellowship Trust v. Cilley, No. 09-16924

Dismissal of Appeal from Anti-SLAPP Dismissal

In Greensprings Baptist Christian Fellowship Trust v. Cilley, No. 09-16924, an action for malicious prosecution, the court dismissed plaintiffs' appeal from the dismissal of their suit under the California anti-SLAPP statute where the court lacked jurisdiction under the collateral order doctrine to entertain an appeal from the portion of a district court's order granting a defendant's anti-SLAPP motion which gives a plaintiff leave to amend her complaint.

As the court wrote:  "This diversity case traces back to 2000 when gifts were sought to be made by Elsie Terchen to Greensprings Baptist Christian Fellowship Trust ("Greensprings") and also to two daughters of Barbara and Robert Miller. Conveyances of certain properties were made to Greensprings, but the planned gift of a house to the Miller daughters was not accomplished prior to Terchen's death on December 10, 2000. In the years that followed, the Millers and Greensprings became adversaries with respect to the Millers' claim that they were entitled to $500,000 from Greensprings."

Related Resources

• Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Greensprings Baptist Christian Fellowship Trust v. Cilley, No. 09-16924