Nguyen v. Le CA4/3
Ngan Ha Nguyen appeals from a judgment dismissing his case after defendants’ defaults were taken. The court’s order dismissing the case incorrectly stated Nguyen had been given three opportunities to submit written evidence proving-up damages; in fact, he had only been given two. The dismissal order came three days after a minute order was issued assuring Nguyen he would be notified if the court had any further requirements for entry of the judgment he sought.
This sequence of events is unfortunate because “to perform its high function in the best way, ‘justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.’” (In re Murchison (1955) 349 U.S. 133, 136.) In this case, while the court led Nguyen to believe its policy was to provide litigants with notice of any deficiencies in a default prove-up package, and a meaningful opportunity to cure the deficiency, it did not adhere to that policy.
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