Greenville Rancheria v. Martin

93 Cal.App.5th 466

311 Cal.Rptr.3d 141

GREENVILLE RANCHERIA, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.Angela MARTIN et al., Defendants and Respondents.

C096097

Court of Appeal, Third District, California.

Filed July 12, 2023

Peebles Kidder Bergin & Robinson, John M. Peebles, Gregory M. Narvaez, Sacramento, Tim Hennessy and Curtis Vandermolen for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Big Fire Law & Policy Group, Rose M. Weckenmann and Calandra Skye McCool for Defendants and Respondents.

ROBIE, J.

Plaintiff Greenville Rancheria (Greenville) is a sovereign Indian tribe that owns administrative and medical offices (property) in the City of Red Bluff. Following a contested election, defendant Angela Martin was elected as Greenville's chairperson, which included the authority to act as Greenville's chief executive officer. After her election, Martin, along with approximately 20 people, including defendants Andrea Cazares-Diego, Andrew Gonzales, Hallie Hugo, Elijah Martin, and Adrian Hugo,¹ entered the property and refused to leave despite the remaining members of the tribal council ordering them to leave and removing Martin's authority as chairperson under Greenville's constitution.

Given defendants’ failure to vacate the property, Greenville filed a verified emergency complaint for trespass and injunctive relief. The trial court granted Greenville a temporary restraining order, but later granted defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Greenville appeals. We reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In June 2021, Greenville held a contested election for all five of its tribal council positions. Defendants were members of a political party seeking to challenge the then-existing leadership. Martin was successful in securing the tribal chairperson/chief executive officer position in an at-large election. Defendants’ party was unsuccessful at electing any other candidates to the tribal council. While defendants disputed the election results, they did not challenge the outcome pursuant to Greenville's constitution. The election results were ratified and sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Bureau).

On September 29, 2021, a group of approximately 20 people, including defendants, entered the property, which was located entirely within the City of Red Bluff and owned in fee simple by Greenville. Once inside, defendants spoke loudly and expressed disagreement with tribal operations. Martin ordered Greenville's staff to provide defendants with a "list of personal addresses for each of Greenville's members." Defendants directed Greenville's staff to make copies of letters, print address labels, and get envelopes, so that defendants could mail two separate mailings unrelated to Greenville's operations to all tribal members. Greenville's staff reported the incident to the tribal council.

That same day, defendants purported to hold a "Greenville Rancheria Tribal Membership Special Meeting" at which 27 Greenville members were present. Those 27 members voted, among other things, to suspend Greenville's vice-chairperson, secretary/treasurer, and tribal administrator pending an investigation. The members also voted to change the locks to the property and to authorize a new check signor on Greenville-related bank accounts. The members further declared tribal council positions vacant and filled them with other members.²

The next day, the tribal council adopted a resolution informing defendants their occupation of the property was unlawful and directing defendants to vacate the property. Defendants were served with the resolution the same day the tribal council passed it; they, however, refused to vacate the property. Instead, defendants attempted to change the locks on the property's doors. "Greenville's staff noticed the activity and the locksmith provided Greenville with the keys instead." Despite being ordered to leave, defendants maintained "persistent and daily occupation of the [p]roperty."

On October 1, 2021, Martin used her authority as chairperson to order three staff members into an unscheduled meeting with her. At the meeting, "Martin made statements about Greenville's employees being held responsible for decisions that the [t]ribal [c]ouncil may make, even if [the employees] did not take part in the decision." Martin did not explain her statement and two of the employees in the meeting felt intimidated and believed Martin was threatening their jobs. Later that day, at a duly called tribal council meeting, the other four members of the tribal council passed a resolution suspending Martin's "actual or implied authority under the Constitution, and any attendant powers as the Chief Executive Officer of Greenville." The tribal council further "affirmed that it never authorized ... Martin to exercise independent power under" Greenville's constitution and appointed Crystal Rios as acting chairperson. Following these actions, Greenville sent an e-mail to the Bureau questioning who the Bureau recognized as representing the tribe. A representative from the Bureau responded to the e-mail, requesting Rios to confirm her status as Greenville's acting chairperson. Greenville submitted to the Bureau the resolution passed by the majority of the tribal council suspending Martin as chairperson. In subsequent communications between the Bureau and Greenville related to funding through the Bureau, representatives from the Bureau addressed letters to Rios as the "Chairwoman" and "Acting Chairwoman" of Greenville.

On October 8, 2021, Greenville filed a verified emergency complaint for trespass and injunctive relief against defendants. It alleged defendants were overrunning its administrative and medical offices, "disrupting vital governmental and medical services," and "compromising the security of confidential medical, child-welfare[,] and financial records." Greenville alleged that, as a consequence of defendants’ conduct, it was forced to close its medical and administrative offices located on the property. Greenville further alleged the trial court had jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 410.10 and that the property was "not within the boundaries of any Indian reservation" and was not on Indian land. As a prayer for relief, Greenville requested the trial court to "temporarily, preliminarily, and permanently enjoin ... [d]efendants from entering, accessing, or loitering near" the property "for a period of one year, or shorter time if resolved by" the tribal council.

The trial court granted Greenville a temporary restraining order ordering defendants to vacate and stay away from the property. Defendants complied. The trial court then scheduled a hearing on Greenville's request for a permanent injunction.

Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In the motion's supporting points and authorities, defendants argued that "California courts lack jurisdiction to make trespass determinations arising from" tribal leadership disputes or arising from disputes on tribal property among tribal members. (Capitalization omitted.) Greenville opposed the motion, arguing that the trial court's trespass determination did not depend on resolving any dispute regarding Greenville's internal governance and the dispute was not over Indian trust lands or land otherwise held by the federal government in trust for Greenville.

Greenville filed an opening brief in support of issuing a permanent injunction, asserting defendants committed a trespass and should be enjoined from entering the property for one year. Defendants refuted these claims in their own brief.

On February 18, 2022, the court held a hearing on the motion to dismiss. Defendants argued the dispute between the parties whittled down to whether Martin remained chairperson and chief executive officer of Greenville and thus had authority to enter the property. Defendants asserted this question was actively disputed by Greenville's membership. Defendants’ attorney stated that Greenville did not have a tribal court available and agreed to have these matters resolved by the Bureau, which Martin was in the process of petitioning for resolution of the leadership dispute. Martin asserted that she was denied due process when the tribal council stripped her of her authority as chairperson without notice, and she planned to pursue a claim with the Bureau so that she could remain chairperson and chief executive officer of Greenville.

Greenville countered that there was no genuine leadership dispute because Martin was lawfully removed as chairperson under Greenville's constitution. Greenville asserted that the Bureau had no authority to determine who is the chairperson of the tribe. Instead, the Bureau is merely responsible for ensuring the persons who contract on behalf of the tribe with the federal government represent the tribe. Here, the Bureau already made the determination that Rios represented the tribe as chairperson.

The trial court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, expressly finding that "California courts lack jurisdiction to make trespass determinations arising from intra-[t]ribal leadership disputes" and "California courts lack jurisdiction to make trespass determinations arising from disputes on [t]ribal property among [t]ribal [m]embers."

Greenville appeals.

DISCUSSION

IThe Trial Court Does Not Lack Subject Matter Jurisdiction Due To A Tribal Leadership Dispute

Greenville contends the trial court erred by dismissing the complaint on the grounds that "California courts lack jurisdiction to make trespass determinations arising from intra-[t]ribal leadership disputes." Greenville argues this conclusion was error because the undisputed facts demonstrate there was no tribal leadership dispute and, even if there was a dispute, the court should defer to the Bureau when deciding who to recognize as leaders of Greenville. We agree with Greenville that no tribal leadership...