Quick facts
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position circuit
Status Deceased
Served 1985–2011
Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)
Commissioned 1985-12-17
Education University of Southern California, B.S., business, 1952; University of Southern California Law School, LL.B., 1955
Signed orders read 25
Last updated 2026-07-12
Motion outcomes
AppealN = 21
counts only
2 18 1
Petition for reviewN = 4
counts only
4
Counted from classified signed orders. A “1 of 1” is one ruling, not a tendency.
About this data
A free Ezel research resource. This profile is built from public records: the judge's own signed orders, public docket records, and published biographies. It is not legal advice and is not affiliated with the court.
How Judge Thompson decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Uses the state offense's statutory ceiling, rather than an individualized guideline range, when deciding whether a conviction qualifies as a federal firearm predicate.
“the potential maximum sentence defined by the applicable state criminal statute”
Treats a concrete injury as indispensable to appellate standing, even for a technical member of a certified class.
“She simply suffered no injury”
Requires a new asylum hearing when compulsory process is necessary to test materials used against an applicant's credibility.
“We grant the petition for review and remand to the BIA”
Regards an unconditional lack of injury as a jurisdictional endpoint rather than a merits question.
“Appeal DISMISSED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
United States v. Jose Chavez Garcia
· 1989-05-23
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Phillip Rico, Jr.
· 1990-02-05
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Granted
“REMANDED for resentencing.”
United States v. Norman Leon Vroman
· 1992-09-22
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Wolford v. Gaekle
· 1994-03-21
Appeal (class-member-appellant)
Moot / procedural
“Appeal DISMISSED.”
United States v. John William Forrester
· 1994-03-25
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Juvenile 1 (Lwq), United States of America v. Juvenile 2 (Wjd)
· 1994-10-20
Appeal (juvenile-defendant-appellants)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Stephen Louis O'Brien
· 1995-04-18
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dennis Lee DAVIS, Defendant-Appellant
· 1996-02-14
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jose Manuel SEGURA-DEL REAL, Defendant-Appellant
· 1996-04-30
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Throckmorton
· 1996-07-01
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellants)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Fidel Enrique RUELAS, Defendant-Appellant
· 1996-09-30
Appeal (criminal-defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Evans v. Demosthenes
· 1996-10-25
Appeal (state-habeas-petitioner-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
A historical record
Judge Thompson no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.