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Quick facts
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position circuit
Status Senior status
Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
Commissioned 2007-03-19
Education Brigham Young University, B.S., 1974; Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, J.D., 1977
Signed orders read 28
Last updated 2026-07-12
Motion outcomes
AppealN = 23
counts only
10 12 1
Petition for reviewN = 5
counts only
5
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 Smith decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Begins with the governing text and reads undefined terms in the context and purpose of the larger statutory or guidelines scheme.
“we interpret the term “arrest” to require that the individual be formally arrested”
Requires trial courts to perform the reliability analysis assigned to them before expert evidence reaches a jury.
“The district court failed to make findings of relevancy and reliability before admitting into evidence the expert testimony of Mr. Cohen and Dr. Millette”
Leaves fact-intensive party-specific questions for the trial court to resolve in the first instance.
“Determining an employee’s reason for departing is a factual inquiry better suited for district courts.”
Treats exhaustion as an important prerequisite when comity and institutional competence favor initial review by another tribunal.
“We, therefore, decline to assume jurisdiction over Alvarez’s claims.”
Applies jurisdictional limits even when the resulting hardship is apparent.
“Although we are sympathetic to the hardships resulting from de Rincon’s subsequent removal from this country, § 1252(e) does not allow us to indulge those sympathies.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
United States v. Zalapa
· 2007-12-05
Appeal (defendant-appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED AND REMANDED”
Pilkington v. Cardinal Health, Inc.
· 2008-02-19
Appeal (plaintiffs-appellants)
Granted
“REVERSED and REMANDED.”
Orozco v. Mukasey
· 2008-03-25
Petition for review (noncitizen-petitioner)
Denied
“PETITION DENIED.”
Manzarek v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co.
· 2008-03-25
Appeal (plaintiffs-appellants)
Granted
“REVERSED.”
Satey v. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
· 2008-03-31
Appeal (plaintiff-appellant)
Denied
“Affirmed.”
Aguilera v. Alaska Juris F/V, O.N. 569276
· 2008-08-04
Appeal (plaintiff-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Almazan-Becerra
· 2008-08-12
Appeal (defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Garcia de Rincon v. Department of Homeland Security
· 2008-08-21
Appeal (noncitizen-appellant)
Moot / procedural
“We lack jurisdiction over her consolidated appeal and, accordingly, must dismiss.”
Center for Policy Analysis on Trade & Health v. Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
· 2008-08-22
Appeal (plaintiffs-appellants)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United National Insurance Co. v. Spectrum Worldwide
· 2009-02-02
Appeal (defendants-appellants)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Kearns v. Ford Motor Co.
· 2009-06-08
Appeal (plaintiff-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, Inc.
· 2009-06-19
Appeal (plaintiff-appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED and REMANDED.”
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