Gamez v. County of Fresno
Key Findings
- Five of nine case authorities cited cannot be verified to exist: Barajas v. Progressive, Holmes v. City of San Diego, Robinson v. Boren, Koerner v. Vigilant Ins., and Griffin v. County of Humboldt.
- Every flagged citation in this filing is a fabrication — there are no mischaracterizations, just invented authority presented as precedent.
Court Response
Disposition: OSC issued; Attorney Kevin Little directed to respond by April 20, 2026 and “show cause why he should not be sanctioned.”
The court identified three categories of problems: (1) citations to cases that do not exist, naming Griffin v. Cnty. of Humboldt, Barajas v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., and Holmes v. City of San Diego; (2) a quotation attributed to the real Destfino v. Reiswig that the court "was unable to locate" at the cited page; and (3) "legal representations that lack supporting authority." Footnote 1 adds that the order "does not identify every apparent error in the opposition brief, only a representative selection." The order catalogued available sanctions — monetary fines, striking of briefs, client notification, and dismissal.
Comparison: Opine flagged five cases as fabricated — Barajas, Holmes, Robinson v. Boren, Koerner v. Vigilant Ins., and Griffin v. County of Humboldt. The court named three of the five as representative examples. Opine also flagged three significant-issue quote problems on Destfino v. Reiswig, matching the court's separate finding that a Destfino quote could not be located at the cited page.
Every citation in the filing above was checked against the actual opinion or statute it claimed to cite. Fabricated items could not be verified to exist. Mischaracterized items are real cases described incorrectly. Potentially stretched items are real citations applied in ways that push beyond the holding — judgment calls rather than definitive errors.
Opine's citation verification currently covers California state courts and the 9th Circuit — the jurisdictions where our case-law and statute data is comprehensive.