gno.law

Thomas J. Whelan

District judge · Superior Court of Southern District of California County · 2001–2026

C-
99% — 243.5 of 246 orders sound, per qwen3.8-27b; in the top 54% of 51 graded judges

On the assumption that the model is right — qwen3.8-27b's verdicts on a court's own orders matched a later appeal 76% of the time (104 of 136), graded on a curve: A is the top fifth of the judges graded under this model, F the bottom fifth; ++ / + / − / −− within the band. How the grade is made.

66cases reviewed on appeal
281opinions authored
281panels sat on (not as author)
29%reversed, in whole or part, of 59 merits decisions

Outcomes on appeal

affirmed 42 reversed 10 reversed in part 4 vacated 3

The Ninth Circuit's later rulings on their dockets

affirmed 4 other 1

Each Ninth Circuit opinion that names a docket this judge wrote an order on, by its outcome; the ruling it reviewed is not always the order in the record. The order's page links the opinion.

Areas

criminal 35 civil 31

By year: 2010 16 · 2008 6 · 2021 5 · 2019 5 · 2018 4 · 2011 4 · 2007 3 · 2005 3 · 2025 2 · 2024 2 · 2023 2 · 2020 2 · 2012 2 · 2006 2 · 2002 2 · 2026 1 · 2022 1 · 2017 1 · 2015 1 · 2004 1 · 2001 1 ·

Analysis

No analyses yet. When they exist, this shows counts of the model's findings across this judge's reviewed cases — with the court's own dispositions beside them, and only from 10 cases.

Cases

  1. United States v. Dickman 24-7035 · 2025-10-10 · criminal · affirmed
  2. United States v. Chipunov 23-2046 · 2025-04-14 · criminal · affirmed
  3. United States v. Jones 23-3045 · 2024-11-22 · criminal · affirmed
  4. United States v. William Wooten 21-50126 · 2021-12-27 · criminal · affirmed
  5. United States v. Barbara Ross 20-50223 · 2021-11-29 · criminal · affirmed
  6. United States v. John Vescuso 20-50165 · 2021-08-19 · criminal · reversed
  7. United States v. Radames Alonso 20-50112 · 2021-06-15 · criminal · reversed in part
  8. United States v. Gabriel Rodriguez-Rodriguez 19-50216 · 2020-02-07 · criminal · affirmed
  9. United States v. John Vescuso 16-50441 · 2019-08-02 · criminal · reversed in part
  10. Richard Samayoa v. Ron Davis 18-56047 · 2019-07-03 · criminal · reversed
  11. Richard Samayoa v. Ron Davis 18-56047 · 2019-07-03 · criminal · reversed
  12. United States v. Marchello McCain 18-50013 · 2019-05-06 · criminal · affirmed
  13. United States v. Pedro Franco 16-50408 · 2018-08-03 · criminal · reversed
  14. United States v. Santos Valdovino-Torrez 16-50047 · 2017-01-23 · criminal · affirmed
  15. United States v. Jonathan Leal-Del Carmen 11-50094 · 2012-09-14 · criminal · reversed
  16. United States v. Manuel Borbon 10-50272 · 2012-02-08 · criminal · affirmed
  17. United States v. Garcia-Guerrero 09-50614 · 2011-02-18 · criminal · vacated
  18. United States v. Flores-Blanco 09-50040 · 2010-10-04 · criminal · affirmed
  19. United States v. Victor Vallin-Jauregui 08-50457 · 2010-07-14 · criminal · affirmed
  20. United States v. Chavez 09-50434 · 2010-07-08 · criminal · affirmed
  21. Rafael Lopez Almaraz v. Eric H. Holder Jr. 08-74497 · 2010-06-22 · criminal · affirmed
  22. United States v. Josue De Paz 09-50393 · 2010-06-10 · criminal · affirmed
  23. United States v. Harry Orlando-Papias 09-50241 · 2010-06-04 · criminal · affirmed
  24. United States v. Castro 09-50164 · 2010-06-04 · criminal · vacated
  25. United States v. Vences 07-50541 · 2010-03-02 · criminal · affirmed