James v. United States

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

KOZINSKI, Chief Judge.

On September 3, 1971, plaintiff, Walter V. James, and defendant, the United States, *148entered into a contract titled Land License No. 2496 for the storage of a gold mining dredge in an area known as A 300 in the Panama Canal Zone.* Some time in December of 1975 the dredge was stolen. It appears that a man by the name of Marion Frazer Hale came onto A 300 armed with a forged document purporting to give him title to the dredge and hauled the equipment off the property.

Plaintiff brought suit, charging that the United States had breached the contract by…