Siderman De Blake v. Republic of Argentina
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
965 F.2d 699 (9th Cir. 1992)
After fleeing Argentina to escape alleged torture, Siderman De Blake (plaintiff) discovered Argentine authorities had modified his property deed to drastically reduce his claimed acreage and had brought a criminal fraud action against him over a property sale he made to fund his escape; Argentina (defendant) sent a letter rogatory seeking California courts' assistance serving process on Siderman, then living in Los Angeles. Siderman sued Argentina in the U.S. for torture and wrongful property seizure arising from this same conduct, and Argentina asserted sovereign immunity as a defense.
Whether a State waives its sovereign immunity from suit in the courts of a foreign State when it deliberately seeks redress in the foreign State's courts for the same matter.