Ashe v. Corley
| Decision Date | 04 June 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-6299,91-6299 |
| Citation | 992 F.2d 540 |
| Parties | , RICO Bus.Disp.Guide 8305 Billy Joe ASHE, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Joe CORLEY, etc., Defendant, Montgomery County, Texas, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Phyllip W. Swisher, Harry H. Walsh, III, Conroe, TX, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Steve McKeithen, Asst. Cty. Atty., Conroe, TX, for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Before JOHNSON, GARWOOD, and JONES, Circuit Judges.
The Appellants in this case are a number of plaintiffs who brought suit against two Texas counties and various members of their sheriff's departments alleging civil rights and RICO violations. Eventually all defendants were dismissed from the suit except Montgomery County. The district court granted summary judgment against the plaintiffs on all issues, and the plaintiffs now appeal. This Court affirms in part, reverses in part, and remands the case for further proceedings.
In December 1987, the plaintiffs--a group of Montgomery County jail inmates, former inmates, and family members--filed this lawsuit alleging violations of their civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968. Named as defendants in the original complaint were Montgomery County, Texas; Montgomery County Sheriff Joe Corley in his individual and official capacities; several deputies of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department in their individual and official capacities; Harris County, Texas; and Harris County Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen in his individual and official capacities. Harris County and all of the individual defendants were eventually dismissed by the plaintiffs, leaving Montgomery County (the County) as the only defendant. 1
According to the complaint, two of the plaintiffs had filed earlier lawsuits against the sheriff of Montgomery County, Joe Corley. All of the other plaintiffs were witnesses in one of those two lawsuits. The complaint alleged that Corley and other members of the sheriff's department engaged in a frightening pattern of physical violence and brutality against the plaintiffs in retaliation for bringing those earlier lawsuits. The complaint also alleged that the members of the sheriff's department pressured witnesses to give false testimony in order to manufacture criminal charges against several of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged that these acts were committed by members of the sheriff's department pursuant to Sheriff Corley's policy of encouraging deputies to use physical violence to punish uncooperative persons in their custody.
As the litigation progressed in the district court, the plaintiffs were allowed to file two amendments to their original complaint. 2 On June 23, 1989, the district court ordered the plaintiffs to amend their complaint for the third time in order to provide greater detail on their RICO claims. However, the plaintiffs filed their amended complaint after the ten day period required by FED.R.CIV.P. 12(e), and the district court refused to allow the plaintiffs' fourth amended complaint. In August of 1991, the County, the sole remaining defendant in the case, filed a motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs responded--after a fashion--with a motion for leave to amend their complaint again and with affidavits from the individual plaintiffs and various witnesses. 3 The district court denied the motion for leave to amend and granted summary judgment on all issues in favor of Montgomery County.
In this appeal, the plaintiffs raise two issues. First, they argue that the district court erred in refusing their fifth motion to amend their complaint. Second, they argue that the district court improperly granted summary judgment on their RICO claims and on their section 1983 claims. We consider each of these arguments in turn.
This Court reviews a district court's denial of leave to amend a complaint for abuse of discretion. Whitaker v. City of Houston, 963 F.2d 831, 836 (5th Cir.1992). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that leave to amend "shall be freely given when justice so requires." FED.R.CIV.P. 15(a). However, leave to amend is "by no means automatic." Addington v. Farmer's Elevator Mut. Ins. Co., 650 F.2d 663, 666 (5th Cir. Unit A), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1098, 102 S.Ct. 672, 70 L.Ed.2d 640 (1981). Instead, the decision to grant or deny leave is one left to the sound discretion of the trial court. In deciding whether leave should be granted, the district court can consider factors such as "undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party ... [and] futility of amendment." Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962).
In the instant case, the district court did not explain its reasons for denying the plaintiffs' motion. Such a failure is "unfortunate but not fatal to affirmance." Rhodes v. Amarillo Hosp. Dist., 654 F.2d 1148, 1154 (5th Cir. Unit A Sept. 1981). Where reasons for denying leave to amend are "ample and obvious," the district court's failure to articulate specific reasons does not indicate an abuse of discretion. Id. Here, the plaintiffs were allowed to amend two times. A third amendment was ordered by the district court, but the plaintiffs failed to file it within the time allowed by FED.R.CIV.P. 12(e). The plaintiffs did not request leave to file the amended complaint at issue until September of 1991--nearly four years after the original complaint was filed. While delay alone may not be a sufficient reason to deny leave to amend, amendment should not be allowed where the proposed amendment would prejudice the opposing party. 6 CHARLES A. WRIGHT ET AL., FEDERAL PRACTICE & PROCEDURE § 1488, at 659-62 (1990). By the plaintiffs' own admission, their proposed amendment would have added a new cause of action against Montgomery County 4--less than one week before the trial was scheduled to start. Under the circumstances, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in denying the plaintiffs' leave to amend.
In this case, our review of the district court's judgment is severely hampered by the court's failure to give any reason for granting summary judgment or to set out findings and conclusions to support its ruling. The district court's order stated simply:
Montgomery County is entitled to judgment as a matter of law if the non-moving party, Billy Joe Ashe, et al., fails to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of their case with respect to which they have the burden of proof. The non-movant may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleading, but the adverse party's response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Although Billy Joe Ashe and the other plaintiffs ultimately filed a response to Montgomery County's motion, the response was not supported by any summary judgment evidence. Therefore, plaintiffs have failed to raise a genuine issue as to any material fact upon which they would bear the burden of proof at trial.
Record Vol. 1 at 1093-94 (citations and quotation marks omitted).
Although this statement provides little insight into the district court's reasons for granting summary judgment, it does seem to indicate that the district court felt that the plaintiffs were under an initial burden to come forward with summary judgment evidence demonstrating a material issue of fact as to every element of their case. If so, the district court was incorrect.
Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." However, even when the non-movant bears the burden of proof at trial, "[s]imply filing a summary judgment motion does not immediately compel the party opposing the motion to come forward with evidence demonstrating material issues of fact as to every element of its case." Russ v. International Paper Co., 943 F.2d 589, 591 (5th Cir.1991). It is not enough for the moving party to merely make a conclusory statement that the other party has no evidence to prove his case. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 328, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2555, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (White, J., concurring). "[B]efore the non-moving party is required to produce evidence in opposition to the motion, the moving party must first satisfy its obligation of demonstrating that there are no factual issues warranting trial." Russ, 943 F.2d at 592; Commander v. BASF Wyandotte Corp., 978 F.2d 924, 927 n. 4 (5th Cir.1992) (); see Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608-09 (11th Cir.1991) ().
From the Record, it is apparent that Montgomery County totally failed to satisfy the movant's burden as set out in Celotex and Russ. The County's motion for summary judgment failed to point out an absence of proof on any factual issue. In fact, the motion failed to raise any factual issues at all, other than in the most conclusory terms. And a mere conclusory statement that the other side has...
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