Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 03-CV-1486 (RCL).

Citation604 F.Supp.2d 152
Decision Date31 March 2009
Docket NumberNo. 03-CV-1486 (RCL).,03-CV-1486 (RCL).
PartiesMichael BENNETT and Linda Bennett Individually and as Co-Administrator of the Estate of Marla Ann Bennett, Plaintiffs, v. The ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Columbia

Ronald Alvin Karp, Karp, Frosh, Lapidus, Wigodsky & Norwind, P.A., Rockville, MD, Thomas Fortune Fay, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, Chief Judge.

The United States has moved to quash five writs of attachment issued against properties belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Dk. # 34. These properties largely comprise the former Iranian Embassy compound here in Washington, D.C. This includes the former Ambassador's residence, Iran's former Embassy Chancery, as well as a separate diplomatic residence, and two parking lots.1 Plaintiffs obtained the writs attaching these properties of Iran in an effort to satisfy a judgment they received in an action pursuant to the 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7), the state sponsor of terrorism exception to sovereign immunity. See Dk. # s 20-22. For the reasons expressed herein, the Court will grant the Government's motion to quash the writs of attachment.

Facts and Procedural History

Marla Ann Bennett, an American citizen and resident of California, was just 24 years old when she was murdered by terrorists. She was killed when Hamas operatives detonated a bomb inside a cafeteria at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in July of 2002. In an effort to achieve some measure of justice, Marla's parents brought a civil action against Iran and its Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) under § 1605(a)(7). The Bennetts demonstrated through evidence satisfactory to this Court, see § 1608(e), that Iran and its MOIS provided material support to Hamas in furtherance of terrorist objectives. See Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 507 F.Supp.2d 117 (D.D.C.2007) (Lamberth, J.). Plaintiffs were awarded a judgment in excess of 12 million dollars. To date, that judgment remains unsatisfied.

In an effort to execute their judgment against Iran, plaintiffs procured the writs of attachment on the properties at issue in this case. Due to the manner in which plaintiffs attached these former diplomatic properties, however, this matter has a strange and somewhat tortured procedural history. Contrary to the usual procedure for the issuance of writs of attachment, in which the request is handled directly by the Clerk's office in accordance with longstanding procedures established by this Court, plaintiffs' counsel instead filed a separate motion requesting that this Judge specifically order the Clerk of Court to issue the five writs. See Dk. # 22. Plaintiffs' counsel later filed a supplemental memorandum in support of the motion for writs of attachment. See Dk. # 24. In that memorandum, counsel observes that in Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran this Judge quashed five writs of attachment on some of the very same properties at issue here. See Dk. # 24 at p. 2 (citing 76 F.Supp.2d 16 (D.D.C.1999) (Lamberth, J.))2 Counsel argues, however, that both the relevant facts and the applicable law have changed since that decision in Flatow and, as a result of those changes, Iran's properties here in Washington are no longer immune from attachment. See id. at 2-7.

At the time plaintiffs' supplemental memorandum was filed, the United States had not yet entered an appearance in this action, let alone moved to quash plaintiffs' writs of attachment. Nonetheless, plaintiffs' counsel suggests in his supplemental memorandum that the United States does not have standing to move this Court to quash writs of attachment issued against Iran's former embassy properties, notwithstanding the fact that it was the United States that successfully moved to quash the writs in Flatow. See Dk. # 24, p. 7-10. Counsel's argument relies heavily—if not exclusively—on Rubin v. Islamic of Republic of Iran, a case from the Northern District of Illinois in which the court held that the University of Chicago did not have standing to challenge writs of attachments issued against collections of Persian artifacts on loan to the university from Iran. See id. (citing 408 F.Supp.2d 549 (N.D.Ill.2005)).3

Plaintiffs' counsel ultimately withdrew his motion for an order to issue of writs of attachment, but the writs of attachment were issued by the Clerk of the Court about a week later on April 1, 2008. See Dk. # 26. Counsel subsequently filed executed returns on the writs on June 5, 2008. See Dk. # s 27-31. Accordingly, the record suggests that the plaintiffs' counsel withdrew the motion in order to procure the writs through the Clerk's office in accordance with the normal and long-established procedures of this Court. While this Court normally does not consider motions or other matters that have been withdraw by counsel, this Court will nonetheless accept the withdrawn motion and supplemental memorandum for the limited purpose of establishing that counsel believed he had some good faith basis for procuring writs of attachment against former diplomatic properties of Iran.

Undeterred by plaintiffs' peremptory arguments, the United States moved to quash all five writs of attachment on July 18, 2008. See Dk. # 34. Plaintiffs filed their opposition in a timely manner and the United States timely filed its reply. See Dk. # s 35 & 36. More than two months later, however, and without leave of the Court, plaintiff filed another supplemental memorandum and several exhibits as additional support for their opposition to the Government's motion to quash. Dk. # 37. The Government then filed a response to the plaintiffs' supplemental memorandum four days later on October 21, 2008. See Dk. # 40. In that response, the Government requests that plaintiffs' supplemental filing be struck from the record or disregarded.

Arguments of the Parties
The United States

The United States argues that plaintiffs' writs of attachment must be quashed because the properties at issue are immune from attachment in light of several important legal authorities. The United States calls this Court's attention to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention), 23 U.S.T. 3227, T.I.A.S. No. 7502 (1972), the Foreign Missions Act, 22 U.S.C. §§ 4301, et seq., the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1602, et seq., the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), Pub.L. No. 107-297, Title II, § 201 (Nov. 26, 2002), codified as 28 U.S.C. § 1610 Note, and several Executive Orders and Federal Regulations relating to properties belonging to Iran in the United States. See Dk. #34. The Government emphasizes that the United States is now holding the former diplomatic properties of Iran in protective custody pursuant to the terms of the Foreign Missions Act and consistent with the Federal Government's obligations under the Vienna Convention. See Id. at p. 1, 8-10, Exh. 1. The United States claims that, in order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Vienna Convention and Foreign Missions Act, the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) has periodically leased Iran's properties to other foreign governments or to private parties and has used the income derived from those rentals to fund necessary maintenance and repairs of the properties. See Dk. 34 at p. 10.

In light of its multilateral treaty and statutory obligations, as well as the overall importance of the foreign policy interests presented here, the United States stresses that it therefore has at least two independent bases on which it may assert standing in this action. First, the Government relies on 28 U.S.C. § 517, which vests the Attorney General with broad authority "to send any officer of the Department of Justice to `attend to the interests of the United States in a suit pending in a court of the United States.'" Id. at p. 11. Second, the United States argues that, regardless of the scope of any statutory authority provided under 28 U.S.C. § 517, longstanding case precedent establishes that the Federal Government has standing to assert and protect its own important foreign policy interests. See Id. See also Dk. # 36 at p. 1-5.

The Government observes that on at least two prior occasions this Court determined that the very properties at issue here are immune from attachment. See Id. at p. 20-21 (citing Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 74 F.Supp.2d 18 (D.D.C. 1999); Mousa v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 00-cv-2096, 2003 WL 24207777 (D.D.C. 2003) (Bryant, J.)). According to the Government there's been no subsequent change in the applicable facts or law the would render those properties subject to attachment now. See id. at 13-21; Dk. # 36, p. 6-7. In particular, the Government emphasizes that Congress did not intend that the enactment of § 1083 of the 2008 NDAA and the new state sponsor of terrorism exception 1605A to allow for the attachment of diplomatic properties. See Dk. # 34 at p. 13-16.

Finally, the Government asks that this Court strike or otherwise disregard plaintiffs supplemental filings in this matter. See Dk. # 40. The United States emphasizes that the supplemental materials were filed in contravention of the local rules without leave of the Court, and that, in any event, the materials are not relevant to this dispute. See id.

Plaintiffs Michael and Linda Bennett

Plaintiffs' primary argument is the United States does not have standing to challenge the writs of attachment issued against Iran's former diplomatic properties. See Dk. 35 at p. 1-5. In plaintiffs' brief that is heavy on rhetoric, counsel is largely dismissive of the United States' position, asserting that it is "insulting to the intelligence of the American people." Id. at p. 4. Plaintiffs' counsel cast the United States as effectively mounting a defense of Iran, and argues that the United States should be precluded from doing so in this case because Iran has proven more...

To continue reading

Request your trial
9 cases
  • Estate of Heiser v. Islamic Republic of Iran
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • August 31, 2012
    ...plaintiffs was only further depleted by the exclusion of diplomatic properties from the TRIA's reach. See Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 604 F.Supp.2d 152, 161 (D.D.C.2009) ( “[The TRIA] expressly excludes ‘property subject to Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations, or that enjoys ......
  • Ministry Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Cubic Def. Sys., Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
    • November 27, 2013
    ...of state-sponsored terrorism who obtained judgments under § 1605A, and not its predecessor, § 1605(a)(7)”) (citation omitted); Bennett, 604 F.Supp.2d at 162 (Section “1610(g), by its express terms, applies only to ‘judgments entered under 1605A,’ and thus this new provision is not available......
  • In re Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Lit.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • September 30, 2009
    ...opinion stem from the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks facility in Beirut, Lebanon. In another action considered today, Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran, plaintiffs demonstrated how Iran's financial support of Hamas helped to perpetrate terrorist attacks, including a 2002 suicide bomb......
  • Estate of Heiser v. Islamic Republic of Iran
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • August 10, 2011
    ...activity and (3) controlled by a foreign state or its instrumentalities. Id. at § 1610(a)-(b); see also Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 604 F.Supp.2d 152, 161 (D.D.C.2009) (“[The FSIA] provides that the property of a foreign state is not immune from attachment or execution if the prope......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT