Christy v. Sheriff of Palm Beach County, No. 07-11912 (11th Cir. 8/5/2008)
| Decision Date | 05 August 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-11912.,07-11912. |
| Parties | CARL ROBERT CHRISTY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SHERIFF OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, RICHARD WILLIE, Sheriff, PSBO, JOHN MARK COLLINS, THOMAS THOMPSON, Deputy Sheriff, PBSO, SCOTT S. WARBURTON, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida; D. C. Docket No. 06-80805-CV-KLR.
Before BIRCH, CARNES and BARKETT, Circuit Judges.
Carl Robert Christy, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the district court's order dismissing his pro se civil rights complaint, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and its order denying his motion to alter or amend the judgment. In his complaint, Christy brought nine claims against the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office ("PBSO") and various local officials that had been employed at the PBSO. Claims One through Three were brought against former PBSO Deputy Sheriff John Mark Collins, the first two of which arose out of an alleged unlawful contingency fee agreement between Collins and confidential informant ("CI") Tony Granims that led to Christy's arrest and state conviction on drug charges in 1985. The remainder of his claims generally alleged that the other defendants concealed this unlawful agreement.
After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the district court was correct to dismiss Christy's claims for failure to state a claim. Also, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Christy's motion to alter or amend, as he only repeated old arguments in his motion. Accordingly, we AFFIRM.
Christy, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights action in federal court, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985(2)-(3). R1-1 at 1-2. He sued the following defendants: (1) Richard Wille, former Sheriff of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office ("PBSO"); (2) John Mark Collins, former Deputy Sheriff at PBSO; (3) Thomas Thompson, former Captain at PBSO; (4) PBSO, the entity; (5) Scott S. Warburton, an attorney representing Collins and PBSO in a previous action; (6) Amy Singer Borman, an attorney representing PBSO in a previous action; and (7) John Does, unknown individuals. Id. at 2-3.
With respect to the specific claims in the complaint, Christy alleged that Collins violated his rights by: (1) entering into, and concealing, an unlawful racketeering enterprise with confidential informant ("CI") Tony Granims that led to Christy's arrest in 1984 (Claim One); (2) embellishing, falsifying, and distorting the information contained in Christy's arrest report (Claim Two); and (3) knowingly submitting false answers to questions during discovery in a 1993 civil action (Claim Three). Id. ¶¶ 39-41. Christy alleged that Warburton, an attorney for Collins in that 1993 case, provided false information in discovery in order to cover up the unlawful activities of Collins and Granims (Claim Four). Id. ¶ 42. Christy alleged that Borman, an attorney for PBSO in 1996, refused to honor Christy's request under Florida law for a copy of a PBSO report in order to protect Collins and Granims (Claim Five). Id. ¶ 43. Christy alleged that Thompson, as a law enforcement officer charged with investigating Collins and Granims, concealed their unlawful relationship (Claim Six). Id. ¶ 44. Christy alleged that Wille, being aware of the investigations into Collins, aided and concealed Collins' wrongdoing (Claim Seven). Id. ¶ 45. Christy alleged that PBSO, acting through the above individuals, aided and concealed Collins' and Granims' unlawful racketeering enterprise (Claim Eight). Id. ¶ 46. Finally, Christy alleged that, although he was unaware of it at the time, the relationship between Collins and Granims resulted in the unlawful and corrupt forfeiture of $110,120 to PBSO (Claim Nine). Id. ¶ 47.
Christy alleged that, collectively, the defendants violated his rights under the following provisions: the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the federal Constitution; the Due Process Clause of the Florida Constitution; 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 4, 1001(a), 1510, 1512(b)-(c), 1621, 1623, and 1962, various federal criminal statutes generally related to making false and misleading statements, obstructing an investigation, and racketeering; Fla. Stat. § 839.13 for falsifying records; and Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(b) for presenting pleadings for an improper purpose. See Id. ¶¶ 39-47. In addition to declaratory relief, Christy sought compensatory and punitive damages against the six named defendants. Id. at 24-26.
The allegations in the complaint relevant to this appeal are as follows. In 1984, Granims began working as a CI for Collins after being investigated, arrested, and charged for an unrelated offense. R1-1 at 3-4 ¶¶ 1-5. In this capacity, Granims introduced Collins to individuals involved in drug trafficking in order to develop a reverse sting operation. Id. at 3-4 ¶¶ 2, 6, 8. In order to induce the sting, Collins took kilograms of cocaine from the evidence room at PBSO and showed it to these individuals in "surprise flash" fashion. Id. at 4 ¶ 7. However, these individuals did not have the money to purchase the drugs, and so, after being repeatedly contacted, Christy was ultimately brought into negotiations with Collins. Id. at 5 ¶¶ 9-10. In November 1984, Christy attempted to leave the premises where the negotiations were taking place and got in his car. Id. at 5 ¶ 10. Collins then entered the car and, in order to induce a sting, showed Christy cocaine in a "surprise flash" manner, at which point the car was surrounded by law enforcement and Christy was arrested. Id. at 4-5 ¶¶ 7, 10. Collins removed $110,120 from the trunk of Christy's car at the time of the arrest. Id. at 5 ¶ 11. After reviewing the evidence against him, Christy, with the advice of his attorney agreed to forfeit this money to PBSO. Id. at 5 ¶ 12. Christy pled guilty in 1985 in connection with this incident and received five years' probation. Id. at 6 ¶ 14.
Although Christy did not know it at the time, Collins paid Granims a substantial sum of money for setting up the reverse sting operation in Christy's case, a relationship that was subsequently concealed. Id. at 6 ¶¶ 15, 16. In 1989, Thompson conducted an internal investigation of Collins, which was ultimately terminated when Thompson reported that Collins had severed his relationship with Granims. Id. at 7 ¶¶ 21-22. Following Collins' testimony against Christy at a subsequent federal criminal trial in 1989 — Christy did not specify the offense with which he was charged or the result of the case — Christy filed a federal civil action against Collins in 1993. Id. at 7-8 ¶¶ 19, 22, 24. During that case, Collins was represented by Warburton. Id. at 8 ¶ 24. During discovery in this civil action, Collins denied that he was an associate of Granims, that Granims had worked as a CI at the time of Christy's arrest in 1984, and that he had paid Granims a contingency fee for his work as a CI. Id. at 8 ¶ 25. In 1994, there was an internal investigation regarding Collins' involvement with illegal drugs, and Thompson and Wille were informed of this investigation. Id. at 8-9 ¶¶ 26-27. In 1996, Christy requested a copy of a PBSO report that Collins had filed in 1984 with respect to Granims, but Borman, representing PBSO, refused to release the document. Id. at 10 ¶ 30. Christy later obtained this document through litigation. Id. In 2001, Collins and Granims were indicted under federal racketeering charges. Id. at 10 ¶ 32. Granims testified against Collins at the trial in 2002 and, in contradiction to Collins and Warburton's previous statements in the 1993 case, admitted that Collins had paid him for his work as a CI in 1984 and that Collins had embellished the contents of his police reports, including one that was relevant to Christy's case. Id. at 11 ¶ 34. There was also testimony that Thompson had protected Collins during the internal investigations. Id. ¶ 35. Collins was sentenced in 2003. Id. at 13 ¶ 37.
All of the defendants except for Collins jointly moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely and for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. R1-13 at 1, 7-11. Christy responded to the defendants' motion to dismiss where he set out the factual basis of his claims in greater detail and attached four volumes of appendices in support. See generally R1-18; Exh. Folder, doc. 19; R1-20, 21; Exh. Folder, doc. 22.
A magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation. R1-23. He began by clarifying that the case was before him for initial screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A and for consideration of the defendants' joint motion to dismiss. Id. at 1-2. In this respect, because the standard for dismissal under § 1915A was the same as the standard for dismissal under Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b)(6), he stated that he would "conduct a joint screening of the Complaint and analysis of the Motion to Dismiss, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A." Id. at 3. In setting out the comprehensive procedural history of this case — explaining that Christy had been challenging his 1985 conviction since 1993 — the magistrate judge noted that some of the history was "culled from prior federal litigation in this Court, reported cases and exhibits in this and former cases filed in this Court." Id. at 4-8 & n.1.
Discussing Christy's first two claims against Collins, the magistrate judge found that they were barred by the statute of limitations, which began to accrue on the date that Christy discovered the unlawful agreement between Collins and Granims. Id. at 11-13. Despite acknowledging that Christy alleged in his complaint that he discovered this fact when Granims testified against Collins in 2002, the magistrate judge determined that Christy was aware of this prior to being sentenced in 1985. Id. at 12-13. To support this finding, the magistrate judge relied on a transcript of Christy's...
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