Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT
| Decision Date | 09 April 2001 |
| Docket Number | DEFENDANTS-APPELLEE,No. 00-3322,PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,00-3322 |
| Parties | (8th Cir. 2001) CONSUL GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA, FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOFYAM SALOM, HEIRONYMOUS PURWANTA, YDUHO SASONGKO AND EMMANUELA CATUR RISMIATA, PLAINTIFF, CONSUL GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ESTATE OF AGUS SUDARSO, DWIYANI KUSUMASTUTI, WAHYU WINARNI AND MOHAMMAD TOTO BUDAYA,, v. BILL'S RENTALS, INC., COLTON & ASSOCIATES, INC., DAVID KEVIN MCGRATH, Submitted: |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
Before McMILLIAN, and Loken, Circuit Judges, and Goldberg, 1 Judge.
Soejono Soerjoatmodjo, the Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, appeals from an order entered in the United States District Court 2 for the Southern District of Iowa dismissing certain wrongful death claims. For reversal, appellant argues that the district court erred in failing to allow him an opportunity to cure the real party in interest defect, in deciding that Iowa law applied to the relation back issue and that any amendment would not relate back, and in deciding that Iowa law applied to the real party in interest issue and that appellant was not a real party in interest. For the reasons discussed below, we hold that we lack appellate jurisdiction and accordingly dismiss the appeal without prejudice.
This appeal arises out of a tragic motor vehicle accident. On September 2, 1996, twelve Indonesian citizens, who were students at the University of Iowa, were returning from a weekend sightseeing trip. Their van was owned by and had been rented from Bill's Rentals, Inc. The driver of the van attempted to enter a rest stop off Interstate 80 near Ogallala, Nebraska, lost control of the van and struck the rear of a tractor-trailer parked on the right shoulder of the exit ramp in a posted "no parking" zone. The tractor-trailer was operated by David Kevin McGrath in the course of his employment by Colton & Assocs., Inc. (Colton). Five of the students died, and six were injured.
On August 28, 1998, several days before the applicable statute of limitations expired, appellant filed a complaint in federal district court against Bill's Rentals, McGrath and Colton, for wrongful death and negligence, seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Defendants filed motions to dismiss. The district court granted additional time for the parties to conduct limited discovery on the issues of standing and real party in interest. The district court converted the motions to dismiss into motions for summary judgment because matters outside the pleadings had been submitted to and considered by the district court.
The district court decided that appellant had standing under an international treaty on consular relations. However, the district court also decided, after a complicated conflicts of law analysis, that appellant was not the real party in interest with respect to the wrongful death claims because, under Iowa law, the person with the right to bring a wrongful death action is the administrator of the deceased's estate and appellant was not the administrator of any of the deceased students' estates. The district court also found that two of the six powers of attorney for the injured students had been revoked and that there were genuine issues of material fact with respect to the validity of the remaining four powers of attorney. On April 6, 2000, the district court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Bill's Rentals McGrath and Colton, dismissed the wrongful death claims and the negligence claims of the two...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Alternate Fuels, Inc. v. Cabanas
...for lack of jurisdiction. A grant of partial summary judgment is not immediately appealable. See Consul Gen. of the Rep. of Indonesia v. Bill's Rental's, Inc., 251 F.3d 718, 720 (8th Cir.2001). This court has pendent jurisdiction to consider issues that are "closely related" or "inextricabl......
-
Reinholdson v. Minnesota
...controlling issue of law for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). See generally Consul Gen. of Republic of Indon. ex rel. Salom v. Bill's Rentals, Inc., 251 F.3d 718, 720 (8th Cir.2001). They did not ask the court to enter final judgment on the dismissed claims with "an express d......
-
SD Voice v. Noem
...An order that resolves fewer than all claims is paradigmatically not final. See, e.g. , Consul Gen. of Republic of Indon. ex rel. Salom v. Bill's Rentals, Inc. , 251 F.3d 718, 720 (8th Cir. 2001) ; Thomas v. Basham , 931 F.2d 521, 523 (8th Cir. 1991). Thus, generally, when a party appeals f......
-
Mallak v. City of Chad
...not reach the appellants' argument that Mallak lacks standing to sue under the DPPA. See Consul Gen. of Republic of Indonesia ex rel. Salom v. Bill's Rentals, Inc., 251 F.3d 718, 720 (8th Cir.2001) (declining to address whether plaintiff had standing to bring suit after determining that pla......