O'Ferrell v. U.S.
| Decision Date | 26 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 92-A-1450-S. |
| Parties | Robert Wayne O'FERRELL and Mary Ann O'Ferrell, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama |
G. William Gill, Montgomery, AL, for Plaintiffs.
David L. Allred, Asst. U.S. Atty., Montgomery, AL, for Defendants.
This cause is before the court on the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by defendant the United States of America ("the United States").1
On November 20, 1992, Robert Wayne O'Ferrell ("Mr. O'Ferrell") and Mary Ann O'Ferrell ("Mrs. O'Ferrell") (collectively referred to as "the Plaintiffs") filed this action pro se in this court. On February 19, 1993, the court appointed counsel to represent the Plaintiffs.
On April 29, 1993, the Plaintiffs filed their First Amended Complaint. In their Complaint and amendment thereof, the Plaintiffs assert claims against the United States for breach of contract and various torts pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq.; and claims against unnamed government agents for constitutional violations pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). Named as defendants were the United States and fictitious defendants A-Z.
On October 27, 1993, the court granted Kenneth R. Jones's Motion to Intervene as Trustee of the Plaintiffs' bankruptcy estate.
Jurisdiction is based on a federal question pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1346(b).
For the reasons stated below, this court finds that the Motion for Summary Judgment is due to be DENIED, in part, and GRANTED, in part, and that some of the Plaintiffs' claims are due to be DISMISSED and some allowed to proceed.
Submissions before the court establish the following facts:2
On December 16, 1989, Judge Robert S. Vance ("Judge Vance") of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was killed and his wife, Helen Rainey Vance, was seriously injured by a mail bomb delivered to their home in Mountain Brook, Alabama. On December 18, 1989, attorney Robert E. Robinson ("Robinson") was killed after receiving a mail bomb in Savannah, Georgia. On that same day, a mail bomb was delivered to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia. On December 19, 1989, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Regional Office in Jacksonville, Florida received a mail bomb. Government agents detonated the latter two mail bombs.3 Several death threat letters to various Eleventh Circuit judges and others, as well as a letter claiming responsibility for the mail bombings, were subsequently mailed.
Shortly thereafter, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") began an investigation into the mail bombings. The FBI laboratory allegedly determined that documents typed by Mr. O'Ferrell and filed with the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, relating to his lawsuit against Gulf Life Insurance Company, were typed on the same typewriter used to type the mail bomb package labels and the death threat letters. Based on the alleged determination of a typewriting match, Mr. O'Ferrell became a primary suspect in the early stages of the FBI's mail bombings investigation.
Between January 20 and 23, 1989, United States Magistrate Judge John L. Carroll ("Judge Carroll") issued search warrants for, inter alia, the Plaintiffs' residence, automobiles, salvage business, and field lines and septic tanks, located in New Brockton and Enterprise, Alabama. FBI agents then executed these warrants.
On or about January 22, 1989, members of the media converged on the Plaintiffs' residence to cover the search. The mail bombings investigation received much national media exposure during the ensuing weeks of the searches and Mr. O'Ferrell was implicated in the bombings.
FBI agents interrogated the Plaintiffs separately on several occasions about their involvement in the mail bombings. The Plaintiffs allege that the interrogations were characterized by abusive, improper, and unlawful interrogation techniques. The Plaintiffs also allege that their family members, friends, and business customers were subjected to interrogations about whether the Plaintiffs were involved in the mail bombings.
Moreover, the Plaintiffs allege that their business was filled with more than one hundred local and federal law enforcement officers, as well as many media reporters. The Plaintiffs allege that FBI agents required them to close their business for approximately four days while agents conducted a search. The Plaintiffs further allege that during the search of their business, FBI agents prohibited Mr. O'Ferrell from speaking to his wife by telephone without FBI monitoring.
Furthermore, the Plaintiffs allege that the searches of their property were highly intrusive. The Plaintiffs allege that many of their personal belongings, including religious items, were seized and retained by FBI agents for an unreasonably long period of time.
On October 9, 1990, the United States Department of Justice notified the Plaintiffs that they no longer were considered "targets" of the mail bombings investigation.
The Plaintiffs allege that the United States publicly offered a $500,000.00 reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the person or persons responsible for the mail bombings. The Plaintiffs further allege that Mrs. O'Ferrell provided incriminating information to the United States about Walter Leroy Moody ("Moody"), who was subsequently convicted of the mail bombings. The Plaintiffs claim that Mrs. O'Ferrell's information satisfied the terms of the reward offer but that they did not receive any reward.
The Plaintiffs contend that their business, their reputations, and their marriage were destroyed by the FBI investigation, by the extensive publicity given to the investigation, and by the government's failure to publicly exonerate them from any involvement in the mail bombings. Based on these and other more specific allegations, the Plaintiffs filed suit against the United States and fictitious defendants A-Z.
The purpose of a motion for summary judgment is to challenge the contention that a case presents a genuine issue of material fact necessitating a trial. See Matsushita Elec. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper "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." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
The movant "always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion." Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. Accordingly, summary judgment is appropriate if the movant demonstrates that the non-movant has "fail[ed] to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552; Tidmore Oil Co. v. BP Oil Co., 932 F.2d 1384, 1387-88 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 925, 112 S.Ct. 339, 116 L.Ed.2d 279 (1991).
If the movant succeeds in demonstrating the absence of a material issue of fact, the burden shifts to the non-movant to establish, with evidence beyond the pleadings, that a genuine issue material to the non-movant's case does indeed exist. See Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11th Cir.1991); see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e) (). A dispute of material fact "is `genuine' ... if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The non-movant "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. at 1356. It must present "affirmative evidence" of material factual conflicts to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. at 2514. If the nonmovant's response consists of nothing more than conclusory allegations, the court must enter summary judgment for the movant. See Peppers v. Coates, 887 F.2d 1493 (11th Cir.1989). On the other hand, the evidence of the non-movant must be believed and all justifiable inferences must be drawn in its favor. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513.
The Plaintiffs allege that the United States represented to them that they satisfied the terms of the $500,000.00 reward offer by providing information leading to Moody's conviction, but that the United States reneged on giving them the reward. Based on these allegations, the Plaintiffs claim that the United States is liable for breach of contract. The Defendants contend that the court lacks jurisdiction over the Plaintiffs' contract claim.
Contract claims against the United States exceeding $10,000.00 must be filed in the United States Court of Federal Claims, not in a United States District Court. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(a)(2) and 1491(a)(1). Because the Plaintiffs' breach of contract claim exceeds that amount, this court lacks jurisdiction over this claim. Accordingly, the Plaintiffs' breach...
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