Goodman v. United States, 70-248 Civ. T.

• Citation: 324 F. Supp. 167
• Decision Date: 09 March 1971
• Docket Number: No. 70-248 Civ. T.,70-248 Civ. T.
• Parties: Anni GOODMAN and James A. Goodman, her husband, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

324 F. Supp. 167

Anni GOODMAN and James A. Goodman, her husband, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.

No. 70-248 Civ. T.

United States District Court, M. D. Florida, Tampa Division.

March 9, 1971.

Anni Goodman, pro se.

Alan C. Todd, Asst. U. S. Atty., Orlando, Fla., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Preliminary Statement

KRENTZMAN, District Judge.

This is an action brought pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. § 2672 et seq.

Plaintiffs in this action are Mr. James A. Goodman, his wife, Mrs. Anni Goodman, and their minor child, Linda Ellen Goodman. The claims of one other plaintiff, Steve Goodman, have previously been dismissed from this action, there being no presentation of his claims to the appropriate federal agency either alleged or proven. 28 U.S.C. § 2675. Plaintiffs have proceeded in this case without representation of counsel. At no time did plaintiffs seek Court appointed counsel until the action was in the process of being tried. The Court at that time denied the request which was presented through a pleading or motion styled "Final Requisition." A full discussion of the parties to this action, and a history of the litigation sheds considerable illumination upon the case.

Plaintiff, Anni Goodman, was the primary force in pursuance of this claim. She presented her own claims and those of her minor children. The complaint was originally filed in Orlando, Florida, on March 16, 1970. At plaintiffs' request the only Federal District Judge resident in the Orlando Division of the Middle District of Florida, recused himself from the case. The Chief Judge of the Middle District of Florida assigned the case to the undersigned on June 22, 1970. Several motions were filed both by plaintiffs and by defendant, and these motions were heard by the Court at Orlando on August 6, 1970. All then pending motions were disposed of by order dated September 23, 1970, except defendant's motion to strike. The Court deferred ruling upon that motion until evidential matters relevant to the motion could be heard at the time of trial. The action was set for nonjury trial in Orlando on November 9, 1970, and was later continued until November 12, 1970. Trial commenced as scheduled. Under the circumstances, it was impossible to accomplish a meaningful or effective pretrial, and neither party had been able to give the Court an estimate of the trial time required. Each time one fact was presented, plaintiffs suggested the need for additional witnesses. Mindful of Rule 43(c), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and to allow plaintiffs to have a full hearing, the Court was very liberal in receiving evidence. As a result, the total trial time was much greater than ever expected. Plaintiffs chose to subpoena several of their witnesses for the afternoon of November 13. Due to prior commitments in Tampa, the Court could not stay in Orlando for the afternoon of November 13. For this reason, and because some of defendant's witnesses were from out of state or were professional people, the Court heard several defense witnesses out of order. Plaintiffs offered no objection to this procedure at the time, although subsequently some dissatisfaction was expressed.

Due to the conflicts in the Court's schedule and since the case had not been completed, continued trial of the action was set for December 2, 1970, in Orlando. Once again several of plaintiffs' witnesses were subpoenaed for a later date, to wit, December 3, 1970. Since all of the witnesses had not been heard, and the Court had conflicts on December 3, the continued trial was once again reset, this time for January 14, 1971. It was in the interim between December 3, 1970, and January 14, 1971, that plaintiffs first requested appointment of counsel through a pleading or motion styled "Final Requisition."

The Court denied the request for appointment of counsel in an order dated January 4, 1971, for the reasons set out therein. On January 12, 1971, plaintiffs filed a pleading or motion styled "Writ of Right." The Court treated the "writ" as a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. Before further testimony was taken on January 14, Mrs. Goodman signed an affidavit supporting the motion, and the Court granted plaintiffs leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Plaintiffs had served several subpoenas upon prospective witnesses for January 14th, prior to the Court's granting the above motion. None of these subpoenas were accompanied by witness or mileage fees. Most of the witnesses so subpoenaed appeared on the morning of January 14. Several moved to quash the subpoenas. Most agreed to testify voluntarily. As to two of the witnesses who would not appear voluntarily, the Court granted plaintiffs' oral motions for issuance of subpoenas at government expense. The witnesses did then appear and testify. As to other witnesses who did not voluntarily appear, the Court denied oral motions for issuance of subpoenas at government expense, there being an inadequate showing that the testimony of said witnesses would be indispensable to prove plaintiffs' claim for relief, or that the testimony would be relevant.

The trial continuation commenced as scheduled on January 14th, and continued into the afternoon of January 15th, whereupon both parties rested. Each party has filed memoranda which serve as final arguments and summations.

Plaintiff Anni Goodman is 44 years old. She was born in Finland, and was apparently captured by the Germans during World War II and put to work as a slave laborer. She met plaintiff James A. Goodman while he was in the army stationed in Germany. Mrs. Goodman is now an American citizen. Some testimony was presented and exhibits introduced showing that Mrs. Goodman is a woman of good moral character. See plaintiffs' Exhibit 18. Mrs. Goodman is obviously devoted to her family and vitally concerned for the welfare of her children and her husband. Several statements of doctors which have been placed in evidence indicate that Mrs. Goodman has at times had more success in caring for her daughter Linda than have the doctors themselves. See for example plaintiffs' Exhibits 7, 20, 21, 23, and 62. Mrs. Goodman has the approximate equivalent of a junior college education. She speaks three languages and is evidently musically inclined. It is also evident that while Mrs. Goodman speaks, writes and reads the English language, she is somewhat limited in her understanding of medical and legal procedures. As a result, Mrs. Goodman attempts to attribute consequences which simply do not follow from the facts. For example, when this case was filed in the Orlando Division of the Middle District of Florida, it was assigned an Orlando case number by the Clerk. When it was assigned to the undersigned, the Clerk in Tampa gave a Tampa Division case number to the cause. Mrs. Goodman has shown considerable consternation with this situation. She quickly filed a "motion to remove dual identity." The Court heard plaintiffs' argument on the motion in Orlando on August 6, 1970, and denied the motion. Mrs. Goodman expressed displeasure with what she calls the dual identity of this cause on several subsequent occasions, including her "trial memorandum" wherein it is stated that the dual number caused much confusion. The Clerk of the Court in Tampa assigned a Tampa case number to this case for reasons of convenience only. The Court has placed no significance upon the so-called "dual identity" and it is obvious that there simply is nothing of any consequence in the fact that the case was twice assigned numbers. The foregoing discussion is included to illustrate the difficulty Mrs. Goodman has in understanding court procedure and accepting explanations relating thereto.

The following example is further illustrative of Mrs. Goodman's inability or unwillingness to understand matters normally understood by persons with more experience in this country. Throughout the pendency of this litigation the Court has been assisted by one of its law clerks, Mr. Steven Pfeiffer. Mrs. Goodman has on several occasions been in contact with the Court through Law Clerk Pfeiffer. When Mrs. Goodman expressed displeasure with rulings of the Court or the status of this case, at the direction of the Court Mr. Pfeiffer would suggest that she either file a motion setting out her difficulties or note her differences with the Court in the record. Given the fact that plaintiffs are proceeding pro se in this action, Mr. Pfeiffer's instructions were both sound and proper. In her "Trial Memorandum" Mrs. Goodman has expressed some distrust of Mr. Pfeiffer and states that she did not find out until the conclusion of the case that Mr. Pfeiffer was the Court's clerk rather than the Court's legal advisor. Mr. Pfeiffer has done nothing to poison the court's attitude toward Mrs. Goodman as suggested in plaintiffs' trial memorandum. Mrs. Goodman has harped on Mr. Pfeiffer's title —Law Clerk—has concluded that Mr. Pfeiffer is not a legal advisor, and has drawn inferences from that conclusion that are without foundation. This sort of unfortunate and senseless misunderstanding has been typical throughout this case. While such instances of misunderstanding have occasionally caused inordinate and unnecessary delay in the trial of this case, the ultimate presentation of evidence has not been adversely affected. However, the credibility of Mrs. Goodman as a witness on her own behalf and on behalf of the other plaintiffs is affected since it is obvious that Mrs. Goodman's understanding of events in her life is colored by her tendency to draw erroneous and often incredible conclusions and inferences from matters of no significance.

Plaintiff James A. Goodman is 44 years old. Mr. Goodman served in the United States Army long enough to retire. During his military career he served primarily as a cook. He attained the rank of sergeant.

Plaintiff Linda Ellen Goodman is a minor child. She is now thirteen years of age. According...