Hann v. Carson

Decision Date21 December 1978
Docket NumberNo. 78-133-Civ-J-S.,78-133-Civ-J-S.
Citation462 F. Supp. 854
PartiesPeter V. HANN, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. Dale CARSON, Individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Duval County, Florida, Officer M. E. Monroe, Individually, and in his official capacity as an employee of the Office of the Sheriff of Duval County, Florida, and Beach Body Company, Inc., a Florida Corporation d/b/a Santford's Beach Garage, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

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Peter D. Webster, Jacksonville, Fla., for plaintiff Hann.

William A. Davis, Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., for defendants Carson and Monroe.

William G. Noe, Jr., Atlantic Beach, Fla., for defendant Beach Body Company, Inc.

OPINION

CHARLES R. SCOTT, Senior District Judge.

This case is the sequel to the Court's decision in Craig v. Carson, 449 F.Supp. 385 (M.D.Fla.1978).

Facts

On the evening of February 8, 1978, plaintiff went to a nightclub in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, Florida. The nightclub is known as "The Other Place". He parked his car, a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere, nearby. Around 1:45 o'clock A. M. (February 9), plaintiff left The Other Place, heading for his car. When he reached the place where he had parked it, it was gone. He returned to the nightclub and telephoned the Duval County Sheriff's Department, reporting his car as stolen.

Less than an hour later, a Duval County Sheriff's deputy found the car, which had been stolen, abandoned at Mayport, Florida (within Duval County). That was around 2:20 o'clock A. M., February 9. The deputy, Officer Michael Evans Monroe, at once impounded the car and radioed for a wrecker to come and tow the car. The car was at that time, however, driveable.

A wrecker from Beach Body Company arrived, and at the officer's direction towed the car to the company's lot, designated as a police storage lot, in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. The car remained stored there.

Not until thirteen days later did plaintiff learn of the location of his car. He then obtained a vehicle release card from the Sheriff's Department, in order to regain his car from the storage lot. On February 25, 1978, plaintiff presented the vehicle release card to the Beach Body Company and requested the return of his car. He was refused. He was informed that unless he paid the towing fee of $35.00 and storage charges accumulating at the rate of $3.00 per day, he could not have his car. When plaintiff said that he was not able to pay the charges, the president of Beach Body Company refused to permit plaintiff access to his car and told him that the company would exercise its legal rights under Florida statutes and City ordinances to insure payment of the charges owed.

This lawsuit was filed March 7, 1978. A preliminary injunction was issued on March 15, 1978, enjoining, pending the outcome of this case, defendant from (1) withholding plaintiff's car from him, and (2) from selling plaintiff's car in order to satisfy the towing and charges accumulated. Since March 15, 1978, therefore, plaintiff has had access to, and use of his car. But for thirty-four days, from February 9 to March 15, 1978, plaintiff was denied the use of his car.

Issues and Status of the Case

Plaintiff has moved for a summary judgment against defendants on the issue of their liability to him. He seeks injunctive, declaratory, and compensatory relief. Although plaintiff originally raised three issues in his complaint,1 he urges only one of those issues in his summary judgment motion. That issue is whether the Florida statute and Jacksonville city ordinances that authorized retention of an impounded motor vehicle, the creation of a lien against the vehicle for towing and storage charges, forfeiture of the vehicle after a specified time in order to foreclose the lien and pay the charges outstanding, unless the vehicle owner pays those charges, violated the Fourth Amendment Due Process Clause by depriving a person of property without the safeguards of procedural due process. On that issue plaintiff seeks summary judgment concerning defendants' liability to him.

Of course, plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment, even in part, only if he meets his burden to show (1) the absence of any genuine issues of material fact, and (2) the right to a summary judgment under applicable federal law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1968); Poller v. CBS, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962); Chavez v. Noble Drilling Corp., 567 F.2d 287, 289 (5th Cir. 1978); Tanner v. McCall, 441 F.Supp. 503, 506 (M.D.Fla.1977); Eberhardy v. GMC, 404 F.Supp. 826, 829 (M.D.Fla.1975), aff'd sub nom. Van Eberhardy v. GMC, 534 F.2d 1406 (5th Cir. 1976). Defendants in this case, however, have not opposed plaintiff's summary judgment motion as to liability. The Court finds the facts material to the issue of property deprivation without procedural due process, advanced by plaintiff in his summary judgment motion, to be undisputed. Therefore, if, as a matter of federal law, plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment concerning defendants' liability on that issue, the Court need not consider and reach the other two issues raised in the complaint.

Law

Plaintiff argues that defendant Carson and his deputy, defendant Monroe, are precluded from opposing judgment against them on the issue of their liability to plaintiff. The legal term `preclusion' means both (1) the estoppel by judgment effect of res judicata (including merger and bar) on attempts to relitigate claims, and (2) collateral estoppel against relitigating issues already decided. Plaintiff seeks to use offensive preclusion against defendants Carson and Monroe.2

I. Res judicata: claim preclusion

The principle of res judicata in federal law is that, where a claim in a later case is identical to the claim that was adjudicated in an earlier case; and where the parties in the later case are identical to, or in privity with, the parties in the earlier case, the judgment reached in the earlier case precludes the parties in the later case from attempting to relitigate that claim, including all issues pertaining to the claim, whether or not they were actually litigated in the earlier case. The essential elements of federal res judicata, therefore, are (1) two cases, (2) one of which has proceeded to judgment, (3) raising identical claims, (4) by the same parties or persons in privity with those parties. Lawlor v. National Screen Service Corp., 349 U.S. 322, 326, 75 S.Ct. 865, 867, 99 L.Ed. 1122, 1126 (1955); Moch v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd., 548 F.2d 594, 596 (5th Cir. 1977); International Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers v. Nix, 512 F.2d 125, 131 (5th Cir. 1975); Aerojet-General Corp. v. Askew, 511 F.2d 710, 715, 718 (5th Cir. 1975); American Heritage Life Ins. Co. v. Heritage Life Ins. Co., 494 F.2d 3, 8 (5th Cir. 1974). The doctrine of res judicata is premised on the principle of judicial finality, precluding the relitigation of a claim only after the same parties have had a reasonable opportunity to litigate that claim before a court of competent jurisdiction, and a final decision concerning the claim has been reached. Kaspar Wire Works, Inc. v. Leco Engineering & Machine, Inc., 575 F.2d 530, 537-38 (5th Cir. 1978); Stevenson v. International Paper Co., 516 F.2d 103, 109 (5th Cir. 1975). The difficulty in applying the doctrine of res judicata revolves around determining the two identity elements: identity of claims, and identity of parties or persons in privity with them. See, e. g., Stevenson v. International Paper Co., 516 F.2d at 109.

A. Identity of Claims

Res judicata is a principle of claim preclusion. Only if the claims in two cases are identical will the judgment in the first case prevent relitigation in the second case. The identity of claims raised in two cases, therefore, is an indispensable element for res judicata. International Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers v. Nix, 512 F.2d at 131; American Heritage Life Ins. Co. v. Heritage Life Ins. Co., 494 F.2d at 9. In determining whether a claim in a later case is identical to that decided in a prior case, courts must look to the substance and subject matter of the two cases, not their formal appearance. Courts must look past the mere language and labels of the pleadings, beyond the legal theories devised and advanced, to discern the genuine nature of the actions. Aerojet-General Corp. v. Askew, 511 F.2d at 715; Astron Industrial Assoc., Inc. v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 405 F.2d 958, 961 (5th Cir. 1968); Acree v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, 390 F.2d 199, 201 (5th Cir. 1968), cert. denied 393 U.S. 852, 89 S.Ct. 88, 21 L.Ed.2d 122 (1968). "It is the substance of the action that counts." Acree v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, 390 F.2d at 201. Cf. Wilson Cypress Co. v. Atlantic Coast Line Ry. Co., 109 F.2d 623, 627 (5th Cir. 1940), cert. denied 310 U.S. 653, 60 S.Ct. 1101, 84 L.Ed. 1418 (1940).

That two cases involve "the same course of wrongful conduct", and request the same kind of relief, does not mean that the two cases involve an identical claim. Lawlor v. National Screen Service Corp., 349 U.S. at 327, 329, 75 S.Ct. at 868, 869, 99 L.Ed. at 1127, 1128. The test for determining whether two cases involve an identical claim, already decided in one of those cases, involves three questions: (1) is the same right infringed by the same wrong in both cases? (2) would a different judgment in the second case impair rights that were established and protected by the judgment in the first case? (3) would the same evidence sustain both the judgment in the first case and a judgment in the second? Aerojet-General Corp. v. Askew, 511 F.2d at 718; Astron Industrial Assoc., Inc. v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 405 F.2d at 961; Acree v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, 390 F.2d at 201.

B. ...

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