Holkesvig v. Welte, s. 20110373

• Decision Date: 16 August 2012
• Docket Number: 20110374,20110375.,Nos. 20110373,s. 20110373
• Citation: 818 N.W.2d 760,2012 ND 142
• Parties: Randy HOLKESVIG, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Peter David WELTE, Defendant and Appellee (No. 20110373) Randy Holkesvig, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Meredith Huseby Larson, Defendant and Appellee (No. 20110374) Randy Holkesvig, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Christopher Smith, Defendant and Appellee. (No. 20110375)
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

818 N.W.2d 760
2012 ND 142

Randy HOLKESVIG, Plaintiff and Appellant
v.
Peter David WELTE, Defendant and Appellee (No. 20110373)
Randy Holkesvig, Plaintiff and Appellant
v.
Meredith Huseby Larson, Defendant and Appellee (No. 20110374)
Randy Holkesvig, Plaintiff and Appellant
v.
Christopher Smith, Defendant and Appellee. (No. 20110375)

Nos. 20110373, 20110374, 20110375.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

July 12, 2012.
Rehearing denied August 16, 2012.

[818 N.W.2d 762]

Randy Holkesvig, self-represented, Fargo, ND, plaintiff and appellant.

Daniel L. Gaustad, Grand Forks, ND, for defendants and appellees.

KAPSNER, Justice.

[¶ 1] Randy Holkesvig appeals from a district court order modifying an order enjoining him from filing certain further lawsuits without leave of court and denying his request for leave to commence four new lawsuits. We affirm, concluding the district court acted within its discretion in denying Holkesvig's motion to file four new lawsuits and in prohibiting him from filing certain further lawsuits.

I

[¶ 2] In 2008, Holkesvig was charged with stalking and violating a disorderly conduct restraining order. After pleading guilty to the stalking charge, Holkesvig sued Peter Welte, Meredith Larson, and Chris Smith, individuals involved in the criminal proceedings against Holkesvig. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants, awarding them costs and disbursements. Holkesvig appealed, and the decision was affirmed. Holkesvig v. Welte, 2011 ND 161, ¶ 1, 801 N.W.2d 712. During the pendency of the appeal, Holkesvig filed additional pleadings and documents with the district court. The district court issued an order awarding the defendants $1,000 in attorney fees and prohibiting Holkesvig from filing further documents with the court, except to the extent required to resume or continue his appeal. Despite the district court's order, Holkesvig continued to file documents with the district court, resulting in Welte, Larson, and Smith filing a motion to strike the documents and to impose sanctions against Holkesvig for violating the court's order. In March 2011, without holding a hearing, the district court found Holkesvig in contempt of court, struck his additional documents, and ordered him to pay the defendants a $1,000 remedial sanction for the contempt. The March 2011 order also enjoined Holkesvig from commencing any new lawsuits based on the events related to his underlying criminal conviction without obtaining leave of court. Holkesvig appealed the March 2011 order, which was reversed and remanded because Holkesvig did not receive a hearing on the contempt motion. Holkesvig v. Welte, 2012 ND 14, ¶ 1, 809 N.W.2d 323.

[¶ 3] In September 2011, Holkesvig sought leave of court to file four new lawsuits relating to the underlying criminal proceedings against him. In October 2011, the district court denied Holkesvig's motion

[818 N.W.2d 763]

to file four new lawsuits and stated the language of its March 2011 order, which allowed for new actions to be commenced only with leave of court, was “simply an invitation for more of the same.” The district court's October 2011 order modified its March 2011 order, eliminating the exception of allowing further claims arising from the same events to be commenced with leave of court.

II

[¶ 4] On appeal, Holkesvig raises the following five issues:

I. Did Peter Welte knowingly and intentionally block the Plaintiff from gaining access to the closed files in the Chris Moore/Heather Eastling 2008 civil cases in December 2010, by having another Assistant DA block my access to get it without a legal or proper protective order in place that became a Brady violation, which in turn violated [the] 5th and 14th Amendment[s] to the U.S. Constitution, which implies a ... 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim[?] ...

II. Did Peter Welte knowingly and intentionally issue internal memos to various Grand Forks County employees, ordering them not to give or share any information with me concerning [the related cases]? ...

III. Did Meredith Larson knowingly and willingly contact Chris Moore's Attorney Shannon Uglem in October 2010 with an email and/or phone call, then offered her input regarding Moore's January 2008 Qwest home phone records that Meredith Larson intentionally withheld which was the exculpatory evidence for my 6–5–08 hearing? ...

IV. Did Judge Corwin knowingly and intentionally abuse the judicial process by violating my substantive and procedural due process rights, which could imply a[n] ... 18 U.S.C. § 241 or ... 18 U.S.C. § 242 claim? ...

V. W[ere] the injunctions that Judge Corwin issued on 3–31–11 and 10–25–11 legal and were the events between 11–8–11 and 11–14–11 legal, ethical, and justified?

[¶ 5] Holkesvig's arguments under the first three issues are merely attempts to relitigate the dismissal of his malicious prosecution claims against the defendants, which we have previously reviewed and affirmed. Holkesvig, 2011 ND 161, ¶ 1, 801 N.W.2d 712. In the appeal from the dismissal of Holkesvig's malicious prosecution action, we addressed one of the four required elements for the tort of malicious prosecution and stated Holkesvig had the burden of establishing the underlying criminal proceedings terminated in his favor. Id. at ¶ 8. Because Holkesvig pled guilty to the stalking charge against him, we noted he “cannot establish that the criminal proceedings terminated in his favor, [and] he cannot prevail as a matter of law on his malicious prosecution action.” Id. at ¶ 10 (emphasis added). See also Holkesvig, 2012 ND 14, ¶ 7, 809 N.W.2d 323 (noting “Holkesvig's arguments about the merits of his claims against the defendants are simply irrelevant to this appeal [regarding the district court finding Holkesvig in contempt]”). “The doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel bar courts from relitigating claims and issues in order to promote the finality of judgments, which increases certainty, avoids multiple litigation, wasteful delay and expense, and ultimately conserves judicial resources.” Ungar v. N.D. State Univ., 2006 ND 185, ¶ 10, 721 N.W.2d 16. “Res judicata, or claim preclusion, prevents relitigation of claims that were raised, or could have been raised, in prior actions between the same parties or their privies.” Id. at ¶ 11. “Collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion,

[818 N.W.2d 764]

forecloses relitigation of issues of either fact or law in a second action based on a different claim, which were necessarily litigated, or by logical and necessary implication must have been litigated, and decided in the prior action.” Id. Only parties, or their privies, to the prior proceedings are bound by res judicata and collateral estoppel. Id. Because the first three issues framed by Holkesvig in this appeal involve claims and issues that have been raised or could have been raised in prior actions between the...