James v. Marshall

• Decision Date: 18 July 2022
• Docket Number: Civ. Act. 1:22-cv-241-TFM-N
• Parties: JOE NATHAN JAMES, JR. AIS 0000Z610, Plaintiff, v. STEVE MARSHALL, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama

JOE NATHAN JAMES, JR. AIS 0000Z610, Plaintiff, v. STEVE MARSHALL, Defendant.

Civ. Act. No. 1:22-cv-241-TFM-N

United States District Court, S.D. Alabama, Southern Division

July 18, 2022

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

TERRY F. MOORER UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 8, filed 7/1/22) and Plaintiff's response in opposition (Doc. 11, filed 7/11/22). Defendant did not file a reply by the deadline set by the Court. As such, the motion is ripe for the Court's review. After the Court considered the motion and response the Court DENIES the motion to dismiss (Doc. 8) based on the current matters before the Court, which are addressed in further detail below.

I. PARTIES AND JURISDICTION

Plaintiff is Joe Nathan James, Jr. (“Plaintiff” or “James”), an Alabama Inmate whose execution is set for July 28, 2022. He filed a complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendant Steve Marshall in his official capacity as the Attorney General of the State of Alabama. The district court has subject matter jurisdiction over the claims in this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question jurisdiction). The parties do not contest personal jurisdiction or venue, and there are adequate allegations to support both.

II. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND^[1]

A. Capital Litigation History

The history of the crime is discussed in great length in the September 30, 2014 opinion issued in James' habeas appeal. See James v. Culliver, Civ. Act. No. 10-S-2929, 2014 WL 4926178, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139696 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 30, 2014). In short summary here, James was convicted of murdering his former girlfriend, Faith Hall, after breaking into the apartment where she was located and shooting her several times in the head, chest, and abdomen. He was tried twice and found guilty both times. The first conviction was reversed due to the judicial error in the admission of certain evidence. However, after retrial, he was again convicted of capital murder on June 16, 1999. The jury then returned a sentencing verdict recommendation by unanimous vote that James be sentenced to death. On July 9, 1999, the trial judge conducted the formal sentencing hearing, adopted the sentencing recommendation, and sentenced James to death. James appealed the second conviction and sentence, which were affirmed by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on April 28, 2000. See James v. State, 788 So.2d 185 (Ala.Crim.App.2000). The Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari on December 15, 2000, and the United States Supreme Court did the same on May 21, 2001. See Ex parte James, No. 1991959, 2000 Ala. LEXIS 1511 (Ala. Dec. 15, 2000); James v. Alabama, 532 U.S. 1040, 121 S.Ct. 2005, 149 L.Ed.2d 1007 (2001).

On May 7, 2002, James then commenced collateral review proceedings in the state system under Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure. He was represented by counsel through these proceedings. The Court entered a final order denying post-conviction relief on October 28, 2004. James appealed the ruling to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed. See James v. State, 61 So.3d 332 (Ala.Crim.App.2006). The Alabama Supreme Court reversed and remanded the decision for additional proceedings to develop and review the issue of the ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Ex parte James, 61 So.3d 352, 356 (Ala. 2009). Following remand, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals again affirmed the denial of the claims from the Rule 32 petition and denied the application for a rehearing. See James v. State, 61 So.3d 357 (Ala.Crim.App.2010). The Supreme Court of Alabama denied the petition for writ of certiorari on October 15, 2010 without opinion.

On October 29, 2010, James filed his federal habeas petition in the Northern District of Alabama and amended the petition on December 31, 2010. See James v. Culliver, Civ. Act. No. 10-S-2929, generally. The same counsel served as counsel in this proceeding. After careful review and with a detailed opinion, on September 30, 2014, the court denied his habeas petition and dismissed the petition. Id., 2014 WL 4926178, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139696. James' appeal of that judgment was affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit, James v. Warden, 957 F.3d 1184 (11th Cir. 2020), and his petition for writ of certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court on March 1, 2021. James v. Raybon, 141 S.Ct. 1463, 209 L.Ed.2d 180 (2021). As a result, his conviction and sentence are final because he completed the direct appeal, state post-conviction review, and federal habeas review.

On April 12, 2022, proceeding pro se, James filed a second and successive petition for writ of habeas corpus in this Court, which was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as an unauthorized successive petition. James v. Raybon, Civ. Act. No. 1:22-cv-152-JB, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113260, 2022 WL 2308917 (S.D. Ala. June 27, 2022).

B. Current proceedings

Once the conviction and sentence became final, on March 17, 2022, the State of Alabama (“the State”) filed a motion to set his execution date with the Alabama Supreme Court. On June 7, 2022, the Alabama Supreme Court granted the State's motion and set the execution for July 28, 2022.

On June 22, 2022, Plaintiff filed this case brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as the first of several lawsuits pertaining to his upcoming execution.^[2] In his present case, the complaint alleges only a few facts and claims. In sum, Plaintiff claims that the Defendant entered into an agreement with the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Alabama to end a civil suit, which allowed only the Federal Defender's clients to exercise an option to elect execution by nitrogen hypoxia that was previously waived. See Doc. 1 at 4. Defendant incentivized these Federal Defender's clients by agreeing to not seek execution dates for those who signed a form that was created by the Federal Defenders, which then created a protection for them that is unavailable to Plaintiff. Id. As a result, Defendant set James' execution date, which he claims violates his due process and equal protection rights. He further states as facts that Defendant “entered into an agreement affording others similarly situated as the Plaintiff the opportunity to exercise a right that they waived while excluding the Plaintiff because of his representation.” Id. at 5. Plaintiff requests the Court stay the pending execution to allow Plaintiff the right to make a fair and informed election regarding his method of execution. Id. at 7.

The Court granted his motion to proceed in forma pauperis and construed the complaint as also containing a motion for preliminary injunction. See Doc. 4. Defendant was ordered to file a response to the motion for preliminary injunction on or before July 5, 2022. Id. On July 1, 2022, Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), which included a detailed response to the motion for preliminary injunction. See Doc. 8. The Court construed the motion as both a motion to dismiss and a response to the motion for preliminary injunction. See Doc. 9. The Court denied the request for a preliminary injunction/stay of execution on July 11, 2022. See Doc. 10.

Defendant argues in its motion to dismiss that (1) Plaintiff's complaint fails to state a claim for which relief may be granted, (2) Plaintiff lacks standing, and (3) Plaintiff's claims are time barred. See Doc. 8. Plaintiff timely filed his response in opposition to the motion to dismiss. See Doc. 11. Defendant did not file a reply to the response by the deadline that was established by the Court. See Doc. 9 and Docket Generally.^[3]

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), a defendant may move to dismiss a complaint on the basis that the plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See FED R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). To survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff must plead “only enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1974, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' [Twombly, 550 U.S.] at 570, 127 S.Ct. [at] 1955. A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. [at] 1955.”). Since a Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) motion questions the legal sufficiency of a complaint, in assessing the merits of the motion, the court must assume that all the factual allegations set forth in the complaint are true. See, e.g., United States v. Gaubert, 499 U.S. 315, 327, 111 S.Ct. 1267, 1276, 113 L.Ed.2d 335 (1991); Powell v. Lennon, 914 F.2d 1459, 1463 (11th Cir. 1990); but see also Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. at 1949 (“[T]he tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. at 1955)). Moreover, all factual allegations shall be construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See, e.g., Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593, 598, 109 S.Ct. 1378, 1382, 103 L.Ed.2d 628 (1989). Obviously, therefore, a district court may not resolve factual disputes when adjudicating a motion to dismiss. Page v. Postmaster Gen. and Chief Exec. Officer of the U.S. Postal...