Mala v. Palmer

• Decision Date: 16 December 2010
• Docket Number: Civil No. 10–1907(SEC).
• Citation: 755 F.Supp.2d 386
• Parties: Kelley MALA, Plaintiffv.Maria PALMER, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

755 F.Supp.2d 386

Kelley MALA, Plaintiff

v.Maria PALMER, et al., Defendants.

Civil No. 10–1907(SEC).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

Dec. 16, 2010.

Kelley Mala, Bradford, PA, pro se.Jason T. Cohen, United States Attorney's Office, St. Thomas, VI, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

SALVADOR E. CASELLAS, Senior District Judge.

Pending before this Court is Defendants' motion to dismiss (Docket # 30), and Plaintiff Kelley Mala's (“Plaintiff”) opposition thereto (Docket # 32).¹ After reviewing the filings, and the applicable law, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED.

Procedural Background

On May 30, 2007, Plaintiff, a pro se prisoner, filed the present suit in the District Court of the Virgin Islands alleging that Defendants ² deprived him of his personal property without just compensation. Docket # 1. On June 25, 2008, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint to include additional defendants and setting forth a more specific statement of facts in support of his claims. According to the complaint, on August 11, 2005, Plaintiff's private property was seized by Co–Defendant Juan Clemente ³ (“Clemente”) and other agents (Marine Enforcement Officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection) without probable cause and in violation of his constitutional rights. He contends that Defendants took $1,500 in cash, his private pleasure boat and his religious belt, which was later destroyed. According to Plaintiff, Defendants have failed to return his property, despite his repeated requests. As such, he seeks damages for the alleged illegal seizure, and the federal officers' failure to return his property. In late 2009, most of the Defendants were served with process, and subsequently filed the instant motion to dismiss. Docket # 30. In their motion, Defendants argue several points: that Plaintiff is not entitled to in forma pauperis

status in light of the “three strikes” provision set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); insufficient service of process upon Co–Defendant Norma Ayuso; collateral estoppel; and sovereign and qualified immunity. Id. Plaintiff opposed, asserting that his complaint is not a collateral attack on his sentence but instead a suit for damages for civil rights violations.

On June 7, 2010, Plaintiff moved to amend the complaint for the second time, to include additional defendants. Docket # 45. Defendants opposed (Docket # 51), and Plaintiff replied (Docket # 52). Shortly thereafter, on June 28, 2010, Plaintiff filed a another request to amend the complaint. Docket # 53.

Applicable Law and Analysis

The facts of this case are set forth in U.S. v. Carrasco, 540 F.3d 43 (1st Cir.2008). On May 11, 2005, Plaintiff and another individual were arrested by Marine Enforcement Officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection after a search of Plaintiff's boat revealed approximately 47 kilos of cocaine and 170 grams of heroin. Plaintiff was indicted in this district ⁴ for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and aiding and abetting to distribute heroin and cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(B)(1)(A) and 846. See Crim. No. 05–286–2(JAF), Docket # 16. On December 11, 2005, during the criminal proceedings, Plaintiff filed a motion pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the search of the tool boxes and backpack in his vessel. Id. at Docket # 99. His request was denied, upon the trial court's finding that the search was consented by Plaintiff and that insofar as the vessel was traveling from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, the documentation stop in Customs waters became a border search actionable irrespective of consent. Id. at Docket # 100. On June 25, 2009, Plaintiff requested the return of the personal property seized during the search. Id. at Docket # 364. Said request, however, was also denied. Id. at Docket # 370.

On May 18, 2006, Plaintiff was convicted on both counts. See Crim. No. 05–286–2(JAF), Docket # 170. On appeal, the First Circuit upheld the district court's denial of the motion to suppress the evidence seized after the search of the vessel, upon finding that Plaintiff consented to the search. See U.S. v. Carrasco, 540 F.3d 43 (1st Cir.2008). The case, however, was remanded for new trial on other grounds. On remand, Plaintiff plead guilty and was sentenced to 78 months. See id. at Docket # 305. Plaintiff once again appealed, arguing that the district court erred in imposing a 78 month sentence instead of a 70–month sentence. Notwithstanding, his 78–month sentence was affirmed. Id. at Docket # 376.

On February 7, 2006, Plaintiff filed suit under Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971),⁵ against the U.S. Department of Customs, Angel Negron and Clemente, alleging civil rights violations stemming from the May 11, 2005 search of his vessel. See Civil No. 06–1149, Docket # 1. In said case, the district court granted Defendants' request for summary judgment on several grounds. Id. at Docket # 63. In so doing, the court first noted that insofar as sovereign immunity precludes suits against the United States and its agents, Plaintiff's claims against Defendants in their official capacities and the U.S. Department of Customs failed; more so considering that Bivens claims are not available against federal agencies. Second, the court held that Plaintiff's claims were barred under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. In support of said finding, the court pointed out that the basis of Plaintiff's claims boiled down to the legitimacy of the vessel's stop and search, an issue which was adequately addressed by the trial court in the criminal case and could not be re-litigated.⁶ Lastly, the court found that the Defendants were immune from suit considering that the trial court had already concluded that Plaintiff consented to the search, and even without consent, the search constituted a proper border search. Accordingly, Plaintiff's claims were dismissed with prejudice. On appeal, the First Circuit affirmed, stating that “the district's court finding of collateral estoppel is sound.” Id. at Docket # 76. More specifically, the appeals court noted that “the outcomes of suppression hearings are within the ambit of collateral estoppel,” thus the district court's decision that the search of Plaintiff's vessel was lawful precluded the re-litigation of the search's validity, even in a suit for damages.

Thereafter, on May 30, 2007, Plaintiff filed the present suit, seeking damages for the property seized during the search of his vessel. This Court first notes that damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 “normally does not lie against a federal official.” Redondo–Borges v. United States HUD, 421 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.2005) (citing Chatman v. Hernandez, 805 F.2d 453, 455 (1st Cir.1986) (per curiam) (finding that “Section 1983 applies to persons acting ‘under color of state law’ and not to persons acting pursuant to federal law.”)). “There is no statute expressly creating a cause of action against federal officers for constitutional or federal statutory violations.” R.I. Dep't of Envtl. Mgmt. v. United States, 304 F.3d 31, 41 (1st Cir.2002). The Supreme Court, however, held that federal officials sometimes can be personally liable for constitutional torts committed under color of federal law exclusively under the standard set forth in Bivens. Id. Here, Plaintiff does not assert claims under Bivens, or any specific statute conferring a cause of action for damages stemming from constitutional violations by federal officers. This, however, need not be discussed further since Plaintiff's claims are barred by collateral estoppel, as will be explained below.

Res judicata and collateral estoppel

The First Circuit has held that when the judgment for a prior case is “entered by a federal court exercising federal question jurisdiction, the applicability of res judicata and collateral estoppel is a matter of federal law.” See Ramallo Bros. Printing, Inc. v. El Dia, Inc., 490 F.3d 86, 89 (1st Cir.2007).⁷ The Supreme Court has distinguished the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel as follows. “Under res judicata, a final judgment on the merits of an action precludes the parties or their privies from relitigating issues that were or could have been raised in that action,” while “[u]nder collateral estoppel, once a court has decided an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision may preclude relitigation of the issue in a suit on a different cause of action involving a party to the first case.” San Remo Hotel, L.P. v. City & County of San Francisco, 545 U.S. 323, 336, 125 S.Ct. 2491, 162 L.Ed.2d 315 (2005) (citing Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980)); see also Barreto Rosa v. Varona–Mendez, 393 F.Supp.2d 122, 126 (D.P.R.2005); Coors Brewing Co. v. Mendez–Torres, 562 F.3d 3, 10–11 (1st Cir.2009) (abrogated on other grounds) (citing Perez v. Volvo Car Corp., 247 F.3d 303, 311 (1st Cir.2001)) (citing Allen, 449 U.S. at 94, 101 S.Ct. 411). Both doctrines seek to “prevent[ ] plaintiffs from splitting their claims by providing a strong incentive for them to plead all factually related allegations and attendant legal theories for recovery the first time they bring suit.” Apparel Art Int'l v. Amertex Enters., 48 F.3d 576, 583 (1st Cir.1995).

To trigger res judicata, also known as claim preclusion, there must be “ ‘(1) a final judgment on the merits in an earlier suit, (2) sufficient identicality between the causes of action asserted in the earlier and later suits, and (3) sufficient identicality between the parties in the two suits.’ ” Coors Brewing, 562 F.3d at 10 (citations omitted); Breneman v. U.S. ex rel. F.A.A., 381 F.3d 33 (1st Cir.2004) (citing Banco Santander de P.R. v. Lopez–Stubbe (In re Colonial Mortgage Bankers Corp.), 324 F.3d 12, 15 (1st Cir.2003) (internal...