Murphy v. Islamic Republic of Iran

• Decision Date: 24 September 2010
• Docket Number: No. 06-cv-596 (RCL),06-cv-596 (RCL)
• Citation: 740 F.Supp.2d 51
• Parties: Elizabeth MURPHY, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

740 F.Supp.2d 51

Elizabeth MURPHY, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al., Defendants.

No. 06-cv-596 (RCL).

United States District Court,

District of Columbia.

Sept. 24, 2010.

John W. Karr, Theodore S. Allison, Karr & Allison, P.C., Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, Chief Judge.

I. Introduction.

This case arises out of the October 23, 1983, bombing of the United States Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon ("the Beirut bombing"), where a suicide bomber murdered 241 American military servicemen in the most deadly state-sponsored terrorist attack upon Americans until the tragic attacks on September 11, 2001. The Court will first discuss the background of thiscase: the commencement of this case by plaintiffs, the later inclusion of plaintiffs in intervention, the retroactive application of recent changes to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the judicial notice taken of findings and conclusions made in a related case, the entry of default judgment, and a summary of the claims made in this case. Second, the Court will make findings of fact. Third, the Court will discuss the Court's personal and subject-matter jurisdiction. Fourth, the Court will discuss defendants' liability under the federal cause of action created by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Finally, the Court will award compensatory and punitive damages as appropriate.

II. Background.

This case contains two complaints: one by the plaintiffs, the other by the plaintiffs in intervention (also referred to as "intervenor plaintiffs" or "intervenors"). The terrorism exception to the FSIA, as recently amended, applies retroactively to claims made by both plaintiffs and intervenors. The Court has taken judicial notice of the findings and conclusions entered in a related case. The Court will enter default judgment against defendants and in favor of all plaintiffs and intervenors. Plaintiffs and intervenors have brought various claims of wrongful death, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), for which they seek compensatory and punitive damages.

A. Retroactive Application of Recently Amended Provisions of the FSIA to Plaintiffs and Intervenors.

Plaintiffs originally brought this action against defendants under 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7), the former state-sponsor-of-terrorism exception to the general rule of sovereign immunity enumerated in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1602-1611. See Compl., Mar. 31, 2006, ECF No. 1. Section 1605(a)(7) "was 'merely a jurisdiction conferring provision,' and therefore did not create an independent federal cause of action against a foreign state or its agents." In re Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Litig., 659 F.Supp.2d 31 (D.D.C.2009) (Lamberth, J.) (quoting Cicippio-Puleo v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 353 F.3d 1024, 1027, 1032 (D.C.Cir.2004)). It merely opened the door to plaintiffs seeking to bring suit in federal court against foreign sovereigns for terrorism-related claims, which had to be based on state tort law. Id. at 40-48 (providing a historical overview of the FSIA terrorism exception) Further, the FSIA did not permit the awarding of punitive damages against foreign states themselves. Id. at 48.

This case comes to the Court following final judgment in Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran. See Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 515 F.Supp.2d 25 (D.D.C.2007) (Lamberth, J.) [hereinafter Peterson II ] (final judgment); Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 264 F.Supp.2d 46 (D.D.C.2003) (Lamberth, J.) [hereinafter Peterson I ] (default judgment). Peterson established the liability of Iran and MOIS in the terrorist attack out of which this case also arise, but did so under § 1605(a)(7), thus reaching "inconsistent and varied result[s]" when various states' tort laws differed. In re Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Litig., 659 F.Supp.2d at 59; Congress responded to this inconsistency and the unavailability of punitive damages by replacing § 1605(a)(7) with § 1605A, a new terrorism exception that provides an independent federal cause of action and makes punitive damages available to plaintiffs. See In re Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Litig., 659 F.Supp.2d at 58-61 (discussing repeal of § 1605(a)(7) and enactment of § 1605A).Plaintiffs now seek to retroactively take advantage of these changes. As do plaintiffs in intervention; Intervenors filed their complaint in intervention stating claims only under § 1605A, but they too must satisfy certain procedural requirements to take advantage of § 1605A, enacted in 2008, to the Beirut Bombing, which occurred in 1983.

Parties seeking to take advantage of this new federal cause of action and punitive-damages allowance must proceed under one of three procedural approaches, which are laid out in part in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (2008 NDAA), Pub. L. No. 110-181, § 1083(2)-(3), 112 Stat. 3, 342-43 (2008). See generally ( In re Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Litig., 659 F.Supp.2d at 62-65). These three approaches are prior actions, related actions, or stand-alone actions.

First, § 1605A may apply to a "prior action," which is one that (1) "was brought under section 1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code ... before the date of the enactment of this Act," the 2008 NDAA, January 28, 2008, § 1083(c)(2)(A)(i); (2) "relied upon ... such provision as creating a cause of action," § 1083(c)(2)(A)(ii); (3) "has been adversely affected on the grounds that [such] provision[ ] fail[ed] to create a cause of action against the state," § 1083(c)(2)(A)(iii); and (4) "as of such date of enactment, [was] before the courts in any form," § 1083(c)(2)(A)(iv). Second and alternatively, § 1605A may apply to a "related action," which is one "arising out of the same act or incident" as "an action arising out of an act or incident [that] has been timely commenced under section 1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code." § 1083(c)(3). Third and finally, potential plaintiffs may pursue a stand-alone action, which is one in which § 1605A need not retroactively apply to some past attack. Plaintiffs and intervenors in this case proceed under the second approach. This case is related to, among other cases, Valore v. Islamic Republic of Iran, a consolidation of four cases, all of which were timely commenced under § 1605(a)(7) and which arose out of the same act or incident as this case: the Beirut Bombing. Valore v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 700 F.Supp.2d 52, 57 (D.D.C.2010) (Lamberth, C.J.) ("All plaintiffs in this case originally brought their individual actions against defendants under 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7)....").

To secure retroactive application of § 1605A, a party in a related action must seek such retroactivity "not later than the latter of 60 days after the date of the entry of judgment in the original action"—the one to which the related action is related—or January 28, 2008—the date of the enactment of the 2008 NDAA. § 1083(c)(3). Plaintiffs sought retroactive application through their Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint, ECF No. 46, which was filed on February 26, 2010. Plaintiffs in intervention sought retroactive application by filing their Complaint in Intervention, ECF No. 31, on November 17, 2008. Final judgment in Valore was entered on March 31, 2010. See Order & J., Valore, 700 F.Supp.2d 52 (D.D.C.2010), ECF No. 60. Both plaintiffs and intervenors therefore commenced their respective portions of this action well before 60 days after the entry of final judgment in Valore. The Court may therefore apply § 1605A to all claims in this case, and has allowed plaintiffs to amend their complaint and intervenors to intervene. Order Granting Mot. for Leave to Am. Compl., Apr. 13, 2010, ECF No. 52; Order, Nov. 17, 2008, ECF No. 30; see Am. Compl. for Dam., Apr. 13, 2010, ECF No. 54 [hereinafter Pls.' Compl.]; Compl. in Intervention, Nov. 17, 2008, ECF No. 30 [hereinafter Ints.' Compl.].

B. Judicial Notice and Default Judgment.

The Court has taken judicial notice of the findings of fact and conclusions of law made in Peterson, which also arose out of the Beirut Bombing; in the orders taking such notice, the Court also issued default judgments against both defendants, which failed to appear. Order Granting in Part and Finding as Moot in Part Mot. for Judicial Notice of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on Liability of Defs., Apr. 13, 2010, ECF No. 53; Order, Oct. 2, 2007, ECF No. 27. Plaintiffs and intervenors had both established their right to relief "by evidence satisfactory to the court," 28 U.S.C. § 1608(e), through "uncontroverted factual allegations, which are supported by ... documentary and affidavit evidence," Int'l Road Fed'n v. Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 131 F.Supp.2d 248, 252 n. 4 (D.D.C.2001) (quotation omitted).

A court may take judicial notice of any fact "not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is ... capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned." Fed.R.Evid. 201(b). Under Rule 201(b), courts generally may take judicial notice of court records. See 21B Charles Alan Wright & Kenneth W. Graham, Jr., Federal Practice and Procedure § 5106.4; see also Booth v. Fletcher, 101 F.2d 676, 679 n. 2 (D.C.Cir.1938) ("A court may take judicial notice of, and give effect to, its own records in another but interrelated proceeding...."). Indeed, as has been noted in several other FSIA cases brought in this District, "this Court 'may take judicial notice of related proceedings and records in cases before the same court.' " Brewer v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 664 F.Supp.2d 43, 50-51 (D.D.C.2009) (quoting Heiser v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 466 F.Supp.2d 229, 267 (D.D.C.2006) (Lamberth, J.) [hereinafter Heiser I ] ). At issue is the effect of such notice.

Although a court clearly may judicially notice its findings of facts and conclusions of...