Reed v. Islamic Republic of Iran

• Decision Date: 17 July 2006
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 03-2657 (RMU).
• Citation: 439 F.Supp.2d 53
• Parties: Tarek REED, Plaintiff, v. ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

439 F.Supp.2d 53

Tarek REED, Plaintiff, v. ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 03-2657 (RMU).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

July 17, 2006.

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Emil Hirsch, Paul L. Knight, O'Connor & Hannan, LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

URBINA, District Judge.

DENYING THE PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT

I. INTRODUCTION

This case involves the defendant's alleged support of Hizbollah, a terrorist group that abducted, held and tortured Frank Reed, the plaintiff's father, for more than three years. The plaintiff seeks damages from the Islamic Republic of Iran ("Iran") and the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security ("MOIS"), collectively "the defendants," for injuries suffered by the plaintiff resulting from his father's kidnaping.

Presently before the court is the plaintiff's motion for default judgment. The plaintiff argues that he is entitled to default judgment as to three distinct causes of action. Because the plaintiffs stated causes of action are not viable causes of action, the court denies the plaintiffs motion for default judgment.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

The plaintiff alleges as follows. On September 9, 1986, Frank Reed was kidnapped by Hizbollah in Lebanon on his way to a golf course. Pl.'s Mot., Attach. A (Fifi Reed Aff.) ¶ 4. During 1,330 days of confinement, Reed was at times blindfolded, resulting in several eye infections, and he was subjected to routine beatings by his captors, who assumed that he worked for the CIA. Pl.'s Mot., Attach. B, (Frank Reed Test.) at 97-99 When Reed once saw one of his captors' faces, he was beaten for four straight days, resulting in kidney damage and causing him to bleed when urinating. Id. at 103. Reed's captors beat him with a grenade, causing him partial hearing loss, kicked him in the ribs causing his ribs to protrude through his skin, and placed a boiling tea kettle on his shoulders causing permanent scarring. Id. at 104-106. Reed was housed in a small cell and chained to the wall such that he was unable to sit down. Id. at 107. Following an escape attempt, Reed was exposed to cold weather wearing little clothing. Id. In addition to this physical torture, Reed was psychologically tortured; his captors promised him he would be released, only to renege repeatedly on that promise. Id. At the conclusion of his captivity, Reed had lost more than fifty pounds. Id. at 105.

The plaintiff alleges that Iran directed the establishment of Hizbollah with the purpose of eradicating western cultural influence in Lebanon. Compl. ¶ 4. Iran provided between fifty million and one hundred million dollars per year to Hizbollah. Pl. Mot., Attach. F (Hurley Test.) at 15; Id., Attach. E, (Clawson Test.) at 72-78. Reed's kidnaping was directed at the "highest levels" of the Iranian government and with the assistance of the MOIS. Hurley Test. at 20.

Tarek Reed was six years old when his father was kidnaped. Pl. Mot., Attach., C (Fifi Reed Test.) at 97; Id., Attach. J at 17. Throughout Reed's detention, the plaintiffs mother told him that his father was away working for the family, and "never told [him] that his dad was kidnaped." Fifi Reed Test. at 131. Thus, the plaintiff remained unaware of Reed's kidnaping through its duration. Id. After hearing rumors about his father at school, his mother told him that "[d]addy is somewhere. He is in a house. He is not being harmed, but he can't leave." Id.

Frank Reed was released from captivity after three and a half years and he promptly returned to the United States to rejoin his family. Id. at 115. Doctors in the United States found that he had been poisoned with arsenic and that he suffered from chronic depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Id. at 117-125.

Frank Reed's behavior changed drastically following his return to the United States. Fifi Reed Test. at 133. He started drinking excessively and rarely left his house, he would "walk out on the streets barefooted," and he would randomly just lie down in the grass. Id. at 135. He had difficulty sitting still, and could not walk, run, or dance—activities he regularly participated in prior to his abduction. Id. at 141. Reed is currently receiving social security disability benefits. Frank Reed Test. at 124.

The plaintiff, a teenager when his father returned to the United States, was deeply affected by these changes. Fifi Reed Test. at 140. Fellow students in school would call attention to Frank Reed's plight, saying, "we saw your father in a magazine, and he was picked up by the police." Id. As a result of the changes to Frank Reed, the plaintiff began alienating his father, id., sometimes confronting him saying, "[w]hy are you killing yourself [and] making yourself end up in the hospital." Pl.'s Mot., Attach. L (Price Rep.) at 7.

The plaintiff's academics were also affected. Id. at 9. In 1993, the plaintiff received his first psychiatric examination, which determined that he had a loss of focus. Id. at 3. According to the plaintiff, these academic difficulties affected him professionally and have limited his career choices. Id. at 9. He attended college part-time but dropped out due to chronic depression. Pl.'s Mot., Attach. M at 9. As a result of his father's illness, the plaintiff engaged in self-destructive and self-defeating behavior. Price Rep. at 10. Significant consumption of alcohol and marijuana while a junior and senior in high school coincided with many of his father's most severe psychiatric difficulties. Id. at 6. The plaintiff became "terribly upset" when his father was not doing well and the plaintiff held chronic feelings of helplessness and anger toward his father's situation. Id. at 10.

B. Procedural Background

The plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants Iran, MOIS, Ali Fallahian-Khuzestani Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp., and Mohammad Mohammadi Nik on December 30, 2003. Because the defendants failed to appear or respond to the plaintiffs complaint, the Clerk of the Court entered default on July 15, 2004.

On June 13, 2005, the plaintiff filed a notice of voluntarily dismissal as to defendants Mohammad Mohammadi Nik, Ali Fallahian-Khuzestani, Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafjsani, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. Additionally, following the D.C. Circuit's ruling in Cicippio-Puleo v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 353 F.3d 1024, 1033 (D.C.Cir.2004), the plaintiff abjured his claim for relief under the Flatow Amendment as an independent cause of action. Thus, as to the remaining defendants, Iran and MOIS, the plaintiff's remaining claims are hostage taking, torture, arbitrary and prolonged detention, intentional infliction of emotional distress and solatium.¹ The plaintiff has filed a motion for default judgement. The court now turns to that motion.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standard for a Default Judgment

A court shall not enter a default judgment against a foreign state "unless the claimant establishes his claim or right to relief by evidence satisfactory to the court." 28 U.S.C. § 1608(e); Roeder v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 333 F.3d 228, 232-33 (D.C.Cir.2003). This standard is identical to the standard for entry of default judgments against the United States in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(e). Hill v. Republic of Iraq, 328 F.3d 680, 684 (D.C.Cir.2003). In evaluating the plaintiff's proof, the court may "accept as true the plaintiffs uncontroverted evidence." Elahi v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 124 F.Supp.2d 97, 100 (D.D.C.2000). In FSIA default judgment proceedings such as this, the plaintiff may establish proof by affidavit. Weinstein v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 184 F.Supp.2d 13, 19 (D.D.C.2002).

In suits against international governments or citizens, the claimant needs to establish that (1) "there has been a waiver of sovereign immunity" and (2) "the source of substantive law upon which the claimant relies provides an avenue for relief." FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 484, 114 S.Ct. 996, 127 L.Ed.2d 308 (1994).

B. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA") is "the sole basis for obtaining jurisdiction over a foreign state in our courts." Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp., 488 U.S. 428, 434, 109 S.Ct. 683, 102 L.Ed.2d 818 (1989). The basic premise of the FSIA is that foreign sovereigns are immune from suit in the United States unless the action falls under one of the specific exceptions enumerated in the statute. 28 U.S.C. § 1604; Price v. Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 389 F.3d 192, 196 (D.C.Cir. 2004). If the foreign sovereign is not immune, the federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over the action. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1604; Daliberti v. Republic of Iraq, 97 F.Supp.2d 38, 42 (D.D.C. 2000) (citing Amerada Hess, 488 U.S. at 434-35, 109 S.Ct. 683).

Under the FSIA, the foreign sovereign has "immunity from trial and the attendant burdens of litigation, and not just a defense to liability on the merits." Phoenix Consulting, Inc. v. Republic of Angola, 216 F.3d 36, 39 (D.C.Cir.2000) (quoting Foremost-McKesson, Inc. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 905 F.2d 438, 443 (D.C.Cir.1990)). The special circumstances of a foreign sovereign require the court to engage in more than the usual pretrial factual and legal determinations. Foremost-McKesson, 905 F.2d at 449. The D.C. Circuit has noted that it is particularly important that the court "satisfy itself of its authority to hear the case" before trial. Id. (quoting Prakash v. Am. Univ., 727 F.2d 1174, 1179 (D.C.Cir.1984)).

The state sponsored terrorism exception, codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7), and enacted as part of the comprehensive Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ("AEDPA"), Pub.L. No. 104-132, § 221(a), 110 Stat. 1214 (Apr. 24, 1996), qualifies this case for the court's intervention. This statute provides that...