Sims v. Marnocha
| Decision Date | 23 August 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:00-CV-0736.,3:00-CV-0736. |
| Citation | 159 F.Supp.2d 1133 |
| Parties | Mario L. SIMS, Sr., Plaintiff, v. John MARNOCHA, in his individual capacity as a lawyer, Linda Scopelitis, individually and in her official capacity as the Clerk of St. Joseph County, St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners, in their individual and official capacities, St. Joseph County, Michael D. Cook, in his official capacity as Special Judge, Karen Freeman-Wilson, in her individual and official capacity as the Attorney General of Indiana, Joseph E. Kernan, in his individual and official capacity as Lt. Governor of the State of Indiana, and Frank O'Bannon, in his individual and official capacity as Governor of the State of Indiana, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana |
Mario L Sims, SCU-Westville, Westville, IN, Pro se.
Wayne E Uhl, Indiana Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Richard A Nussbaum, II, Matthew R Kaczmarek, Sopko Nussbaum and Inabnit, South Bend, IN, for John Marnocha, Linda Scopelitis, St Joseph County Board of Commissioners, St Joseph County, Michael D Cook, Karen Freeman-Wilson, Joseph E. Kernan and Frank O'Bannone.
Mario Sims filed this complaint in state court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), 42 U.S.C. § 1986, and 42 U.S.C. § 2000(d), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961, 1962, and 1964 et seq., and alleging the violation of rights protected by the First, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The defendants in his case have divided themselves into two sets. St. Joseph Superior Court Judge John Marnocha, Marshall Circuit Court Judge Michael D. Cook, former Indiana Attorney General Karen Freeman-Wilson, Lieutenant Governor Joseph E. Kernan, and Governor Frank O'Bannon, refer to themselves as the St. Joseph County, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners, and St. Joseph County Clerk Linda Scopelitis, call themselves the "local defendants."
The State defendants removed the case to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441(b) and 1446. Both State and local defendants filed motions to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), and the plaintiff has responded to their motions.1
A complaint states no actionable claim when it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts consistent with his complaint that would entitle him to relief. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). When reviewing pro se complaints, the court must employ standards less stringent than if the complaint had been drafted by counsel. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). The court must accept the well-pleaded factual allegations as true, and "construe such allegations in favor of the plaintiff." Sherwin Manor Nursing Ctr. v. McAuliffe, 37 F.3d 1216, 1219 (7th Cir.1994); cert. denied, 516 U.S. 862, 116 S.Ct. 172, 133 L.Ed.2d 113 (1995). Although ambiguities in the complaint should be interpreted in the plaintiff's favor, Canedy v. Boardman, 16 F.3d 183, 188 (7th Cir.1994), the court need not strain to find inferences favorable to the plaintiff that are not apparent on the face of the complaint, Coates v. Illinois State Bd. of Educ., 559 F.2d 445, 447 (7th Cir. 1977), or ignore factual allegations set forth in the complaint that undermine the plaintiff's claim. City Nat'l Bank of Florida v. Checkers, Simon & Rosner, 32 F.3d 277, 281 (7th Cir.1994).
Mr. Sims is committed to the Indiana Department of Correction, pursuant to convictions for breaking into the home of his estranged wife and sexually assaulting her at the point of a heroin-filled syringe and a pistol. He has attempted to challenge the validity of those convictions, and alleges that the defendants have obstructed his efforts to obtain judicial review of his convictions in the state courts. This court addressed similar claims in Mario Sims v. Joseph Kernan, No. 3:98-cv-539. See Sims v. Kernan, 29 F.Supp.2d 952 (N.D.Ind.1998); Sims v. Kernan, 72 F.Supp.2d 944 (N.D.Ind.1999).
According to the complaint, Mr. Sims, an African-American, was a political opponent of Lieutenant Governor Kernan when Kernan was mayor of South Bend (complaint ¶ 12). Mr. Sims alleges that defendant Kernan considered him a threat to his political plans and orchestrated a conspiracy to deny him access to the courts (complaint ¶¶ 13-16).
Mr. Sims has long contended that he is actually innocent of the charges against him. Sims v. Kernan, 29 F.Supp.2d at 956. As part of his continuing effort to overturn his conviction, Mr. Sims filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which ended up before Special Judge Michael D. Cook. He alleges that on July 25, 2000, Judge Cook "refused to rule on a Trial Rule 60(B) motion that showed that Cook had denied the Plaintiff equal access [to the courts] and equal protection under the United States Constitution," and refused to address the merits of his prosecutorial misconduct claims against defendant Marnocha (complaint ¶¶ 20-21). He alleges that St. Joseph County Clerk of Courts Linda Scopelitis "refused to withdraw submission or respond to the Plaintiff's praecipe to prepare the record," which prevented him from filing an appeal (complaint ¶¶ 22-23). Finally, he alleges that on October 24, 2000, John Marnocha, now a state trial judge, entered an order stating that he lacked jurisdiction to act on Mr. Sims's petition so that he could "deny the Plaintiff access to the Courts and a hearing on the merits in conspiracy with Special Judge Cook" (complaint ¶¶ 27-28).
Mr. Sims brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and other statutes. Section 1983 provides a cause of action to redress the violation of federally secured rights by a person acting under color of state law. Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205 (7th Cir.1984). To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must satisfy two elements; he must allege violation of rights secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and he must show a person acting under color of law committed the alleged deprivation. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 108 S.Ct. 2250, 101 L.Ed.2d 40 (1988); Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 100 S.Ct. 1920, 64 L.Ed.2d 572 (1980); accord, Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979).
Citing Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989), the local defendants assert that a county is not "a `person' amenable to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983." Will, however, held only that states and their agencies are not persons within the meaning of § 1983. Counties are "persons" exposed to litigation under the federal civil rights statutes, if the legal requisites are fulfilled. Scott v. Clay County, Tennessee, 205 F.3d 867 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 874, 121 S.Ct. 179, 148 L.Ed.2d 123 (2000).
Mr. Sims sues Judge Marnocha for entering an order that he lacked jurisdiction over Mr. Sims's post-conviction petition, and alleges that Judge Cook did not rule on certain motions in the post-conviction case over which he had acquired jurisdiction. Because the plaintiff seeks to sue them for judicial acts, these defendants are absolutely immune from damage liability. The doctrine of judicial immunity affords state judges absolute immunity for past judicial acts regarding matters within their court's jurisdiction, even if their "exercise of authority is flawed by the commission of grave procedural errors." Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 364, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978).
Mr. Sims argues that Judge Marnocha "has admitted he had no jurisdiction," but Judge Marnocha clearly had jurisdiction to decide whether he had jurisdiction. Mr. Sims does not allege that Judge Marnocha took any further action after deciding that he lacked jurisdiction over his petition for post-conviction relief.
Count IV of Mr. Sims's complaint, entitled "Violations of the R.I.C.O. Act," asserts a claim against several defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("R.I.C.O.") Act. Mr. Sims alleges that "Defendants Kernan, Scopelitis, Marnocha, Cook, St. Joseph County, and the Board of Commissioners, and the County of St. Joseph ... injur[ed] the Plaintiff in his business and his property by removing him from being able to operate his Executive Search Firm, his rental business, and his partnership in the Nigerian trading company, UBN, ... through a pattern of racketeering activity within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961, 1962, and 1964, et seq."
Sections 1961 and 1962 are criminal statutes, and an individual plaintiff cannot proceed directly under them. Section 1964 is entitled "civil remedies," and allows "any person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of section 1962 of this chapter" to bring a claim for civil damages. Mr. Sims's civil R.I.C.O. claim arises under § 1964.
The reason Mr. Sims is no longer able to operate his Executive Search Firm, his rental business, and his Nigerian trading operation is that he is incarcerated pursuant to criminal convictions. Under the doctrine of Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994), Mr. Sims cannot bring a damage claim arising from a criminal conviction until the conviction had been overturned. In Heck, the court held that if the remedy sought in a civil action would require a finding or judgment that would render a conviction or sentence invalid, then the plaintiff must first "prove that the conviction was reversed on direct appeal expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court's issuance of a writ of habeas corpus." Id. at 486-87, 114 S.Ct. 2364.
Mr. Sims says that some defendants wrongfully accused him of criminal activity and conspired to have him...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Grant v. Trs. of Ind. Univ.
...a violation of section 1985' . . . and 'liability under § 1986 is merely derivative of liability under § 1985.'" Sims v. Marnocha, 159 F. Supp. 2d 1133, 1139 (N.D. Ind.2001) (quoting Rhodes v. Mabus, 676 F. Supp. 755, 760 (S.D. Miss. 1987); Patrick v. Staples, 780 F. Supp. 1528, 1537 (N.D. ......