Singletary v. Dist. of Columbia, 12–7077.

• Decision Date: 12 September 2014
• Docket Number: No. 12–7077.,12–7077.
• Citation: 766 F.3d 66
• Parties: Charles SINGLETARY, Appellee v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

766 F.3d 66

Charles SINGLETARY, Appellee

v.DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Appellant.

No. 12–7077.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Jan. 7, 2014.

Decided Sept. 12, 2014.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:09–cv–00752).

Loren L. AliKhan, Deputy Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, argued the cause for appellant. On the briefs were Irvin B. Nathan, Attorney General, Todd S. Kim, Solicitor General, Donna Murasky, Deputy Solicitor General at the time the brief was filed, and Mary L. Wilson, Senior Assistant Attorney General.

Stephen C. Leckar argued the cause for appellee. With him on the brief were Neal Goldfarb, Steven R. Kiersh, and Edward C. Sussman.

Before: SRINIVASAN, Circuit Judge, and SENTELLE and RANDOLPH, Senior Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SRINIVASAN.

SRINIVASAN, Circuit Judge:

The District of Columbia Board of Parole revoked plaintiff Charles Singletary's parole based primarily on unreliable multiple-hearsay testimony. This court later determined that the evidentiary basis for his parole revocation failed to satisfy the requirements of the Due Process Clause. Singletary then sued the District under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the District bore responsibility for the Board's unconstitutional revocation decision. The district court found the District liable, and a jury awarded $2.3 million in damages for the period of Singletary's confinement following the revocation of his parole.

The District now appeals. The District argues that, under the standards for municipal liability set forth in Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), it cannot be held responsible for the Board's revocation decision. The District points out that it had no general policy or custom of basing parole-revocation decisions on evidence falling below the constitutional threshold for reliability. The District also denies that the Board's action in this case was that of a final policymaker in the area of parole revocation. We agree with the District that the Board's action cannot be attributed to the District in the circumstances presented here. We therefore vacate the judgment of the district court.

I.

A.

In the early 1980s, Charles Singletary was convicted of armed robbery and assault. See Singletary v. District of Columbia (Singletary I), 685 F.Supp.2d 81, 83 (D.D.C.2010). He received a sentence of nine to twenty-seven years of imprisonment. In 1990, after serving more than seven years of his sentence, Singletary was released on parole. Id. In June 1995, he was arrested in connection with the murder of Leroy Houtman. See Singletary v. District of Columbia (Singletary II), 800 F.Supp.2d 58, 60 (D.D.C.2011). The prosecution dismissed the case at the preliminary hearing, and Singletary was released. Id.; Singletary v. Reilly (Singletary–habeas), 452 F.3d 868, 869 (D.C.Cir.2006).

Although Singletary was never indicted in connection with the Houtman murder, the D.C. Board of Parole held a hearing a year later to consider revoking his parole based on his alleged participation in the crime. Singletary–habeas, 452 F.3d at 869. Singletary denied the charges against him. See id. As far as the available record shows, see id., the Board heard testimony from a prosecutor and a police detective involved with the criminal investigation—neither of whom had first-hand knowledge of the relevant facts. See Singletary II, 800 F.Supp.2d at 60. The prosecutor and the detective recounted statements made by two other witnesses, who were never identified during the hearing. See Singletary–habeas, 452 F.3d at 869–70. The unnamed witnesses themselves had no first-hand knowledge of the murder, but instead had reported conversations with a third witness that implicated Singletary. Singletary II, 800 F.Supp.2d at 60. In August 1996, based primarily on that multiple-hearsay testimony, the Board revoked Singletary's parole. Singletary–habeas, 452 F.3d at 871.

Singletary subsequently sought habeas relief, filing his first application in 1997. The D.C. Superior Court denied his claims, and the D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed. See Singletary v. Quick, No. 97–SP–1984 (D.C. July 24, 1998) (unpublished order). After he filed a second application in 2000, the Court of Appeals again affirmed the Superior Court's denial. See Singletary v. D.C. Bd. of Parole, 794 A.2d 56 (D.C.2001) (unpublished table decision). Singletary next petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. See Singletary v. D.C. Bd. of Parole, No. CIV A 00–1263 RBW, 2003 WL 25258497 (D.D.C. Dec. 16, 2003). The district court denied the petition, finding that the hearsay evidence presented at the revocation hearing was sufficiently reliable. See id. at *3–5. Around that time, the D.C. Board of Parole was abolished and replaced by the United States Parole Commission, which was substituted as a defendant on appeal. See id. at *1 n. 1; Singletary–habeas, 452 F.3d at 871 n. 4.

This court then reversed and granted the habeas petition. See Singletary–habeas, 452 F.3d at 871–75. We noted that the Due Process Clause requires a hearing prior to parole revocation (although the hearing need not contain the full safeguards of a criminal trial). See id. at 871–72 (citing Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 487–88, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972)). While there is no “per se” prohibition against relying on hearsay in revocation proceedings, “the burden [is] on the ‘parole authorities to ensure, before relying on hearsay, that there are sufficient indicia of reliability under the circumstances at hand to protect the prisoner's due process rights.’ ” Id. at 872 (quoting Crawford v. Jackson, 323 F.3d 123, 128–29 (D.C.Cir.2003)). After examining the “shoddy” record at Singletary's hearing, id. at 869, we found that “the hearsay presented ... was not demonstrated to be reliable and that the Board's decision to revoke Singletary's parole was therefore ‘totally lacking in evidentiary support.’ ” Id. at 873 (quoting Crawford, 323 F.3d at 129). As a result, the proceedings failed to “ensure fundamental due process rights.” Id. at 874 (quoting Crawford, 323 F.3d at 128) (internal quotation marks omitted). We remanded for Singletary to receive a new revocation hearing. Id. at 875.

The U.S. Parole Commission held a new hearing in October 2006. The Commission determined that there was insufficient evidence to support finding a parole violation. See Singletary II, 800 F.Supp.2d at 61. The Commission therefore reinstated Singletary to supervised release. Id.

B.

In 2009, Singletary sued the District of Columbia in federal district court, seeking monetary damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Id. at 62. The complaint alleged that the District had “revoked [Singletary's] parole, and imprisoned him for ten years, based on unreliable multiple hearsay, in violation of Singletary's Fifth Amendment right to due process.” J.A. 13. The District moved to dismiss the suit, contending that it could not be held responsible for the Board's revocation decision. Denying the motion, the district court held that Singletary had adequately pled municipal liability under § 1983 based on a theory that “the decision to revoke his parole was made by the ‘final municipal decisionmaker and is therefore properly attributable to the municipality.’ ” Singletary I, 685 F.Supp.2d at 83, 90 (quoting Bd. of Cnty. Commis. v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 407, 117 S.Ct. 1382, 137 L.Ed.2d 626 (1997)) (alterations omitted).

On cross motions for summary judgment, the district court granted partial summary judgment to Singletary on the question of liability. See Singletary II, 800 F.Supp.2d at 59. In the district court's view, this court's habeas opinion had already established that the Board violated Singletary's due process rights when it revoked his parole. See id. at 60–61, 63 (citing Singletary–habeas, 452 F.3d at 868). The district court further held that the District was liable under § 1983 for the Board's unconstitutional revocation decision because the “Board was the final policymaker for the District on matters of parole revocation” under D.C. law. Id. at 64. As a result, municipal liability could be imposed on the District for the Board's unconstitutional decision. See id. at 67–74 (citing Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 480, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986)).

After a trial on damages, the jury awarded Singletary $2.3 million for his ten years of confinement. See Singletary v. District of Columbia, 876 F.Supp.2d 106, 108 (D.D.C.2012). The district court denied the District's request for a new trial. See id. at 122. The District now appeals the judgment against it.

II.

As a threshold matter, the District contends that the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear Singletary's case due to the Rooker–Feldman doctrine. We conclude that the present suit is not within Rooker–Feldman 's “limited grasp.” Skinner v. Switzer, ––– U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 1289, 1297, 179 L.Ed.2d 233 (2011) (internal quotation marks omitted).

The Rooker–Feldman doctrine takes its name from the only two cases in which the Supreme Court has applied it: Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923), and District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983). See Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 283, 125 S.Ct. 1517, 161 L.Ed.2d 454 (2005). In both cases, the “losing party in state court filed suit in a U.S. District Court after the state proceedings ended, complaining of an injury caused by the state-court judgment.” Skinner, 131 S.Ct. at 1297 (footnote omitted). In both cases, the plaintiff in the federal suit “asked the District Court” to “review” and “overturn the injurious state-court judgment.” Id. And in both cases, the...