Torres Irizarry v. Toro Goyco

• Citation: 425 F. Supp. 366
• Decision Date: 12 July 1976
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 76-552.
• Parties: Juan TORRES IRIZARRY, Plaintiff, v. Hon. Federico TORO GOYCO, Judge of the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla Part, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

425 F. Supp. 366

Juan TORRES IRIZARRY, Plaintiff, v. Hon. Federico TORO GOYCO, Judge of the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla Part, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 76-552.

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

July 12, 1976.

Dr. Santos P. Amadeo, Río Piedras, P.R., for plaintiff.

Secretary of Justice, San Juan, P.R., for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

TOLEDO, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff herein alleges that this Court has jurisdiction over the instant case pursuant to the provisions of Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983 and its jurisdictional counterpart, Title 28, United States Code, Section 1343(3). The First, Fifth and Ninth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, together with several cases of the Supreme Court of the United States,¹ have been pled as jurisdictional grounds in the instant case.

Juan Torres Irizarry, the plaintiff in this case, is the Mayor of the town of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, and by his own statements, "a civic leader in said Municipality for many years". Defendant, Hon. Federico Toro Goyco, is a Judge of the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla Part. Codefendant, Hon. Arturo Cintron Garcia, is a Judge of the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Ponce Part. Codefendant, Hon. Salvador Casellas, is described as ". . . a public officer and a Member of the Cabinet of the Governor of Puerto Rico, and is in charge of all the moneys paid to the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including the fines imposed by the Courts of Puerto Rico".

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The complaint states the following facts as allegedly giving rise to the present cause of action:

"STATEMENT OF THE CASE

A.

Plaintiff's trial in the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla's Part.

The plaintiff Juan Torres Irizarry filed in the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla's Part, a complaint against Wilfredo Ruiz for the crime of petit larceny consisting in stealing a property belonging to the Municipality of Guayanilla. The plaintiff was called as witness, but he never testified because the Prosecuting Attorney did not use him as witness. The prosecutor used other witnesses, and on the basis of the testimonies of said witnesses, the Judge acquitted the defendant Wilfredo Ruiz, and ordered a recess of the Court, and went back to his chambers.

When the plaintiff came out of the witness' room, he learned that the Judge had acquitted the defendant Wilfredo Ruiz, and he made the following remark in regard to the acquittal of the defendant:

"This is the kind of justice imparted by this Judge in this Court." Because of this remark, heard by the judge, or because somebody told him of said remark, the judge ordered plaintiff's arrest. The plaintiff was brought before the Judge of the Court, Hon. Federico A. Toro Goyco and sentenced for contempt of court for thirty days imprisonment. Said sentence was modified thereafter and the plaintiff was sentenced to the payment of a fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), plus the costs, or to serve in prison one day for every five dollars he failed to pay.

B.

Removal of plaintiffs' case by appeal, certiorari, or under Rule 192 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure to the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Ponce Part.-

The plaintiff removed his case to the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Ponce Part, by filing a document which he named "Appeal, Writ of Certiorari, or Motion Under Rule 192 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure of Puerto Rico." The Judge² affirmed the judgment of the lower Court for reasons, which are not necessary to discuss in this case. Nevertheless, the Judge made the following statement concerning the appellant, who is Mayor of the City of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, and the plaintiff in this case:

"The bad tradition that made the Mayors of Puerto Rico in omnipotent figures, to such an extent that they feel capable of intervening in the judicial functions of these Courts, fortunately without any possibility of resurrection." (Emphasis supplied).

C.

— Certiorari filed in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.-

On March 8, 1976, the plaintiff filed in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico a writ of certiorari attacking on statutory and constitutional grounds the judgment of the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Ponce Part, on the ground that the decision sustaining the judgment of the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla Part, deprived the plaintiff of several constitutional rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico denied the writ of Certiorari, without giving any reasons, on April 1, 1976 (Case No. 0-76-105)."

ARGUMENTS

Plaintiff would like us to declare null and void his judgment and conviction as it was obtained and upheld in the Commonwealth Courts on three grounds, to wit: (1) that there was no contempt of court because when the incident occurred the court was not in session; (2) that even assuming the existence of contempt, ". . . the Court had no jurisdiction because it did not give the plaintiff a hearing where the plaintiff could defend himself, and where the Court could consider if such words spoken by the plaintiff constituted contempt of court"; (3) that the words pronounced by plaintiff constituted a lawful exercise of the right to criticize the Court, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and that, therefore, the punishment imposed by the Court constitutes a punishment for the exercise of a constitutional right.

Plaintiff also seeks an injunction against defendants, the Honorables Toro Goyco and Cintron Garcia, ordering them to strike from the records of the courts presided by defendants, (District and Superior Courts of Puerto Rico-Guayanilla and Ponce Parts), any reference to the trial, appeal, conviction and sentence of plaintiff in both courts. It is also requested that we order said defendants to deliver to this Court "All records, documents, entries, references and papers relative to plaintiff's trial, conviction and sentence in Criminal Case No. 75-543 (contempt of court) filed before the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla Part, and in Civil Case No. CS-76-120, filed before the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Ponce Part, in order that this Court may determine their final disposition."

Plaintiff also prays that we issue an injunction against codefendant Hon. Salvador Casellas, Secretary of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ordering him to return the amount of One Hundred Dollars and Seventy Five Cents ($100.75), which represents the fine and costs imposed by defendant, Hon. Toro Goyco, for contempt of court in the above mentioned case.

We are also requested to order defendant Toro Goyco to pay plaintiff the amount of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) for "physical and moral damages, caused him by said Judge's conduct previously described in this Petition."

Finally, an order to show cause is requested to order defendants to come forth and demonstrate why we should not grant plaintiff the relief requested in his petition.

ANALYSIS

Plaintiff's first two arguments as to the nullity of the contempt judgment and conviction, to wit: (1) that no contempt existed; and (2) that the court had no jurisdiction, as they have been presented to this Court, cannot be entertained by us. They are matters hinging upon the contempt statutes of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico³ or the power of its courts to punish for contempt. They have been presented to the highest court of the Commonwealth, which disposed of plaintiff's contentions by denying the writ of certiorari. Thus, in this case there exists matters of state law which have been presented to the highest state court and adjudicated against plaintiff herein. It is a well settled proposition which prays that the state courts are the final authority on matters of state law. Scripto, Inc. v. Carson, 326 U.S. 207, 80 S.Ct. 619, 4 L.Ed.2d 660 (1960). (See also Wright, Law of Federal Courts, Section 107-1970 ed.).

Plaintiff also claims that the contempt judgment in the present case stands in violation of the First, Fifth and Ninth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Thus, this action is purportedly brought pursuant to Section 1983 of Title 42, United States Code, which reads as follows:

"Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress."⁴

At the outset, we must state that Section 1983, supra, was not intended to be used as a substitute for the right of appeal, or to collaterally attack a final judgment by the highest court of a state or to relitigate issues which it decided. Coogan v. Cincinatti Bar Assn., 431 F.2d 1209 (C.A. Ohio 1970). See also, Rodes v. Municipal Authority, 409 F.2d 16, (3 Cir. 1969), cert. den. 396 U.S. 861, 90 S.Ct. 133, 24 L.Ed.2d 114, reh. den. 396 U.S. 950, 90 S.Ct. 377, 24 L.Ed.2d 256. In the case at bar, plaintiff himself states that the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico was presented with the statutory and constitutional claims. Specifically, he asserts that the certiorari was filed "on the ground that the decision sustaining the judgment of the District Court of Puerto Rico, Guayanilla Part, deprived the plaintiff of several constitutional rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution".

It is obvious that the Federal constitutional claims were presented to the Puerto Rico Supreme Court for its decision. Thus, under England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, 375 U.S. 411, 84 S.Ct. 461, 11 L.Ed.2d 440 (1963), plaintiff without reservation submitted the Federal constitutional issues to the Commonwealth courts and his only remaining recourse was to petition the...