Alston-Bullock v. United States

122 Fed. Cl. 38, 2015 U.S. Claims LEXIS 781, 2015 WL 3856356
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 22, 2015
DocketNo. 15-570C
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 122 Fed. Cl. 38 (Alston-Bullock v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alston-Bullock v. United States, 122 Fed. Cl. 38, 2015 U.S. Claims LEXIS 781, 2015 WL 3856356 (uscfc 2015).

Opinion

Pro Se Plaintiff; In Forma Pauperis Application; Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction.

ORDER

MARIAN BLANK HORN, Judge

On June 4, 2015, plaintiff Dallas Matthew Alston-Bullock filed a one and one-third page, handwritten pro se letter in the United States Court of Federal Claims, along with an application to proceed in forma pauperis, to which he attached a trust fund account statement from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

The full complaint reads as follows:1

[40]*401) 1 Dallas Bullock claim and demand a Judgment, against the United States. In an amount of $ 400,000 for an unjust conviction and Imprisonment. Which was given to me by way of plea, Which I was tricked and that is unjust. My lawyer took my trust in him and used it against me. He knew by me trusting in him I would not question him, about what I was signing.
2) I was given 240 months and a miximum of 270 months for Second Degree Murder on 1/19/08. Which to the most I should have been charged with, An accessory charge. The weapon that was used as mine came back without my fingerprints.
3) They gave me an aggravating factor under 15A-1340.16 marked as -number 15. On my Sheet which says I took advantage of a position, of trust or confidence, including a domestic relationship, to commit the offens. Which I had never seen or meet the young man before in my' life. My lawyer done to me what they are saying I done to that young man. Which makes me not knowingly Signing a Plea if he would haved told me. I would not have sign the Plea under those grounds, cause I did not know the young man.
4) They gave me a Plea of Guilty of Second Degree Murder on 1/19/08 the G.S. No is 14-17 Common Law. (F)32. This was very unjust to me and my Family cause I have been put here. Unjustly and falsly under grounds I knew nothing about. I put my trust in my lawyer which I should not have done. I really thought he was trying to help me but was not.
Thank you very much
Dallas Bullock
0676654
/s/

The court recognizes that plaintiff is proceeding pro se, without the assistance of counsel. When determining whether a complaint filed by a pro se plaintiff is sufficient to invoke review by a court, pro se plaintiffs are entitled to liberal construction of their pleadings. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (requiring that allegations contained in a pro se complaint be held to “less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers”), reh’g denied, 405 U.S. 948, 92 S.Ct. 963, 30 L.Ed.2d 819 (1972); see also Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007); Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 9-10, 101 S.Ct. 173, 66 L.Ed.2d 163 (1980); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976), reh’g denied, 429 U.S. 1066, 97 S.Ct. 798, 50 L.Ed.2d 785 (1977): Matthews v. United States, 750 F.3d 1320, 1322 (Fed. Cir. 2014); Diamond v. United States, 115 Fed.Cl. 516, 524, aff'd, 603 Fed.Appx. 947 (Fed.Cir.2015), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 1909, 191 L.Ed.2d 766 (2015). “However, ‘“[t]here is no duty on the part of the trial court to create a claim which [the plaintiff] has not spelled out in his [or her] pleading.” ’ ” Lengen v. United States, 100 Fed.Cl. 317, 328 (2011) (alterations in original) (quoting Scogin v. United States, 33 Fed.Cl. 285, 293 (1995) (quoting Clark v. Nat’l Travelers Life Ins. Co., 518 F.2d 1167, 1169 (6th Cir.1975))); see also Bussie v. United States, 96 Fed.Cl. 89, 94, aff'd, 443 Fed.Appx. 542 (Fed. Cir. 2011); Minehan v. United States, 75 Fed.Cl. 249, 253 (2007), “While a pro se plaintiff is held to a less stringent standard than that of a plaintiff represented by an attorney, the pro se plaintiff, nevertheless, bears the burden of establishing the Court’s jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence.” Riles v. United States, 93 Fed.Cl. 163, 165 (2010) (citing Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. at 9, 101 S.Ct. 173 and Taylor v. United States, 303 F.3d 1357, 1359 (Fed. Cir.) (“Plaintiff bears the burden of showing jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence.”), reh’g and reh’g en banc denied (Fed. Cir. 2002)); see also Shelkofsky v. United States, 119 Fed.Cl. 133, 139 (2014) (“[W]hile the court may excuse ambiguities in a pro se plaintiffs complaint, the court ‘does not excuse [a complaint’s] failures.’ ” (quoting Henke v. United States, 60 F.3d 795, 799 (Fed. Cir. 1995))); Harris v. United States, 113 Fed.Cl. 290, 292 (2013) (“Although plaintiffs pleadings are held to a less stringent standard, such leniency ‘with respect to mere [41]*41formalities does not relieve the burden to meet jurisdictional requirements.’ ” (quoting Minehan v. United States, 75 Fed.Cl. at 253)),

Even granting the more liberal construction afforded to pro se plaintiffs, it is not clear from the assertions in Mr. Bullock’s vague and confused complaint what would be the basis for this court’s jurisdiction. It is well established that “ ‘subject-matter jurisdiction, because it involves a court’s power to hear a ease, can never be forfeited or waived.’ ” (Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 514, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (2006)) (quoting United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 630, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002)). “[F]ederal courts have an independent obligation to ensure that they do not exceed the scope of their jurisdiction, and therefore they must raise and decide jurisdictional questions that the parties either overlook or elect not to press,” Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki 562 U.S. 428, 131 S.Ct. 1197, 1202, 179 L.Ed.2d 159 (2011); see also Gonzalez v. Thaler, — U.S.-, 132 S.Ct. 641, 648, 181 L.Ed.2d 619 (2012) (“When a requirement goes to subject-matter jurisdiction, courts are obligated to consider sua sponte issues that the parties have disclaimed or- have not presented.”); Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 94, 130 S.Ct. 1181, 175 L.Ed.2d 1029 (2010) (“Courts have an independent obligation to determine whether subject-matter jurisdiction exists, even when no party challenges it.” (citing Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. at 514, 126 S.Ct. 1235)); Special Devices, Inc. v. OEA, Inc., 269 F.3d 1340, 1342 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (“[A] court has a duty to inquire into its jurisdiction to hear and decide a ease.” (citing Johannsen v. Pay Less Drug Stores N.W., Inc., 918 F.2d 160, 161 (Fed. Cir. 1990))); View Eng’g. Inc. v. Robotic Vision Sys., Inc., 115 F.3d 962, 963 (Fed. Cir.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 Fed. Cl. 38, 2015 U.S. Claims LEXIS 781, 2015 WL 3856356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alston-bullock-v-united-states-uscfc-2015.