Antonina Khramova v. Heather Van Ness.

• Court: Massachusetts Appeals Court
• Decided: February 5, 2025
• Docket: 23-P-1140
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to M.A.C. Rule 23.0, as appearing in 97 Mass. App. Ct. 1017 (2020) (formerly known as rule 1:28, as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 [2009]), are primarily directed to the parties and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case. A summary decision pursuant to rule 23.0 or rule 1:28 issued after February 25, 2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260 n.4 (2008).

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

APPEALS COURT

23-P-1140

ANTONINA KHRAMOVA

vs.

HEATHER VAN NESS.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 23.0

The plaintiff, Antonina Khramova, appeals from a judgment

of the Superior Court dismissing her complaint against the

defendant, Heather Van Ness, for failure to state a claim upon

which relief can be granted. See Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (6),

365 Mass. 754 (1974). We affirm.

Background. On March 30, 2021, Khramova filed a complaint

(first action) in the Wrentham District Court, alleging that, in

January 2021, Van Ness, a Walpole police officer, forcibly

entered Khramova's home and falsified a police report. The

complaint further alleged that Van Ness made false accusations

against Khramova's family and reported the family to the

Department of Children and Families. On August 23, 2021, the District Court entered a judgment dismissing the first action

due to Khramova's failure to serve Van Ness. On September 1,

2021, the plaintiff moved to reopen the case, and, on October

14, 2021, a judge of the District Court held a hearing on the

plaintiff's motion. On October 15, 2021, the judge denied the

motion to reopen the case.

On October 20, 2021, Khramova refiled the same complaint

(second action) in the Wrentham District Court. On November 3,

2021, Khramova filed a notice of appeal from the order denying

her motion to reopen the first action. On December 1, 2021,

Khramova filed this action (third action) in the Norfolk

Superior Court. The third action alleges the same claims

arising from the alleged January 14, 2021, incident. The next

day, when Khramova failed to appear for the status review of her

appeal in the first action, the judge in that case dismissed the

appeal.

On June 9, 2022, at a District Court hearing on the second

action, Khramova moved for a speedy trial, and a judge denied

her motion. Van Ness moved to dismiss the second action and, on

September 22, 2022, Khramova failed to appear for the hearing on

the motion to dismiss. A judgment of dismissal entered in favor

of Van Ness.

On December 23, 2022, Van Ness filed a motion to dismiss

the third action in Norfolk Superior Court. On March 7, 2023, a

2 hearing was held on Van Ness's motion to dismiss the third

action. At the hearing, when asked whether her allegations in

the third complaint were the same as the allegations in the

first two District Court complaints, Khramova stated that

"[i]t's for [the] same case in [Wrentham] District Court." On

March 8, 2023, the judge dismissed the third action pursuant to

rule 12 (b) (6), concluding that Khramova's claims were barred

by res judicata because each prior dismissal "operate[d] as an

adjudication upon the merits." Mass. R. Civ. P. 41 (b) (3), as

amended, 454 Mass. 1403 (2009).

Discussion. We review the allowance of a motion to dismiss

de novo. See Curtis v. Herb Chambers I-95, Inc., 458 Mass. 674,

676 (2011). To survive such a motion, a complaint must

plausibly suggest an entitlement to relief. See Iannacchino v.

Ford Motor Co., 451 Mass. 623, 636 (2008). Van Ness asserts

that the third action, this action, is based on identical claims

to the prior two actions and thus is barred by principles of res

judicata, specifically claim preclusion.1 "[T]he party invoking

claim preclusion . . . bears the burden of proving that each

element has been met." Laramie v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 488

Mass. 399, 405 (2021). The elements of claim preclusion are

1 Khramova's brief does not contain any contentions rising to the level of appellate argument. See Mass. R. A. P. 16 (a) (9) (A), as appearing in 481 Mass. 1628 (2019).

3 "(1) the identity or privity of the parties to the present and

prior actions, (2) identity of the cause of action, and

(3) prior final judgment on the merits" (citation omitted).

Saade v. Wilmington Trust, Nat'l Ass'n, 494 Mass. 1013, 1015

(2024).

Here, the parties to all three actions are Khramova and Van

Ness. The first two complaints were essentially identical,

alleging harm resulting from the same events of January 2021,

when Van Ness allegedly forced her way into Khramova's home and

made false statements about Khramova and her family. Khramova

conceded that the third action was the same action that she had

filed in district court. Thus, the third cause of action was

identical to the first two causes of action.

Under rule 41 (b) (3), a dismissal for failure to state a

claim operates as an adjudication on the merits. Mestek, Inc.

v. United Pac. Ins. Co., 40 Mass. App. Ct. 729, 731 (1996).

Because Khramova failed to prosecute the appeal in the first

action or oppose Van Ness's motion to dismiss the second action,

both actions were dismissed accordingly, and those dismissals

operated as adjudications on the merits. Thus, as all of the

4 elements for claim preclusion have been met, the judge did not

err by dismissing the third action for failure to state a claim.

Judgment affirmed.

By the Court (Massing, Walsh & Brennan, JJ.2),

Clerk

Entered: February 5, 2025.

2 The panelists are listed in order of seniority.