Broussard v. Hollenhorst

CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMarch 11, 2022
Docket0:22-cv-00342
StatusUnknown

This text of Broussard v. Hollenhorst (Broussard v. Hollenhorst) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Broussard v. Hollenhorst, (mnd 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

Aaron Rhy Broussard, Case No. 22-CV-0342 (SRN/ECW)

Plaintiff, ORDER v.

Thomas M. Hollenhorst et al.,

Defendants.

Aaron Rhy Broussard, Sherburne County Jail, 13880 Business Center Drive NW, Elk River, MN 55330-1692, pro se.

SUSAN RICHARD NELSON, United States District Judge This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff Aaron Rhy Broussard’s (1) Com- plaint for Violation of Civil Rights [Doc. Nos. 1, 4 (“Original Complaint”)],1 (2) Applica- tion to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs [Doc. No. 2 (“IFP Ap- plication”)], (3) Motion for Temporary Restraining Order [Doc. No. 3 (“TRO Motion”)], and (4) Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 4]. For the following reasons, the Court deems the Amended Complaint to be this action’s presently operative pleading, dismisses the Amended Complaint in part, stays the remainder pending resolution of Broussard’s pend- ing federal criminal prosecution, grants the IFP Application, and denies the TRO Motion.

1 The Court received the Original Complaint in two parts; for present purposes, the Court treats the two filings as one consolidated complaint. I. BACKGROUND Broussard is presently the defendant in a criminal prosecution in this District. [See,

e.g., Docket, United States v. Broussard, No. 19-CR-0101 (SRN/ECW) (D. Minn.).] That case’s record is lengthy; the Court need not provide a fulsome summary here. For relevant context, however, the Court notes the following. Broussard presently faces trial on a sev- enteen-count Second Revised Indictment, the gravamen of which is that he stands accused of illegally distributing various controlled substances and controlled substance analogues, leading to serious injuries and several deaths. [See Second Revised Indictment 1–14,

United States v. Broussard, No. 19-CR-0101 (SRN/ECW) (D. Minn. Mar. 10, 2022).] Trial is set for March 14, 2022—this coming Monday—notwithstanding Broussard’s several re- cent attempts to push back that date. [See Second Am. Trial Notice and Final Pretrial Order 1, United States v. Broussard, No. 19-CR-0101 (SRN/ECW) (D. Minn. Dec. 17, 2021) (setting trial date).]2

Broussard filed the Original Complaint, IFP Application, and TRO Motion on Feb- ruary 3, 2022. [See Doc. No. 1 at 1; IFP Appl. 1.; TRO Mot. 1.] The IFP Application asks this Court to let Broussard proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) in this action; the TRO Mo- tion asks the Court to halt his criminal case and order his immediate release from detention.

2 [See also, e.g., Order, United States v. Broussard, No. 19-CR-0101 (SRN/ECW) (D. Minn. Mar. 1, 2022) (denying Broussard’s motion to stay trial); Order, United States v. Broussard, No. 19-CR-0101 (SRN/ECW) (D. Minn. Feb. 8, 2022) (denying Broussard’s motion to continue trial); Broussard v. United States, No. 21-CV-2484 (SRN/LIB), 2021 WL 5868719, at *1 (D. Minn. Nov. 18, 2021) (denying Broussard’s habeas petition chal- lenging pending prosecution).] [See IFP Appl. 1; TRO Mot. 1–2.] On February 23, 2022, Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright ordered Broussard to pay an initial partial filing fee. [See Doc. No. 8 at 4.]

That order specifically warned Broussard that (among other issues) the Original Complaint likely “feature[d] impermissible joinder” and that “to the extent [his] present action could interfere with his pending federal criminal prosecution . . . this action is likely a nonstarter” because “[f]ederal courts generally will not interfere with ongoing federal criminal prose- cutions.” [Id. at 3 n.2 (citing authorities).] On March 7, shortly after Broussard paid his initial partial filing fee, the Court re-

ceived the Amended Complaint. Fifty-four pages long, it specifically names twenty-three defendants [see Am. Compl. 4–7],3 as well as several groups of as-yet-unnamed defendants [see id.].4 It purports to present forty-nine causes of action, though Broussard makes es- sentially no effort to specify which Defendants each count targets. [See id. at 30–51.] For relief, Broussard asks for hundreds of millions of dollars of monetary damages

(including punitive damages), as well as “costs, disbursements, . . . attorney’s fees and

3 Captions in federal complaints often provide a list of defendants; the Amended Complaint does not. By the Court’s check of the Amended Complaint’s “Parties” section, Broussard means to sue the following named individuals: Thomas M. Hollenhorst; Melinda A. Wil- liams; Charles J. Novats, Jr. [sic]; W. Anders Folk; Erica McDonald; Michelle Olshefski; David J. Freed; Bruce Brandler; Terrence Olstad; Marc R. Lombardi, Louis J. Ryckely; Dick L. Mah; William Davis; Jason Gula; Alexis Guidice; Chris Watkins; Blair Babcock; Scott Syne; Jon Schafer; Thomas McDonald; Sarah Wicker; Mark Rossi; and Bernard J. Brown. 4 By the Court’s check, the groups here are as-yet-unknown employees for a dozen U.S. Attorney’s Offices; various “District Attorney’s Offices” for Minnesota counties; the Drug Enforcement Agency; “local, city and state law enforcement” in thirteen listed states; and the U.S. Postal Service. [See Am. Compl. 4–7.] other expenses.” [Id. at 53–54.] He also asks for four forms of “declaratory relief”— specifically, for the Court to declare that:

1. the government’s intent to introduce elements that aren’t present within a count/indictment via trial jury in- struction would undoubtedly result in fatal variances, consequently violating multiple constitutional rights of the plaintiff; 2. a grand jury’s determination of the Analogue Act’s ele- ments are mandated by the Federal Constitution and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; 3. the government’s reservation of the right to present, and presentation of a theory of purposeful acts associate[d] with fentanyl is in complete bad faith and illegal; and 4. lack of probable cause is not an element of a Vindictive Prosecution claim, and such proposal conflicts with Su- preme Court precedent. [Id. (citations omitted).] Broussard also asks that the “relevant alleged conduct” be “[e]xpung[ed]” from his “criminal/arrest record,” and that the Court “[i]ssue preliminary and permanent injunctions staying the pending criminal prosecution within the District of Minnesota.” [Id. at 54.] II. DISCUSSION A. Operative Pleading As a threshold matter, the Court addresses Broussard’s attempt to amend the Origi- nal Complaint. Under Rule 15(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as relevant here, “[a] party may amend its pleading once as a matter of course within . . . 21 days after service of a responsive pleading or 21 days after service of a motion under Rule 12(b), (e), or (f), whichever is earlier.” At present, the Original Complaint has yet to be served on any Defendants, so Broussard plainly meets the Rule 15(a)(1)(B) deadline. The Court will thus treat the Amended Complaint as this action’s operative pleading.

B. Pleading Standards Rather than pay this action’s filing fee, Broussard submitted the IFP Application. The IFP Application suggests that Broussard qualifies financially for IFP status. But under the federal statute governing IFP proceedings, “notwithstanding any filing fee, or any por- tion thereof, that may have been paid,” a court overseeing an IFP action “shall dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that . . . the action . . . fails to state a claim on which

relief may be granted . . . .” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). Furthermore, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A

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