Donald Stephens v. Leslie Jessup

793 F.3d 941, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 305, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 12464, 2015 WL 4393548
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 20, 2015
Docket13-3123
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 793 F.3d 941 (Donald Stephens v. Leslie Jessup) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Donald Stephens v. Leslie Jessup, 793 F.3d 941, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 305, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 12464, 2015 WL 4393548 (8th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Donald Stephens went gambling at the Oaklawn Jockey Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and wound'up in a dispute with security personnel and a local police officer, Leslie Jessup, who accused him of theft. Stephens later sued the officer and Amtote International, Inc., alleging false imprisonment, conversion, defamation, violation of his civil rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The district court dismissed the action against Amtote International for failure to state a claim. We conclude that Stephens did not perfect an appeal of that order. The district court separately dismissed the claims against Jessup, ruling that they were barred by the doctrine of issue preclusion. We express no view on the merits of those claims, but we conclude that they are not precluded by previous litigation, so we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I.

According to the complaint, Stephens visited the Oaklawn Jockey Club for a night of gambling on February 6, 2010. After winning a sum of money playing slot machines, Stephens cashed out his ticket and left the casino. He returned later that evening and purchased another gaming ticket for use in the slot machines.

While playing on this ticket, he was approached by several uniformed casino security personnel and Jessup, a uniformed Hot Springs police officer. Jessup and the security personnel accused Stephens of stealing the cashed-out ticket from another patron who had been playing the slot machine. They detained Stephens *943 while casino employees reviewed surveillance footage to determine whether the ticket was stolen. The complaint next alleges that Jessup threatened to “arrest [Stephens] and take him to jail immediately” if he did not return the money that he received from cashing in the stolen ticket. Jessup recited Miranda warnings, escorted Stephens to his vehicle, and retrieved the money won at the casino.

In November 2010, Stephens sued Oak-lawn in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas. That complaint alleged that Oaklawn, through its “agents, servants, and employees ... acting within the scope and course of their employment,” committed false imprisonment, conversion, defamation, violation of civil rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The court granted summary judgment in favor of Oaklawn on the civil rights claim, and the remaining claims proceeded to trial.’ A jury ultimately returned a verdict in favor of Oaklawn. Neither Jessup nor Amtote International was a party to the state court action.

Stephens then filed suit against Jessup and Amtote International in February 2013, alleging the same five causes of action against these new defendants. Jessup moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the claims were barred by the doctrine of res judicata. Amtote International moved separately to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that Stephens failed to state a claim against it. On July 29, 2013, the district court granted Amtote’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. In a separate order entered on July 30, the court granted Jessup’s motion, holding that the doctrine of issue preclusion barred Stephens from proceeding against Jessup. Stephens filed a notice of appeal and argues now that both orders were flawed.

II.

Amtote International argues that we lack jurisdiction to review the July 29 order granting its motion to dismiss, because Stephens’s notice of appeal identified only the July 30 order dismissing the claims against Jessup. The argument is well taken. To vest this court with jurisdiction, an appellant must comply with the requirements of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3 to “designate the judgment, order, or part thereof being appealed.” Fed. R.App. P. 3(c)(1)(B); see Smith v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244, 248, 112 S.Ct. 678, 116 L.Ed.2d 678 (1992); Schell v. Bluebird Media, 787 F.3d 1179, 1183-84 (8th Cir. 2015). Stephens did not designate for appeal the order dismissing his claim against Amtote International.

Stephens’s notice states that he is appealing “from the (Order) entered in this action on the 30th day of July, 2013.” Although we liberally construe notices of appeal, we cannot waive the jurisdictional requirements of Rule 3, and “a notice which manifests an appeal from a specific district court order or decision precludes an appellant from challenging an order' or decision that he or she failed to identify in the notice.” Parkhill v. Minn. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 286 F.3d 1051, 1058 (8th Cir, 2002). The district court entered two separate orders on separate motions to dismiss, but the notice of appeal states only that Stephens appeals the July 30 order dismissing claims against Jessup. We therefore conclude that we lack jurisdiction to review the district court’s July 29 order granting Amtote International’s motion.

HI.

Stephens contends that the district court erred by concluding that his claims against Jessup are precluded by the 2010 judgment in Arkansas state court. Under the *944 Full Faith and Credit Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, federal courts must “give the same preclusive effect to state court judgments that those judgments would be given in the courts of the State from which the judgments emerged.” Kremer v. Chem. Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 466, 102 S.Ct. 1883, 72 L.Ed.2d 262 (1982). We review the district court’s decision de novo. Edwards v. City of Jonesboro, 645 F.3d 1014, 1019 (8th Cir.2011).

Arkansas preclusion law “has two facets, one being issue preclusion and the other claim preclusion.” Huffman v. Alderson, 335 Ark. 411, 983 S.W.2d 899, 901 (1998). The district court concluded that issue preclusion barred Stephens’s claims against Jessup. In Arkansas, issue preclusion requires the presence of four elements: “(1) the issue sought to be precluded must be the same as that involved in the prior litigation; (2) the issue must have been actually litigated; (3) the issue must have been determined by a final and valid judgment; and (4) the issue must have been essential to the judgment.” Beaver v. John Q. Hammons Hotels, L.P., 355 Ark.. 359, 138 S.W.3d 664, 666 (2003). Issue preclusion “may be asserted by a stranger to the first judgment, but the party against whom it is asserted ...

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Bluebook (online)
793 F.3d 941, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 305, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 12464, 2015 WL 4393548, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/donald-stephens-v-leslie-jessup-ca8-2015.