Epperson v. United States

District Court, E.D. California·Decided May 13, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-00493·Unknown

Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 CHRIS EPPERSON, Case No. 1:21-cv-00493-NONE-SAB

12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDING DISMISSING ACTION 13 v. FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM AND FAILURE TO COMPLY 14 UNITED STATES, et al., (ECF No. 1) 15 Defendant. ORDER STRIKING UNSIGNED FILINGS 16 FROM THE RECORD

17 (ECF Nos. 5, 6)

18 19 I. 20 BACKGROUND 21 Chris Epperson (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this action on 22 March 24, 2021. (ECF No. 1.) On March 29, 2021, a screening order issued finding that 23 Plaintiff had failed to state a cognizable claim and granting Plaintiff leave to file an amended 24 complaint within thirty days. (ECF No. 4.) On April 21, 2021, Plaintiff filed a document 25 entitled “Statement of Claim”. (ECF No. 5.) On April 26, 2021, Plaintiff filed an exhibit. (ECF 26 No. 6.) Upon review of the documents filed by Plaintiff, the Court recommends that this action 27 be dismissed for failure to state a claim and failure to comply. / / / 1 II. 2 LEGAL STANDARD 3 Notwithstanding any filing fee, the court shall dismiss a case if at any time the Court 4 determines that the complaint “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which 5 relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from 6 such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); see Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000) 7 (section 1915(e) applies to all in forma pauperis complaints, not just those filed by prisoners); 8 Calhoun v. Stahl, 254 F.3d 845 (9th Cir. 2001) (dismissal required of in forma pauperis 9 proceedings which seek monetary relief from immune defendants); Cato v. United States, 70 10 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995) (district court has discretion to dismiss in forma pauperis 11 complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)); Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193 (9th Cir. 1998) 12 (affirming sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim). The Court exercises its discretion to 13 screen the plaintiff’s complaint in this action to determine if it “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) 14 fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a 15 defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). 16 In determining whether a complaint fails to state a claim, the Court uses the same 17 pleading standard used under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). A complaint must contain “a 18 short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. . . .” Fed. R. 19 Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the 20 elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” 21 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 22 544, 555 (2007)). 23 In reviewing the pro se complaint, the Court is to liberally construe the pleadings and 24 accept as true all factual allegations contained in the complaint. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 25 94 (2007). Although a court must accept as true all factual allegations contained in a complaint, 26 a court need not accept a plaintiff’s legal conclusions as true. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. “[A] 27 complaint [that] pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability . . . ‘stops 1 Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). 2 III. 3 COMPLAINT 4 Plaintiff filed a complaint on March 24, 2021. (ECF No. 1.) The caption of the 5 complaint lists the United States as the defendant. (Compl., 1.) The complaint lists as 6 defendants: Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.1 (Id. at 2.) Plaintiff has 7 checked both federal question and diversity of citizenship as the basis of jurisdiction. (Id. at 3.) 8 Under basis for diversity jurisdiction, Plaintiff states that Geoffrey S. Binney is a citizen of the 9 State of Texas. (Id. at 4.) Under the statement of claim, the complaint states “Embezzlement” 10 and “Extortion Threats.” (Id. at 5.) Plaintiff lists the amount in controversy as “475 million 11 Telehealth Kickback Scheme” and “Local Rule 83:19.” (Id.) The relief sought is as follows:

12 31 to 39. Repealed Ch. 645 21,62 Stat. 862 40. Transferred 13 41. Repealed June 25, 1948 42. Transferred 14 50 U.S. Code Chapter 4 – Espionage 15 (Compl., 6.) 16 The Civil Cover Sheet lists the Defendant as Geoffrey S. Binney and states that the basis 17 of jurisdiction is federal question, but identifies that Plaintiff is a citizen of this state and 18 defendant is a citizen of another state. (ECF No. 1-1.) The nature of suit is listed as contract, 19 marine. (Id.) The origin of the proceeding is listed as multidistrict litigation. (Id.) The cause of 20 action is described as 50 U.S.C. § 2271. (Id.) Plaintiff lists the demand as four hundred million 21 dollars. (Id.) 22 IV. 23 DISCUSSION 24 For the reasons discussed below, the Court finds that the complaint does not state any 25 cognizable claims. Plaintiff was provided with the legal standards that appeared to apply to his 26 claims and was granted an opportunity to file an amended complaint to correct the identified 27 1 deficiencies. 2 A. Rule 8 3 Rule 8 requires that a complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim 4 showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Plaintiff’s complaint 5 violates Rule 8 because it does not contain a short and plain statement of the claim demonstrating 6 that he is entitled to relief. 7 Although the Federal Rules use a flexible pleading policy, Plaintiff is required to give fair 8 notice to the defendants of the basis of the claim and must allege facts that support the elements 9 of the claim plainly and succinctly. A complaint must contain sufficient factual allegations to 10 give the defendant fair notice of the claim and the grounds upon which it rests. Twombly, 550 11 U.S. at 555. There are no factual allegations in the complaint that identify the basis of the claim 12 and Plaintiff’s vague references to statutes is not sufficient to identify the basis of any federal 13 claim. It is the duty of Plaintiff to articulate his claim, and neither the Court nor the defendants 14 have to try to decipher what claims Plaintiff is asserting in the action. 15 Although Plaintiff states “Embezzlement” and “Extortion Threats” as the statement of the 16 claim, a complaint is required to contain sufficient factual content for the court to draw the 17 reasonable conclusion that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 18 678. It is impossible to determine what Plaintiff is alleging has occurred or how the defendants 19 are alleged to be liable. 20 Further, Rule 8 requires that the complaint must state a demand for the relief sought. 21 Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(3).

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