Garcia v. Unknown Parties

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedApril 15, 2024
Docket4:23-cv-00468
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Garcia v. Unknown Parties, (D. Ariz. 2024).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 Lee Louis Garcia, ) 9 ) Plaintiff, ) 10 ) No. CIV 23-468-TUC-CKJ vs. ) 11 ) ORDER Unknown Parties, ) 12 ) Defendants. ) 13 ) 14 On October 10, 2023, Plaintiff Lee Louis Garcia ("Garcia") filed what the Court has 15 accepted as a Complaint. See January 11, 2024, Order (Doc. 8). Garcia also filed a "Special 16 Actions Creteroi" and an Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees 17 or Costs (Docs. 5, 7). 18 The Complaint does not include a caption, but the Special Actions Creteroi and the 19 Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs includes captions 20 that state Defendants as "Unknown Parties[.]" This Court denied with leave to resubmit the 21 original Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 8). 22 Garcia has filed a new Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or 23 Costs (Doc. 9). 24 25 I. In Forma Pauperis 26 The Court may allow a plaintiff to proceed without prepayment of fees when it is 27 shown by affidavit that he "is unable to pay such fees[.]" 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). Garcia's 28 affidavit states his average monthly income during the past twelve months was $355.00 and 1 states he has no expenses. 2 The Court finds Garcia is unable to pay the fees and will grant the Application to 3 Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 9). 4 5 II. Screening Order 6 This Court is required to dismiss a case if the Court determines that the allegation of 7 poverty is untrue, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(A), or if the Court determines that the action "(i) 8 is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) 9 seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief." 28 U.S.C. § 10 1915(e)(2)(B). 11 12 III. General Requirements 13 A complaint is to contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 14 pleader is entitled to relief[.]" Rule 8(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. While Rule 8 does not demand 15 detailed factual allegations, "it demands more than an unadorned, the 16 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). 17 "Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 18 statements, do not suffice." Id. Especially where the pleader is pro se, the pleading should 19 be liberally construed in the interests of justice. Johnson v. Reagan, 524 F.2d 1123 (9th Cir. 20 1975). Indeed, a "complaint [filed by a pro se plaintiff] 'must be held to less stringent 21 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.'" Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th 22 Cir. 2010), quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007), per curiam. 23 A complaint must set forth sufficient facts that serves to put defendants on notice as 24 to the nature and basis of the claim(s). Failure to name potential defendants or sufficient 25 facts to advise a defendant of the claim(s) may be result in no claim(s) being presented 26 against a defendant. Furthermore, all allegations of a claim are to be set forth in numbered 27 paragraphs that should be limited to a single set of circumstances. Fed.R.Civ.P. 10(a). "Each 28 claim . . . shall be stated in a separate count . . . whenever a separation facilitates the clear 1 presentation of the matters set forth." Id. Failure to set forth claims in such a manner places 2 the onus on the court to decipher which, if any, facts support which claims, as well as to 3 determine whether a plaintiff is entitled to the relief sought. Haynes v. Anderson & 4 Strudwick, Inc., 508 F.Supp. 1303 (D.C.Va. 1981). Enforcement of this rule is discretionary 5 with the Court, but such enforcement is appropriate where it is necessary to facilitate a clear 6 presentation of the claims. See, Benoit v. Ocwen Financial Corp., Inc., 960 F.Supp. 287 7 (S.D.Fla. 1997), affirmed 162 F.3d 1177 (compliance with rule required where allegations 8 were so confusing and conclusory, claims were commingled, and impossible to determine 9 nature of claims). 10 11 IV. Requirement that Action State a Claim on Which Relief Can be Granted 12 The United States Supreme Court has determined that, in order to survive a motion 13 to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a plaintiff must allege "enough facts to state a claim to 14 relief that is plausible on its facts." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 15 (2007).1 While a complaint need not plead "detailed factual allegations," the factual 16 allegations it does include "must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative 17 level." Id. at 555. Indeed, Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2) requires a showing that a plaintiff is entitled 18 to relief "rather than a blanket assertion" of entitlement to relief. Id. at 555 n. 3. The 19 complaint "must contain something more . . . than . . . a statement of facts that merely creates 20 a suspicion [of] a legally cognizable right to action." Id. at 555. Although a motion to 21 dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) has not been filed in this case, the Court considers 22 these standards in screening Garcia's Complaint to determine if Garcia has "nudge[d] [his] 23 claims across the line from conceivable to plausible." Id. at 570. The Court also considers 24 that the Supreme Court has cited Twombly for the traditional proposition that "[s]pecific facts 25 26 1The holding in Twombly explicitly abrogates the well established holding in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46 (1957), that "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure 27 to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in 28 support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." 1 are not necessary [for a pleading that satisfies Rule 8(a)(2)]; the statement need only 'give the 2 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.'" Erickson 3 v. Pardue, 551 U.S. 89 (2007). 4 In discussing Twombly, the Ninth Circuit has stated: 5 "A claim has facial plausibility," the Court explained, "when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the 6 defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." 129 S.Ct. at 1949. "The plausibility standard is not akin to a 'probability requirement,' but it asks for more than a sheer 7 possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). "Where a complaint pleads facts that are 'merely consistent 8 with' a defendant's liability, it 'stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.'" Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 9 S.Ct. 1955). 10 In sum, for a complaint to survive a motion to dismiss, the non-conclusory "factual content," and reasonable inferences from that content, must be plausibly suggestive 11 of a claim entitling the plaintiff to relief. Id. 12 Moss v. U.S.

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Garcia v. Unknown Parties, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garcia-v-unknown-parties-azd-2024.