1 JL 2 WO 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Philip Steven Matwyuk, No. CV-25-08048-PCT-JAT (DMF) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 Lee F. Jantzen, et al., 13 Defendants.
15 Plaintiff Philip Steven Matwyuk, who is confined in the Arizona State Prison 16 Complex-Tucson, has filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 17 § 1983 (Doc. 1) and paid the filing and administrative fees. Plaintiff has also filed a Motion 18 for Service (Doc. 5). The Court will deny the Motion as moot and dismiss this action. 19 I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 20 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 21 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 22 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 23 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, fail to state a claim upon which 24 relief may be granted, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such 25 relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 26 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 27 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 28 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 1 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 2 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 3 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 4 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 5 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 6 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 7 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 8 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 9 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 10 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 11 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 12 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 13 But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts 14 must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 15 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent 16 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 17 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). 18 If the Court determines that a pleading could be cured by the allegation of other 19 facts, a pro se litigant is entitled to an opportunity to amend a complaint before dismissal 20 of the action. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127-29 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). 21 Plaintiff’s Complaint will be dismissed for failure to state a claim, without leave to amend 22 because the defects cannot be corrected. 23 II. Background 24 Plaintiff was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, 25 five counts of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and two counts of misdemeanor 26 assault. State v. Matwyuk, 1 CA-CR 14-0202, 2015 WL 3400939, at *3 (Ariz. Ct. App. 27 May 26, 2015). His convictions and sentences were affirmed upon appeal, his state post- 28 conviction relief petition was denied, and his federal habeas corpus petition was denied. 1 Id.; State v. Matwyuk, 1 CA-CR 16-0833 PRPC, 2017 WL 5147238, at *1 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2 Nov. 7, 2017); Matwyuk v. Ryan, CV-18-08299-PCT-JAT, 2020 WL 3026487, at *5 (D. 3 Ariz. June 5, 2020). 4 III. Complaint 5 In his Complaint, Plaintiff sues Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. 6 Jantzen; Arizona Court of Appeals Judges Anni Hill Foster, Brian Y. Furuya, and Randall 7 M. Howe; and Arizona Supreme Court Justices Ann A. Scott Timmer, William G. 8 Montgomery, Kathryn H. King, and Maria Elena Cruz. Plaintiff brings claims regarding 9 Defendants’ decisions in Plaintiff’s state court cases. He seeks monetary relief. 10 Plaintiff alleges the following1: 11 On January 7, 2022, Plaintiff filed a civil complaint against Mark Brnovich, 12 Brandon Delong, and James Schoppmann in Mohave County Superior Court, case #S- 13 8015-CV-202200058. Delong was the lead investigator in Plaintiff’s criminal case, 14 Schoppmann was the prosecutor, and Brnovich was the Arizona Attorney General at the 15 time. See Matwyuk v. State, No. 1 CA-CV-23-0797, 2024 WL 3201643, at *1 (Ariz. Ct. 16 App. June 27, 2024).2 On March 1, 2022, Plaintiff filed a document he captioned as “Proof 17 of Service” affirming that he served each defendant by certified mail and further provided 18 the Certified Mail Receipts.3 Id. 19 On April 26, 2022, Defendant Jantzen conducted a hearing. No Defendants were 20 present, and counsel for Defendants did not appear. Plaintiff informed Defendant Jantzen 21 that he intended to file a Motion for Entry of Default against each Defendant. On May 3, 22
23 1 Because Plaintiff has sued only immune Defendants, the Court need not recount his factual allegations in detail. 24 2 The Arizona Court of Appeals’ decision states that Plaintiff sued Brian DeLong; 25 the Kingman Police Department; James Schoppmann; the “Mohave County District [sic] Attorney's Office,” the State of Arizona, and Mark Brnovich (collectively, “State 26 Defendants”). In the Complaint in this case, Plaintiff asserts that he only sued DeLong, Schoppmann, and Brnovich. 27 3 See https://apps.azcourts.gov/publicaccess/caselookup.aspx (search by case 28 number S-8015-CV-202200058 in Mohave County Superior Court) (last accessed Aug. 28, 2025). 1 2022, Plaintiff filed documents he captioned as “Entr[ies] of Default” against each 2 Defendant.4 Id. On May 4, 2022, counsel for the Mohave County Attorney’s Office, 3 Defendant Schoppmann, the Kingman Police Department, and Defendant Delong filed a 4 Waiver of Service of Summons and Complaint. On May 5, 2022, Defendants filed a Notice 5 of Removal and removed the case to this Court. Matwyuk v. State of Arizona, CV-22- 6 08082-PCT-JAT (DMF). 7 On May 19, 2022, Plaintiff objected to the removal. (Doc. 4 in CV-22-08082.) On 8 May 23, 2022, Plaintiff filed Motions for Default Judgment as to each Defendant in the 9 state court.5 On June 9, 2022, in the federal case, the Court dismissed Plaintiff’s federal 10 claims against the Kingman Police Department and the Mohave County Attorney’s Office 11 and remanded Plaintiff’s state law claims to the Mohave County Superior Court. (Doc. 8 12 in CV-22-08082.) 13 On June 27, 2022, Defendants Schoppmann and Delong filed a Motion to Dismiss 14 in the state court.6 The next day, the State Defendants made their first appearance in the 15 case and moved to dismiss. Matwyuk, 2024 WL 3201643, at *1. On November 3, 2023, 16 Defendant Jantzen dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against State Defendants as barred by 17 statute and found no remaining pending matters. Id. City and County Defendants moved 18 for clarification, and on November 16, 2023, Defendant Jantzen issued its final judgment 19 dismissing “all claims against all defendants.” Id.
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1 JL 2 WO 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Philip Steven Matwyuk, No. CV-25-08048-PCT-JAT (DMF) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 Lee F. Jantzen, et al., 13 Defendants.
15 Plaintiff Philip Steven Matwyuk, who is confined in the Arizona State Prison 16 Complex-Tucson, has filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 17 § 1983 (Doc. 1) and paid the filing and administrative fees. Plaintiff has also filed a Motion 18 for Service (Doc. 5). The Court will deny the Motion as moot and dismiss this action. 19 I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 20 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 21 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 22 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 23 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, fail to state a claim upon which 24 relief may be granted, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such 25 relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 26 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 27 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 28 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 1 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 2 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 3 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 4 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 5 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 6 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 7 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 8 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 9 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 10 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 11 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 12 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 13 But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts 14 must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 15 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent 16 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 17 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). 18 If the Court determines that a pleading could be cured by the allegation of other 19 facts, a pro se litigant is entitled to an opportunity to amend a complaint before dismissal 20 of the action. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127-29 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). 21 Plaintiff’s Complaint will be dismissed for failure to state a claim, without leave to amend 22 because the defects cannot be corrected. 23 II. Background 24 Plaintiff was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, 25 five counts of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and two counts of misdemeanor 26 assault. State v. Matwyuk, 1 CA-CR 14-0202, 2015 WL 3400939, at *3 (Ariz. Ct. App. 27 May 26, 2015). His convictions and sentences were affirmed upon appeal, his state post- 28 conviction relief petition was denied, and his federal habeas corpus petition was denied. 1 Id.; State v. Matwyuk, 1 CA-CR 16-0833 PRPC, 2017 WL 5147238, at *1 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2 Nov. 7, 2017); Matwyuk v. Ryan, CV-18-08299-PCT-JAT, 2020 WL 3026487, at *5 (D. 3 Ariz. June 5, 2020). 4 III. Complaint 5 In his Complaint, Plaintiff sues Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. 6 Jantzen; Arizona Court of Appeals Judges Anni Hill Foster, Brian Y. Furuya, and Randall 7 M. Howe; and Arizona Supreme Court Justices Ann A. Scott Timmer, William G. 8 Montgomery, Kathryn H. King, and Maria Elena Cruz. Plaintiff brings claims regarding 9 Defendants’ decisions in Plaintiff’s state court cases. He seeks monetary relief. 10 Plaintiff alleges the following1: 11 On January 7, 2022, Plaintiff filed a civil complaint against Mark Brnovich, 12 Brandon Delong, and James Schoppmann in Mohave County Superior Court, case #S- 13 8015-CV-202200058. Delong was the lead investigator in Plaintiff’s criminal case, 14 Schoppmann was the prosecutor, and Brnovich was the Arizona Attorney General at the 15 time. See Matwyuk v. State, No. 1 CA-CV-23-0797, 2024 WL 3201643, at *1 (Ariz. Ct. 16 App. June 27, 2024).2 On March 1, 2022, Plaintiff filed a document he captioned as “Proof 17 of Service” affirming that he served each defendant by certified mail and further provided 18 the Certified Mail Receipts.3 Id. 19 On April 26, 2022, Defendant Jantzen conducted a hearing. No Defendants were 20 present, and counsel for Defendants did not appear. Plaintiff informed Defendant Jantzen 21 that he intended to file a Motion for Entry of Default against each Defendant. On May 3, 22
23 1 Because Plaintiff has sued only immune Defendants, the Court need not recount his factual allegations in detail. 24 2 The Arizona Court of Appeals’ decision states that Plaintiff sued Brian DeLong; 25 the Kingman Police Department; James Schoppmann; the “Mohave County District [sic] Attorney's Office,” the State of Arizona, and Mark Brnovich (collectively, “State 26 Defendants”). In the Complaint in this case, Plaintiff asserts that he only sued DeLong, Schoppmann, and Brnovich. 27 3 See https://apps.azcourts.gov/publicaccess/caselookup.aspx (search by case 28 number S-8015-CV-202200058 in Mohave County Superior Court) (last accessed Aug. 28, 2025). 1 2022, Plaintiff filed documents he captioned as “Entr[ies] of Default” against each 2 Defendant.4 Id. On May 4, 2022, counsel for the Mohave County Attorney’s Office, 3 Defendant Schoppmann, the Kingman Police Department, and Defendant Delong filed a 4 Waiver of Service of Summons and Complaint. On May 5, 2022, Defendants filed a Notice 5 of Removal and removed the case to this Court. Matwyuk v. State of Arizona, CV-22- 6 08082-PCT-JAT (DMF). 7 On May 19, 2022, Plaintiff objected to the removal. (Doc. 4 in CV-22-08082.) On 8 May 23, 2022, Plaintiff filed Motions for Default Judgment as to each Defendant in the 9 state court.5 On June 9, 2022, in the federal case, the Court dismissed Plaintiff’s federal 10 claims against the Kingman Police Department and the Mohave County Attorney’s Office 11 and remanded Plaintiff’s state law claims to the Mohave County Superior Court. (Doc. 8 12 in CV-22-08082.) 13 On June 27, 2022, Defendants Schoppmann and Delong filed a Motion to Dismiss 14 in the state court.6 The next day, the State Defendants made their first appearance in the 15 case and moved to dismiss. Matwyuk, 2024 WL 3201643, at *1. On November 3, 2023, 16 Defendant Jantzen dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against State Defendants as barred by 17 statute and found no remaining pending matters. Id. City and County Defendants moved 18 for clarification, and on November 16, 2023, Defendant Jantzen issued its final judgment 19 dismissing “all claims against all defendants.” Id. 20 Plaintiff appealed the trial court’s decision, asserting that the court erred by not 21 entering default judgment against the defendants and dismissing the case. Id. at *2-3. On 22 June 27, 2024, Defendants Hill Foster, Furuya, and Howe affirmed the trial court’s 23 decision. Id. These Defendants concluded that Plaintiff never properly served the 24 defendants, the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants, and the court 25 could not assert personal jurisdiction over them until they waived service. Id. These
26 4 Id. 27 5 Id. 28 6 Id. 1 Defendants further concluded that Plaintiff’s claims were time-barred. Id. at *3. On July 2 8, 2024, Plaintiff filed an Objection to Memorandum Decision and Request for 3 Reconsideration, which the Arizona Court of Appeals denied the next day. 4 On July 22, 2024, Plaintiff filed a Petition for Review in the Arizona Supreme Court. 5 On February 27, 2025, Defendants Timmer, Montgomery, King, and Cruz denied the 6 Petition for Review. 7 Plaintiff claims each Defendant violated his Fourteenth Amendment rights to life, 8 liberty, or property and denied him equal protection of the law. 9 IV. Failure to State a Claim 10 Judges are absolutely immune from § 1983 suits for damages for their judicial acts 11 except when they are taken “in the ‘clear absence of all jurisdiction.’” Stump v. Sparkman, 12 435 U.S. 349, 356-57 (1978) (quoting Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. 335, 351 (1871)); 13 Ashelman v. Pope, 793 F.2d 1072, 1075 (9th Cir. 1986). An act is “judicial” when it is a 14 function normally performed by a judge and the parties dealt with the judge in his or her 15 judicial capacity. Stump, 435 U.S. at 362; Crooks v. Maynard, 913 F.2d 699, 700 (9th Cir. 16 1990). This immunity attaches even if the judge is accused of acting maliciously and 17 corruptly, Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554 (1967), or of making grave errors of law or 18 procedure. See Schucker v. Rockwood, 846 F.2d 1202, 1204 (9th Cir. 1988). 19 Plaintiff’s claims against Defendants arise solely in connection with their decisions 20 in Plaintiff’s state court proceedings. Defendants are absolutely immune for such 21 decisions. The Court will therefore dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim. 22 V. Dismissal Without Leave to Amend 23 Although a pro se plaintiff is generally entitled to notice of the deficiencies of his 24 claims and an opportunity to amend, see Akhtar v. Mesa, 698 F.3d 1202, 1212 (9th Cir. 25 2012), leave to amend is not required where amendment would be futile. See United States 26 v. Corinthian Colleges, 655 F.3d 984, 995 (9th Cir. 2011) (“Leave to amend is warranted 27 if the deficiencies can be cured with additional allegations that are ‘consistent with the 28 challenged pleading’ and that do not contradict the allegations in the original complaint.”) (quoting Reddy v. Litton Indus., Inc., 912 F.2d 291, 296-97 (9th Cir. 1990)); see also 2| Lopez, 203 F.3d at 1130 (leave to amend should be granted unless a pleading “could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other facts”). 4 Here, the deficiencies in the Complaint “could not possibly be cured by the 5 | allegation of other facts” that are consistent with and do not contradict the Complaint. The 6| Court finds leave to amend would be futile. The Court will therefore dismiss the Complaint 7 | without leave to amend. 8) ITIS ORDERED: 9 (1) Plaintiff’s Motion for Service (Doc. 5) is denied as moot. 10 (2) |The Complaint (Doc. 1) is dismissed for failure to state a claim pursuant to 28U,S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), and the Clerk of Court must enter judgment accordingly. 12 (3) |The Clerk of Court must make an entry on the docket stating that the 13 | dismissal for failure to state a claim may count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). 14 (4) — The docket shall reflect that the Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) 15 | and Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 24(a)(3)(A), has considered whether an appeal 16 | of this decision would be taken in good faith and certifies that an appeal would not be taken 17 | in good faith for the reasons stated in the Order and because there is no arguable factual or 18 | legal basis for an appeal. 19 Dated this 4th day of September, 2025. 20 21 a 22 James A. Teilborg 23 Senior United States District Judge 24 25 26 27 28