Moxley v. Kubota

CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedSeptember 19, 2022
Docket1:22-cv-00401
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Moxley v. Kubota, (D. Haw. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

JAN MOXLEY, Case No. 22-cv-401-DKW-RT

Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE1 vs.

PETER K. KUBOTA and STATE OF HAWAI‘I,

Defendants.

On September 2, 2022, Plaintiff Jan Moxley, proceeding pro se, filed a Complaint in this Court, seeking damages and injunctive relief from the State of Hawai‘i and Judge Peter K. Kubota, a state judge in the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit for the State of Hawai‘i. Dkt. No. 1. Moxley is currently the defendant in a state mortgage foreclosure case, and Judge Kubota was the presiding judge over most of the foreclosure litigation. Moxley claims that Judge Kubota violated his constitutional rights in various ways during the litigation, including by entering judgment against Moxley. Alongside his Complaint, Moxley filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) and an application for permission to participate in electronic filing. Dkt. Nos. 3, 6.

1Pursuant to LR 7.1(c), the Court finds these matters suitable for disposition without a hearing. This Court dismisses Moxley’s Complaint because (1) the Complaint seeks monetary relief from Defendants that are immune from such relief and (2) the

Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to review a state-court judgment under Rooker-Feldman. Because these deficiencies cannot be cured by amendment, Moxley’s Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and the Clerk is

instructed to CLOSE this case. LEGAL STANDARD “[A] litigant whose filing fees and court costs are assumed by the public, unlike a paying litigant, lacks an economic incentive to refrain from filing

frivolous, malicious, or repetitive lawsuits.” Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 324 (1989). Therefore, every civil action commenced pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) is subject to mandatory screening and possible dismissal of any claims

that are “frivolous, malicious, failing to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeking monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). RELEVANT FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This matter began on September 8, 2017 when lender U.S. Bank filed a complaint against Moxley in the Third Circuit for the State of Hawai‘i, seeking to foreclose on Moxley’s mortgage as a result of Moxley’s default under the associated promissory note.2 State Dkt. No. 2.3 Service of the complaint was completed on August 9, 2018, at which time the presiding judge was Judge Greg

K. Nakamura. See State Dkt. No. 34. Throughout the subsequent state litigation, Moxley was not represented by counsel. On December 13, 2018, U.S. Bank filed a Motion for Summary Judgment

and for Interlocutory Decree of Foreclosure (“MSJ”), contending that there was no genuine dispute of material fact that the four elements of foreclosure were met. State Dkt. No. 19. On March 29, 2019, Moxley opposed the MSJ by declaration and affidavit, claiming that the predecessor to the mortgage service provider, JP

Morgan Chase Bank, had committed “fraud and a breach of contract,” rendering the mortgage and note “void and unenforceable.” See State Dkt. Nos. 17, 20.4

2The Court has supplemented the factual allegations in Moxley’s inscrutable Complaint with a review of the state court docket. See Fed. R. Evid. 201(b) (stating that the Court may take judicial notice of publicly filed and available court documents that cannot and have not been reasonably questioned). All facts and inferences have been construed liberally and in the light most favorable to Moxley. See Eldridge v. Block, 832 F.2d 1132, 1137 (9th Cir. 1987); Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6); In re Facebook, Inc. Internet Tracking Litig., 956 F.3d 589, 601 (9th Cir. 2020) (“At the pleading stage, all allegations of material fact are taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.”). 3The state docket for Case No. 3CC171000292 will be cited in this Order as “State Dkt.” while the instant federal docket will be cited as “Dkt.” 4More specifically, Moxley claimed that, in the wake of Hurricane Iselle in the summer of 2014, a Chase representative pledged to enroll him in a so-called “disaster relief program,” in which Moxley could cease payments on his mortgage for six months, and after which “the six months’ worth of missed payments were to be added to the end of the loan.” State Dkt. No. 20 at 9–10. However, after the six-month period ended, a Chase representative informed Moxley that “this program they offered was not available from the lender, . . . U.S. Bank.” Id. at 10. Moxley asserted that Chase refused to release phone call recordings proving the fraud. Along with his opposition, Moxley filed a “Motion to Declare [the] Mortgage and Promissory Note Void and Unenforceable.” State Dkt. Nos. 20, 31. On June 17, 2019, Judge Nakamura denied the MSJ without prejudice, finding that “there [we]re genuine issues of material fact” for trial, but not

providing additional detail or clarifying which issues of fact were in dispute. State Dkt. No. 24. On July 17, 2019, U.S. Bank filed a Motion for Clarification and/or Reconsideration of the denial, State Dkt. No. 26, which Judge Nakamura denied on

September 30, 2019. State Dkt. No. 33. In November 2019, Judge Nakamura retired, and the case was re-assigned to Judge Peter K. Kubota, Defendant here. On April 28, 2020, U.S. Bank filed a Renewed Motion for Summary

Judgment and for Interlocutory Decree of Foreclosure (“Renewed MSJ”), again contending that the four elements of foreclosure had been met. State Dkt. Nos. 50– 51. Moxley did not oppose the Renewed MSJ. Nor did he appear at the June 25,

2020 hearing on the motion. At that hearing, Judge Kubota orally granted the Renewed MSJ, citing the facts presented by U.S. Bank and the lack of opposition from Moxley. State Dkt. No. 53. Judge Kubota directed counsel for U.S. Bank to prepare a written order for his later approval. Id.

On July 13, 2020, before the written order was filed, Moxley filed a premature “Motion to Set Aside Summary Judgment,” claiming he had never received notice of the Renewed MSJ or associated hearing due to pandemic-related

U.S. Postal Service delays and interruptions, and thus had been deprived of the opportunity to oppose the motion. State Dkt. No. 54. He also questioned the reversal in course from Judge Nakamura’s prior denial of summary judgment.5 Id.

On August 26, 2020, Judge Kubota denied Moxley’s Motion to Set Aside, apparently because the grant of summary judgment would not be ripe for reconsideration until the written order was published.6 See State Dkt. Nos. 75, 82.

On September 28, 2020, Dkt. No. 95, the court filed its written order granting the Renewed MSJ. State Dkt. No. 95. Finding Moxley to be in default in the amount of $757,831.37, the court entered Judgment against him. State Dkt. Nos. 95, 97.

On October 13, 2020, Moxley filed a Motion to Reconsider Summary Judgment and to Set a Date for Jury Trial.7 State Dkt. No. 109. In this motion, he again contended that the matter had not been fairly litigated because he had not

received notice of the April 28, 2020 Renewed MSJ or June 25, 2020 hearing. Id.

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