Ortiz Cameron v. Drug Enforcement Administration

959 F. Supp. 92, 1997 WL 115245
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 7, 1997
Docket94-2475 (HL), 94-2476 (HL)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 959 F. Supp. 92 (Ortiz Cameron v. Drug Enforcement Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ortiz Cameron v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 959 F. Supp. 92, 1997 WL 115245 (prd 1997).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LAFFITTE, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds of res judicata and Plaintiffs’ failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In opposition to Defendant’s motion, Plaintiffs request a Rule 56(f) extension for the third time, argue against the applicability of res judicata, and cross-move for partial summary judgment on the grounds that the Supreme Court’s December 13, 1993 decision in United States v. James Daniel Good Real Property, 510 U.S. 43, 114 S.Ct. 492, 126 L.Ed.2d 490 (1993) is retroactive to the 1989-1990 civil forfeiture cases. Having found that Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the res judi-cata doctrine and Plaintiffs have failed to state a viable cause of action, the Court grants Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In a run of the mill motion for summary judgment, the Court evaluates whether “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) (emphasis added); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

In this ease, Defendant’s motion for summary judgment and Plaintiffs’ cross-motion for partial summary judgment are not typical. The exact same motion for summary judgment could have been filed years ago as a motion to dismiss. It assumes that Plaintiffs’ allegations are true and relies completely on the legal precepts of res judicata and the non-retroactivity of the James Daniel Good Real Property decision. In accordance with the Rule 56 standard of review, the Court shall construe the non-movant’s allegations as true when properly supported by evidence in the record and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in the non-mov-ant’s favor. Regardless of the facts alleged, however, the Court would reach the same legal conclusions and the same result.

Because Plaintiffs invoke Rule 56(f), it is important to define the essential elements that the Court must consider before ruling upon such a request. The Rule 56(f) request must meet five requirements: (1) authoritativeness i.e. an attorney under pain of Rule 11 sanctions or a party must submit the request; (2) timeliness i.e. the request *94 should be made within a reasonable time following the summary judgment motion; (3) good cause i.e. the party must demonstrate good cause for failing to conduct the discovery previously; (4) utility i.e. there must be a plausible basis to believe that discoverable materials exist that would likely raise a genuine issue of material fact; and (5) materiality i.e. the requested discovery materials must be material to the legal dispute at the heart of the summary judgment motion. Resolution Trust Corp. v. North Bridge Assoc., Inc., 22 F.3d 1198, 1203 (1st Cir.1994).

As the Court stated in Vazquez Gonzalez v. K-Mart Corp., 940 F.Supp. 429, 431 (D.P.R.1996),

Courts should generally grant Rule 56(f) requests unless the party has been dilatory in conducting discovery or the motion is really a wolf draped in sheep’s clothing to delay the litigation in the case. Id.; see also Ayala-Gerena v. Bristol Myers-Squibb Co., 95 F.3d 86, 92-94 (1st Cir.1996) (affirming district court’s denial of a Rule 56(f) request because the party failed to exercise due diligence during discovery). A Rule 56(f) request, however, can not save a nonmovant from losing the motion if there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In such cases, the request only forestalls the inevitable dismissal of the complaint.

With this standard of review in mind, the Court shall proceed to evaluate the merits of Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, Plaintiffs’ opposition thereto, and Plaintiffs’ cross-motion.

FACTS

Plaintiffs, Arnaldo Ortiz Cameron (“Arnal-do”) and Erie Ortiz Cameron (“Eric”), are brothers of the convicted drug smuggler Luis Hiram Ortiz Cameron (“Luis”). 1 According to the Government, Luis bought several dairy farms, animals, and farming equipment with his profits from the drug smuggling enterprise. On November 3, 1989 and November 9,1989, the Government initiated two separate in rem civil forfeiture proceedings pursuant to 21 U.S.C.A. § 881(a)(6) (1981), Civil Case Number 89-1431(JP) and Civil Case Number 89-1464(CC). Def.’s Mot., Dkt. No. 29 at Exs. E & L. In the civfi forfeiture complaints, the Government alleged that the defendant properties were proceeds traceable to the sale of controlled substances.

After the United States Marshals seized the defendant properties in Civü Case Numbers 89-143KJP) and 89-1464(CC), Arnaldo and Eric attempted to file claims for several of the properties. Their claims, however, were stricken from the Record because Judge Pieras and Judge Cerezo found that they did not have standing to assert their rights to the defendant properties. Under 21 U.S.C.A. § 881(b) (Supp.1996) and Rule C(6) of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims, Arnaldo and Eric had to file their claims for the properties within 10 days of being served with the pleadings and they had to file their answers to the complaint within 20 days of filing their respective claims. United States v. One Dairy Farm, 918 F.2d 310, 311 (1st Cir.1990).

The United States Marshals served the civfi forfeiture complaint in Civil Case Number 89-143KJP) upon Arnaldo and upon Eric through Arnaldo on November 4, 1989. Id. Arnaldo and Eric waited, however, until December 11, 1989 to file their claims for some of the defendant properties and until December 27, 1989 to file their answers to the complaint. Id.; Def.’s Mot., Dkt. No. 29 at Exs. M, N, O, & P. Because they filed their claims beyond the 10 day claim period and the 20 day answer period, Judge Pieras struck their claims from the Record and dismissed their claims with prejudice. Def.’s Mot., Dkt. No. 29 at Ex. Q. His finding that Arnaldo and Eric both lacked standing to make claims for the defendant properties was affirmed by the First Circuit. One *95 Dairy Farm, 918 F.2d at 313.

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Related

United States v. Saccoccia
62 F. Supp. 2d 539 (D. Rhode Island, 1999)
Ortiz-Cameron v. Drug Enforcement Administration
139 F.3d 4 (First Circuit, 1998)
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Bluebook (online)
959 F. Supp. 92, 1997 WL 115245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ortiz-cameron-v-drug-enforcement-administration-prd-1997.