Paul Okwuchukwu Iyeke v. Christal Monique Gardiner

Opinion

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 PAUL OKWUCHUKWU IYEKE, ) Case No. CV 23-1454 FMO (RAO) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ) ORDER ACCEPTING REPORT AND 13 v. ) RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES ) MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 CHRISTAL MONIQUE GARDINER, et ) al., ) 15 ) Defendants. ) 16 ) 17 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, the Court has reviewed the Complaint, the records on file, and 18 the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge. The Court has engaged 19 in a de novo review of those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which Plaintiff has 20 objected. 21 The Court recognizes Plaintiff’s allegations in the Complaint of fraud on the court. (See, 22 e.g., Dkt. 1, Complaint at 3, 6-9, 14). However, plaintiff’s allegations do not save the Complaint. 23 A claim “alleging a cause of action for extrinsic fraud on a state court” is not barred by the Rooker- 24 Feldman doctrine where the plaintiff alleges “a wrongful act by the adverse party” rather than a 25 legal error by the state court. See Kougasian v. TMSL, Inc., 359 F.3d 1136, 1140-41 (9th Cir. 26 2004). Nevertheless, a claim of extrinsic fraud fails where, as here, the plaintiff argues that 27 misrepresentations were made during the state court proceedings but does not allege that the 28 1 742 F. App’x 209, 211 (9th Cir. 2018) (citing Green v. Ancora-Citronelle Corp., 577 F.2d 1380, 2 1384 (9th Cir. 1978) (extrinsic fraud is conduct that “prevents a party from having an opportunity 3 to present his claim or defense in court or deprives a party of his right to a day in court,” not 4 “misrepresentations” that go “to the very heart of the issues contested in the state court action” 5 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)). 6 The Court further finds that Plaintiff's Objections lack merit for the reasons stated in the 7 Report and Recommendation. 8 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation is accepted and 9 Judgment be entered dismissing this action with prejudice. 10 Dated this 20th day of June 2023. /s/ 11 Fernando M. Olguin 12 United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28