Redding v. Lee

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 21, 2025
Docket6:25-cv-00891
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Redding v. Lee, (M.D. Fla. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA ORLANDO DIVISION

ANNA M. REDDING,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 6:25-cv-891-PGB-NWH

MICHAEL D. LEE; AT&T INC.; DAREN J. DORMINY; MORAN KIDD P.A.; JUDGE JAMES CRANER; AND CHIEF JUDGE MARGARET SCHREIBER;

Defendants.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION This matter is before the undersigned pursuant to a sua sponte review of the operative Complaint (Doc. 1) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). For the reasons discussed below, the undersigned respectfully recommends that the Complaint be dismissed with prejudice with respect to the judicial Defendants, and otherwise without prejudice. I. BACKGROUND This case is one of several filed by the Plaintiff arising out of alleged misconduct that she claims occurred in a state court case. Plaintiff was involved in a car accident on May 26, 2021, with Defendant Michael D. Lee. (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 4, 10). Lee was an employee of Defendant AT&T at the time of the accident. (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 5, 10). Plaintiff sued Lee and AT&T on February 23, 2023, in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, in case number 2023-CA-1577-O (the “First State Court Action”). Defendants Daren J. Dorminy, Esq. and the law firm Moran Kidd P.A. represented Lee and AT&T in the First State Court Action. (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 6-7). Defendant Judge James Craner was the presiding Judge in the First State Court Action. (Doc. 1, ¶ 8).

The case was proceeding as normal until January 31, 2024, when Dorminy “attempted to contact Judge Craner” during a deposition. (Doc. 1, ¶ 11). Dorminy filed a motion the next day “improperly referencing his direct contact with Judge Craner.” (Doc. 1, ¶ 12). It all went downhill for the Plaintiff from there. Judge Craner “granted 100% of defense motions, denied 100% of Plaintiff’s motions, sealed critical

filings without hearing, and ultimately dismissed the [First State Court Action] with prejudice” on March 6, 2024. (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 11-13). The Complaint postulates that the alleged ex parte communication biased Judge Craner against the Plaintiff and that bias alone was responsible for her legal woes. The docket in the case tells a different story.1 According to a motion for protective order

filed by Dorminy in the First State Court Action on February 1, 2024, Plaintiff unliterally walked out of her deposition after an hour and refused to return. Dorminy attempted to call Judge Craner to obtain an emergency ruling but was unable to reach

1 In deciding whether to dismiss a case, a court may judicially notice information about a state case from the state court’s database. See Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, 713 F.3d 1066, 1075 n.9 (11th Cir. 2013) (taking judicial notice of court documents from a state eviction action at the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) stage); Boyd v. Georgia, 512 F. App’x 915, 917 (11th Cir. 2013) (finding the district court properly judicially noticed on its own motion the online record of a related state-court criminal proceeding as the basis for dismissing plaintiff’s civil rights complaint under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971)); Crenshaw v. City of Defuniak Springs, No. 3:13cv50/MCR/EMT, 2014 WL 667689, at *3 n.1 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 20, 2014) (collecting cases). him. First State Court Action, Motion for Protective Order, filed February 1, 2024, at 5.2 Plaintiff did not dispute that she walked out of her deposition, but claimed in response that she was suffering from excruciating pain and was unable to continue.

First State Court Action, Response to Motion for Protective Order, filed February 2, 2024, at ¶¶ 7. No mention of any ex parte communication was made in the response to the motion for protective order. See id. The court held a hearing on the matter on February 5, 2024, and issued an order granting the motion on February 6, 2024. First State Court Action, Order Granting Defendants’ Emergency Motion for Protective

Order and Compelling Plaintiff’s Attendance at Resumed Deposition, filed February 6, 2024. Judge Craner ordered the Plaintiff to complete her deposition within 14 days but permitted her to sit for 45-minute periods of questioning with 30-minute breaks in between. Id. The court also required Plaintiff to reimburse the defense’s reasonable

attorneys’ fees and costs. It does not appear from the record that Plaintiff’s deposition was ever completed. Plaintiff’s lawyer moved to withdraw as her counsel the next day in light of “irreconcilable differences.” First State Court Action, Motion to Withdraw as Counsel for Plaintiff, Anna M. Redding, filed February 7, 2024. Unhappy with that result, and at that point proceeding pro se, Plaintiff sent

several letters to the court accusing Judge Craner and Dorminy of bias and filed several motions accusing Defendant Dorminy of misconduct and attempting to vacate the

2 The Deposition Transcript filed on the docket the next day supports this version of the events. See Deposition of Anna M. Redding, filed February 2, 2024, at pp. 46-47; see also Doc. 1-1 at 3. order of dismissal—all of which were denied by Judge Craner.3 Plaintiff also appealed the dismissal of the First State Court Action, which was dismissed by the Sixth District Court of Appeal in case number 6D2025-1113.

Undeterred, Plaintiff filed a new case, pro se, against Lee, AT&T, Dorminy, and Moran Kidd P.A., in case number 2024-CA-8849-O (the “Second State Court Action”).4 The complaint in that case is based entirely on Dorminy’s conduct in the First State Court Action. Second State Court Action, Complaint, filed October 4, 2024. In that complaint, Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that Dorminy was

hostile during a deposition, made misrepresentations about her medical condition to the court, and otherwise defamed her. Id. The Second State Court Action was originally assigned to Defendant Chief Judge Margaret Schreiber, but was transferred, or as the instant Complaint calls it “redirected,” to Judge Craner who “denied it

without a hearing.” (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 14-15). The instant Complaint asserts seven counts against the six named Defendants: Count I, “Violation of Civil Rights” pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Count II, “Conspiracy to Deprive Civil Rights” pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1985; Count III, “Failure to Prevent Civil Rights Violations” pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1986; Count IV,

“Denial of Access to Courts and Right to Self-Representation” pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

3 These numerous, apparently frivolous, filings prompted Judge Craner on May 6, 2025, to direct the clerk of court not to accept additional filings from the Plaintiff unless filed by an attorney or until otherwise ordered by the Court. First State Court Action, Order Granting AT&T’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Action to Set Aside Judgment.

4 Plaintiff also sued her lawyer from the First State Court Action, in case number 2024-CA- 8852-O.That case is still pending. § 1654; Count V, “Fraud on the Court”; Count VI, “Judicial Misconduct and Abuse of Process”; and Count VII, “Retaliation and Discrimination Against Disabled Litigant.” (Doc. 1).

II. LEGAL STANDARD Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

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