Robert Solis v. Doug Dretke

436 F. App'x 303
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJuly 8, 2011
Docket10-11089
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 436 F. App'x 303 (Robert Solis v. Doug Dretke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert Solis v. Doug Dretke, 436 F. App'x 303 (5th Cir. 2011).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Robert Solis, Texas prisoner # 1129261, seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) on appeal from the district court’s denial of his Rule 60(b) motion for relief from judgment. By moving for leave to proceed IFP, Solis is challenging the district court’s certification that his appeal is not taken in good faith because it is frivolous. See Baugh v. Taylor, 117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th Cir.1997); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3).

Solis argues that the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion for relief from judgment. He maintains the motion and evidence he submitted showed he was entitled to relief because the defendants made misrepresentations to the court, he provided newly discovered evidence, and he demonstrated the existence of exceptional circumstances. He contends that the district court did not consider the evidence he submitted with the motion and that the evidence he submitted contradicted findings the district court made in its order dismissing the complaint. Solis asserts that he exercised diligence in discovering the new evidence and that he could not have presented the evidence of his injuries earlier because the defendants did not treat the injuries.

Under Rule 60(b)(3), a district court may relieve a party from a final judgment for fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party. Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(3). “A party making a Rule 60(b)(3) motion must establish: (1) that the adverse party engaged in fraud or other misconduct, and (2) that this misconduct prevented the moving party from fully and fairly presenting his case.” Hesling v. CSX *305 Transp., Inc., 396 F.3d 632, 641 (5th Cir. 2005) (citation omitted). The movant must show that the opposing party engaged in misconduct by clear and convincing evidence. Id.

Solis alleged that the Martinez 1 report contained three statements that were misrepresentations: (1) that he refused medical treatment for his foot on September 14, 2004; (2) that his doctor’s appointment on September 7, 2004, was rescheduled for September 8, 2004; and (3) that he was provided medical treatment on September 6, 2004, when he was actually seen only by a nurse, not by a doctor licensed to practice podiatry. The evidence Solis submitted in support of his claim that he did not refuse treatment merely showed the existence of a factual dispute, and was insufficient to show by clear and convincing evidence that the Martinez report was fraudulent or contained misrepresentations. See Diaz v. Methodist Hosp., 46 F.3d 492, 497 (5th Cir.1995).

There was an apparently inaccurate entry in the medical records submitted with the Martinez report indicating that Solis’s doctor’s appointment on September 7, 2004, was rescheduled for September 8, 2004. However, the inaccuracy in the medical records was not used by the defendants to procure a favorable judgment and was not relied upon by the district court. Solis has not shown that the Martinez report was fraudulent or contained misrepresentations because it included an inaccurate entry in the medical reports. See Ginther v. O’Connell (In re Ginther), 791 F.2d 1151, 1153-54 (5th Cir. 1986).

The medical records indicated that Solis was seen by a nurse, not a doctor, on September 6, 2004, and the district court specifically found that Solis was seen by a nurse on September 6, 2004. Accordingly, any possible implication that Solis was seen by a doctor was not used by the defendants or relied upon by the district court. Solis has, therefore, not shown that the Martinez report was fraudulent or contained misrepresentations because it implied that he was seen by a doctor on September 6, 2004. See id. Solis has not shown that he was entitled to relief under Rule 60(b)(3).

Rule 60(b)(2) allows for relief from a final judgment based on “newly discovered evidence that, with reasonable diligence, could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b).” Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(2). “Under Rule 60(b)(2), to succeed on a motion for relief from judgment based on newly discovered evidence, our law provides that a movant must demonstrate: (1) that it exercised due diligence in obtaining the information; and (2) that the evidence is material and controlling and clearly would have produced a different result if present before the original judgment.” Hesling, 396 F.3d at 639 (quotation marks, brackets, and citation omitted).

The newly discovered evidence upon which Solis relied consisted of Harris County Sheriffs Office medical records from January and March of 1999. While Solis’s new medical records showed that he had a diagnosable foot injury in 2009, nothing in the those records showed that he was not given proper medical treatment after he was injured on September 6, 2004. The new medical records contradicted the district court’s finding that Solis did not have a substantial foot injury. The district court’s primary findings, though, were that Solis’s allegations amounted to a disagreement with the medical treatment he re *306 ceived and that Solis had not shown that any delay in receiving medical care caused him substantial harm. Nothing in the new medical records contradicted those findings. As the new medical records did not contradict the district court’s central findings, Solis failed to show that the new medical records would have clearly produced a different result, and he has, therefore, not shown that he was entitled to relief under Rule 60(b)(2). See Hesling, 396 F.3d at 640-41.

Rule 60(b)(6) is a catchall provision allowing for the granting of relief from a judgment for “any other reason that justifies relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(2). Relief under Rule 60(b)(6) is reserved for “extraordinary circumstances.” Hernandez v. Thaler, 630 F.3d 420, 429 (5th Cir.2011).

Solis’s claim for relief under Rule 60(b)(6) was based solely upon his claims of fraud and misrepresentation under Rule 60(b)(3) and of newly discovered evidence under Rule 60(b)(2). This claim fails because “[t]he reason for relief set forth under 60(b)(6) cannot be the reason for relief sought under another subsection of 60(b).” Hesling, 396 F.3d at 643.

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Bluebook (online)
436 F. App'x 303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-solis-v-doug-dretke-ca5-2011.