Tindle v. United States

56 Fed. Cl. 337, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 102, 2003 WL 21076980
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 30, 2003
DocketNo. 01-231C
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 56 Fed. Cl. 337 (Tindle v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tindle v. United States, 56 Fed. Cl. 337, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 102, 2003 WL 21076980 (uscfc 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

MEROW, Senior Judge.

This matter is before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In his Complaint plaintiff alleges the Army Review Board’s denial of his application for correction of his military record was arbitrary and capricious because the Board failed to consider or respond to his claims of error in his court-martial. Defendant’s motion to dismiss asserts plaintiffs Complaint is barred by res judicata because the errors of which he now complains could have been raised in his previous litigation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. The district court’s dismissal of that litigation, as an adjudication on the merits, is asserted to bar plaintiffs subsequent attempt to relitigate his grievances concerning his court-martial.

By Order filed August 22, 2001, this court sua sponte raised questions of its subject matter jurisdiction and the statute of limitations and required both parties to “... address precedent which restricts collateral review of court-martial matters to the extraordinarily narrow scope of a pure issue of constitutional law untangled with any weighing of facts and also address any issue concerning the application of 28 U.S.C. § 25011 with respect to his claim.” Order, pp. 2-3. In response thereto, plaintiff filed his Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, defendant filed its Reply, and plaintiff filed his sur-reply to which defendant replied and plaintiff responded (with this court’s leave).

For the reasons stated below, plaintiffs complaint must be dismissed pursuant to RCFC 12(h)(3) because this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs collateral attacks on his court-martial. Alternatively, plaintiffs claims are barred by res judicata and by the expiration of the statute of limitations.

[339]*339Facts

On October 22, 1993, plaintiff, a former enlisted member of the United States Army (“Army”), was convicted of the rape of his stepdaughter, indecent acts with a minor and indecent language to a minor.2 Dr. Alan Grant Getts, a physician who examined the victim, testified at trial. Following his conviction, plaintiff was sentenced to fifteen years of confinement, reduced to the rank of Private, had all pay and allowances forfeited, and was dishonorably discharged. On November 13, 1995, the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals (“ACCA”) denied plaintiffs petition for a new trial, affirming both his conviction and sentence. Supplemental Appendix, p. 4 attached to defendant’s Reply to Plaintiffs Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. During the trial, evidence was introduced that the victim tested positive for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease. Subsequent to the alleged abuse, plaintiff tested negative for the disease on two occasions. Thus, one of the issues at trial (as well as in subsequent administrative appeal and litigation), was whether plaintiff had the disease, the argument being that he did not sexually abuse the victim. On appeal plaintiff argued the military judge erred by allowing evidence and argument concerning an alleged request plaintiff made in 1987 for a chlamydia test. The ACCA described and disposed of this claimed error:

When the [plaintiff] testified on his own behalf, government counsel properly questioned him concerning his exposure to chlamydia, and attempted to impeach him with relevant documentary evidence. Government counsel provided a document marked for identification to the defense counsel and implied before the members that it was a part of the appellant’s medical record. During the impeachment process, the trial counsel made it clear before the members that the purported medical record contained a request by the appellant for a chlamydia test. Upon examining the purported medical record, the [plaintiff] flatly denied that he had ever requested a test for chlamydia and stated that the document was erroneous. The document was never received into evidence.
Later, during his closing argument, government counsel briefly referred to the unadmitted medical record as if it had been admitted into evidence. Inasmuch as the medical record was never admitted and the [plaintiff] had denied that the purported medical record was authentic or accurate, we agree with [plaintiffs] assertion that it was objectionable for government counsel to mention it in argument. However, the defense counsel did not object. Later, during his own oral argument, defense counsel rebutted the government’s argument by pointing out the complete absence of any medical evidence that the [plaintiff] was ever infected with chlamydia.

ACCA Memorandum Opinion and Action on Petition for New Trial dated November 3, 1995. App. 4-5, citations omitted.3 Plaintiffs petition for a new trial was denied and the findings of guilty and the sentence were affirmed.

Plaintiff then petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (“CAAF”) for a grant of review, which the CAAF denied on April 4, 1997. App. 87.

In January 1997, plaintiff filed suit against Dr. Getts in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Augusta Division. The case was dismissed without prejudice on October 2,1998 because plaintiff was unable to obtain service on Dr. Getts. App. 10-12.

Plaintiff filed another complaint against Dr. Getts on June 23, 1999 in the United States District Court of the Southern District of Georgia, Augusta Division, and an amended complaint on January 20, 2000 alleging Dr. Getts was negligent in his examination of the victim and in his testimony at plaintiffs court-martial. Plaintiff also asserted claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress. [340]*340As Dr. Getts was an employee of the United States Army at the time of plaintiffs court-martial, the United States was substituted as the defendant. Dr. Getts was dismissed. The government filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiff failed to meet the requirements of the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2401(b) and 2671 et seq. Under the FTCA, a claim must first be presented to the appropriate federal agency within two years of the date the claim accrued, and if the claim is not timely, filed, a federal district court has no subject matter jurisdiction over the claim. The court found that “[a]t the latest, Plaintiffs claim arose on October 22, 1993, the final day of his trial.” App. 18. As plaintiff filed his administrative claims on January 4, 2000, more than 6 years after the final day of his trial, the federal district court found it had no subject matter jurisdiction and judgment was entered in favor of the government on May 8, 2000. App. 13-19.

On March 3, 2000, plaintiff applied for correction of his military record with the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records (“ABCMR” or “Board”). In his application plaintiff argued: (1) the military judge erred in allowing Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
56 Fed. Cl. 337, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 102, 2003 WL 21076980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tindle-v-united-states-uscfc-2003.