Wilson v. Moscow

CourtDistrict Court, D. Idaho
DecidedSeptember 30, 2024
Docket3:22-cv-00421
StatusUnknown

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Bluebook
Wilson v. Moscow, (D. Idaho 2024).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

NATHAN DAVID WILSON, et al., Case No. 3:22-cv-00421-BLW Plaintiffs, MEMORANDUM DECISION v. AND ORDER

CITY OF MOSCOW, et al.,

Defendants.

INTRODUCTION Before the Court is Plaintiffs Nathan, Rory, and S.J. Wilson’s motion for reconsideration (Dkt. 31). The Court held oral argument on April 18, 2024. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny the motion for reconsideration. BACKGROUND1 This case arises out of an early morning interaction between two brothers, Rory and S.J. Wilson, and their father, Nathan Wilson, and Moscow Police officers. This interaction was instigated after the police officers responded to a

1 The Court has included only a limited background relevant to this motion. A more thorough recitation of the background of this matter is provided in the Court’s August 4, 2023 Memorandum Decision and Order, which is hereby incorporated into this decision. See Aug. 4 MDO, Dkt. 30. report that two individuals were placing stickers on signs and posts around downtown Moscow.

Following the filing of this lawsuit, the Defendants2 filed a motion to dismiss arguing, among other things, that this Court should abstain from adjudicating any of the Wilsons’ claims under the principles announced in Younger

v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971). See MTD, Dkt. 23. Eventually, the Court partially granted the City Defendants’ motion, finding that Younger abstention applied to Rory’s ongoing state court criminal prosecution. See Aug. 8 MDO, Dkt. 30. The Court also found that Nathan and S.J. Wilson’s interests were sufficiently

intertwined to warrant extending the application of Younger to their claims, even though they are not parties to the underlying criminal proceeding. Id. at 19-27. Following Younger’s guidelines, the Court dismissed the Wilsons’ claims for

injunctive and declaratory relief and stayed their claims for damages. See Id. at 27.3 On August 15, 2023, the Wilsons filed a motion for reconsideration. In their motion, the Wilsons raise two issues with this Court’s previous ruling. First, the

2 The defendants in this case are the City of Moscow, Mia Bautista, Liz Warner, Jay Waters, Shaine Gunderson, and Mitch Nunes (collectively the “City Defendants”). 3 The Court did not apply Younger to Rory’s excessive force claim. See id. at 14, n.8. Nevertheless, the parties stipulated to stay the excessive force claim until Rory’s appeals process was complete. See Dkt. 37. Wilsons contend that the Court erred by ruling that the bad faith exception to Younger does not apply to this case. See Pl.s’ Br. at 2, Dkt. 31-1 Second, the

Wilsons argue that, even if the bad faith exception is not applicable, the Court’s decision to abstain from hearing Nathan and S.J. Wilson’s claims was clear error. See id. at 6.

The City Defendants object to the Wilsons’ request for reconsideration. As a threshold argument, the City Defendants claim that reconsideration is not warranted because the motion does little more than present arguments that were not developed on the motion to dismiss. See Def.s’ Resp. at 4-5, Dkt. 43. In the

event that the Court decides to review the application of Younger to the case at hand, the City Defendants argue that Younger’s bad faith exception is inapplicable to Rory and that the Court correctly extended Younger abstention to Nathan and

S.J. Wilson. See id. at 6-14. On October 12, 2024, the Court stayed this case until the Idaho Court of Appeals resolved Rory Wilson’s appeal of his criminal conviction. See Dkt. 37. Since then, Rory has continued challenging his conviction. On April 16, 2024, the

Idaho Court of Appeals heard oral argument on Rory’s appeal. On June 25, 2024, the Idaho Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s ruling on the intermediate appeal. See State v. Wilson, No. 50802, 2024 WL 3108304, at *1 (Idaho Ct. App. June 25, 2024). Despite the significant impacts of Rory’s underlying criminal proceedings,

the parties have not provided the Court with an update regarding the status of his criminal case.4 The Court has not been advised as to whether Rory is continuing to appeal his conviction or whether he has decided to accept the Court of Appeal’s

ruling as a final determination in his case.5 Nevertheless, the Court will now address the Wilsons’ motion for reconsideration. LEGAL STANDARD The Wilsons bring their motion to reconsider under Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 54(b). See Motion, Dkt. 31. Rule 54(b) allows an order to be revised at any time under the Court’s inherent authority. City of L.A. v. Santa Monica Baykeeper, 254 F.3d 882, 885 (9th Cir. 2001); see also Cummings v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., No. 4:15-CV-00599-BLW, 2020 WL 4455110, at *1 (D. Idaho Aug. 3,

2020) (“Courts have inherent power to modify their interlocutory orders before entering a final judgment.”). A motion to reconsider an interlocutory ruling

4 In fact, the Court was not informed that the Idaho Court of Appeals had issued a ruling on Rory’s appeal. Instead, the Court has located the decision through its own research. 5 It appears that Rory has an avenue to petition the Idaho Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeal’s opinion. See Idaho App. R. 118(a)-(b). The Court, however, is unaware if Rory is pursuing a review or if the Idaho Supreme Court has already made a decision on a petition. requires an analysis of two important principles: (1) error must be corrected; and (2) judicial efficiency demands forward progress. The former principle has led

courts to hold that a denial of a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment may be reconsidered at any time before final judgment. Preaseau v. Prudential Insurance Co., 591 F.2d 74, 79-80 (9th Cir. 1979). Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

concluded that the “law of the case” doctrine “merely expresses the practice of courts generally to refuse to reopen what has been decided, not a limit to their power.” Messinger v. Anderson, 225 U.S. 436, 444 (1912). “The only sensible thing for a trial court to do is to set itself right as soon as possible when convinced

that the law of the case is erroneous. There is no need to await reversal.” In re Airport Car Rental Antitrust Litigation, 521 F. Supp. 568, 572 (N.D. Cal. 1981) (Schwartzer, J.).

The need to be right, however, must co-exist with the need for forward progress. A court’s opinions “are not intended as mere first drafts, subject to revision and reconsideration at a litigant’s pleasure.” Quaker Alloy Casting Co. v. Gulfco Indus., Inc., 123 F.R.D. 282, 288 (N.D. Ill. 1988). A motion to reconsider is

an extraordinary remedy and is not intended to provide litigants with a “second bite at the apple.” Weeks v. Bayer, 246 F.3d 1231, 1236 (9th Cir. 2001). When determining the merits of a request to reconsider an interlocutory order, both this Court and district courts throughout the Ninth Circuit are frequently guided by substantially the same standards as those used to reconsider

final orders pursuant to Rule 59(e). See Dickinson Frozen Foods, Inc. v. FPS Food Process Sols. Corp., 2020 WL 2841517, at *10 (D. Idaho June 1, 2020). Under Rule 59, reconsideration may be warranted: (1) because of newly discovered

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