Filed: Sep. 24, 2013
Latest Update: Mar. 28, 2017
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-1705 DONALD L. MORRISON, Plaintiff – Appellant, v. GEORGE E. B. HOLDING; DAVID CORTES; WAYNE R. MYERS; DENNIS DUFFY; S. KATHERINE BURNETTE; GEORGE B. CURRIN; STEVEN WEST; VAUGHAN WINBORNE, JR., Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Terrence W. Boyle, District Judge. (7:12-cv-00253-BO) Submitted: September 12, 2013 Decided: September 24
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-1705 DONALD L. MORRISON, Plaintiff – Appellant, v. GEORGE E. B. HOLDING; DAVID CORTES; WAYNE R. MYERS; DENNIS DUFFY; S. KATHERINE BURNETTE; GEORGE B. CURRIN; STEVEN WEST; VAUGHAN WINBORNE, JR., Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Terrence W. Boyle, District Judge. (7:12-cv-00253-BO) Submitted: September 12, 2013 Decided: September 24,..
More
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-1705
DONALD L. MORRISON,
Plaintiff – Appellant,
v.
GEORGE E. B. HOLDING; DAVID CORTES; WAYNE R. MYERS; DENNIS
DUFFY; S. KATHERINE BURNETTE; GEORGE B. CURRIN; STEVEN
WEST; VAUGHAN WINBORNE, JR.,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Terrence W. Boyle,
District Judge. (7:12-cv-00253-BO)
Submitted: September 12, 2013 Decided: September 24, 2013
Before WILKINSON, DUNCAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Donald Morrison, Appellant Pro Se. Joshua Bryan Royster, OFFICE
OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina; David
Stebbins Coats, John Thomas Crook, BAILEY & DIXON, Raleigh,
North Carolina; Paul Faison Winborne, WINBORNE LAW OFFICE,
Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Donald Morrison appeals the district court’s order
dismissing his complaint. In 2006, Morrison was found guilty on
numerous counts of fraud arising from his company’s business
distributing food stamps for North Carolina counties in the
1990s. Morrison was also convicted for failure to appear at his
sentencing. In his complaint, Morrison asked the district court
to vacate his convictions and to assess damages against the
attorneys who represented him and several other attorneys at the
United States Attorney’s Office for North Carolina who had any
involvement in his prosecution. This was not Morrison’s first
attempt to vacate his conviction or seek damages from these
Defendants; Morrison has previously filed at least four
post-conviction civil actions in the Eastern District of North
Carolina alone on the same subject matter. However, only one
resulted in a dismissal on the merits. On appeal, Morrison
largely reiterates his claims below, a narrative account that
largely reargues the facts of his criminal case. We affirm.
We conclude that the district court lacked subject
matter jurisdiction over Morrison’s state malpractice claims
against Vaughn Winborne and George Currin. 1 That the alleged
1
We decline to affirm the district court’s dismissal on res
judicata grounds because, although Morrison’s previous action
was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds, it was also
(Continued)
2
malpractice occurred during a federal criminal case does not
confer federal question jurisdiction. See Hays v. Bryan Cave,
LLP,
446 F.3d 712, 713-14 (7th Cir. 2006). Nor does Morrison
establish total diversity of citizenship between the parties.
See 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (2006). Finally, because we conclude that
Morrison’s remaining claims are meritless, supplemental
jurisdiction over his state law claims is not warranted. See 28
U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3) (2006) (permitting dismissal of pendent
state law claims upon dismissal of federal claims); United Mine
Workers of Am. v. Gibbs,
383 U.S. 715, 726 (1966) (recognizing
that when “federal claims are dismissed before trial, . . .
state claims should be dismissed as well”).
With regard to Morrison’s claims against the
governmental Defendants, we affirm for the reasons stated by the
district court. The district court construed Morrison’s claims
as a Bivens 2 action. To the extent that Morrison sues the
governmental Defendants in their official capacities, his claims
are barred by sovereign immunity. See F.D.I.C. v. Myer, 510
dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Pizlo v.
Bethlehem Steel Corp.,
884 F.2d 116, 119 (4th Cir. 1989) (“When
a dismissal is based on two determinations, one of which would
not render the judgment a bar to another action on the same
claim, the dismissal should not operate as a bar.”).
2
Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of
Narcotics,
403 U.S. 388 (1971).
3
U.S. 471, 484-86 (1994); Consejo de Desarrollo Economico de
Mexicali, A.C. v. United States,
482 F.3d 1157, 1173 (9th Cir.
2007) (“[A] Bivens suit against a defendant in his or her
official capacity would merely be another way of pleading an
action against the United States, which would be barred by the
doctrine of sovereign immunity.”). To the extent Morrison sues
the governmental Defendants in their personal capacities, his
claims are barred because his convictions have not been
expunged, overturned, or otherwise declared invalid. See
Heck v. Humphrey,
512 U.S. 477, 486-87 (1998). See also
Robinson v. Jones,
142 F.3d 905, 906-907 (6th Cir. 1998)
(applying Heck to a Bivens action); Abella v. Rubino,
63 F.3d
1063, 1065 (11th Cir. 1995) (same).
Accordingly, we affirm. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the material before this court and argument will
not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
4