Blackshire v. Wackenhut Corporation

Filing 9

ORDER signed by Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 6/25/2015 DENYING 8 Plaintiff's Motion to Reopen Case. (Reader, L)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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PATRICK E. BLACKSHIRE,

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No. 2:12-cv-02568-MCE-GGH-PS

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

WACKENHUT CORP.,
Defendant.

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Through the present lawsuit, Plaintiff Patrick Blackshire, proceeding in pro se,

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sought damages against Defendant Wackenhut Corporation for excessive force. By

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Findings and Recommendations filed April 11, 2013, the assigned magistrate judge

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recommended that Plaintiff’s action be dismissed on collateral estoppel grounds, since

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Plaintiff’s claim had already been litigated and decided in Defendant’s favor in a previous

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case instituted in Sacramento County Superior Court. ECF No. 5. Plaintiff did not file

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objections to the Findings and Recommendations. On June 11, 2013, the Court adopted

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the magistrate judge’s Findings and Recommendations in full, the case was dismissed,

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and judgment was entered in Defendant’s favor. ECF No. 6.

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Now, on May 26, 2015, Plaintiff has filed a handwritten letter with the Court

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requesting that the above-referenced matter be reopened, along with three other cases

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filed by Plaintiff that were also dismissed in 2013. Plaintiff now claims he was
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incarcerated since June 20, 2013 and consequently was unable to file any of the

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necessary paperwork to reopen the cases earlier. ECF No. 8.

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The Court construes Plaintiff’s request as a motion for relief from judgment

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pursuant to Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That section allows relief

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from judgment on a number of grounds, including, as pertinent to the present claim,

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“mistake, inadvertence or excusable neglect.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(1). Because

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Plaintiff’s request was filed almost two years after entry of judgment, however, it is

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untimely. Rule 60(c)(1) requires that a motion under Rule 60(b) be made within a

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reasonable time, and in this instance had to filed no more than a year after the entry of

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judgment, or by June 11, 2014. Moreover, Plaintiff has identified no extraordinary

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circumstances making his request otherwise timely. Finally, even if his request was

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timely, Plaintiff has proffered no reason for his failure to object to the Magistrate Judge’s

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Findings and Recommendations. Those Recommendations were issued, and judgment

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was entered thereon, before Plaintiff became incarcerated on June 20, 2013.

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For all these reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion to Reopen (ECF No. 8) is DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: June 25, 2015

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