Fernandez-Aviles et al v. Miranda-Aviles

Filing 10

OPINION AND ORDER dismissing this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Signed by Judge Gustavo A. Gelpi on 6/14/2012.(TC)

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1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO 2 3 4 ROLANDO FERNANDEZ-AVILES, 5 Plaintiff, 6 v. 7 8 Civil No. 12-1463 (GAG) ELMER O. MIRANDA-AVILES, et al., Defendants. 9 OPINION AND ORDER 10 11 This case must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The complaint states that Rolando 12 Fernandez-Aviles (“Plaintiff”) is a United States citizen currently residing in Venezuela. (See 13 Docket No. 1 at ¶ 1.) The defendants in this case, Elmer O. Miranda-Aviles and Puerto Rico 14 Surgical Technologies, Inc. (collectively “Defendants”) are both citizens of Puerto Rico for diversity 15 purposes. (See id.) When invoking this court’s diversity jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1332, there must 16 be complete diversity between all plaintiffs and all defendants. 17 Opportunities Fund, L.P. v. Mehrotra, 661 F.3d 124, 126 (1st Cir. 2011). In order to demonstrate 18 complete diversity, Plaintiff must demonstrate that he is a citizen of one of the fifty states or of 19 Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, or another territory. See 28 U.S.C. 1332(e) (“The word 20 “States”, as used in this section, includes the Territories, the District of Columbia, and the 21 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.”) United States citizens, who do not reside in any state as defined 22 by the statute, are citizens of no state and their stateless status destroys complete diversity. See 23 Zwirn, 661 F.3d at 126 (citing Newman–Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo–Larrain, 490 U.S. 826, 829 (1989)). 24 In this case, Plaintiff admittedly is a United States citizen residing in Venezuela. Therefore, this 25 court does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the controversy. Plaintiff must pursue this action in 26 state court. This court expresses no opinion on the merits of the claims; nor the injunctive relief 27 sought. 28 See D.B. Zwirn Special Civil No. 12-1463 (GAG) 2 1 2 SO ORDERED. 3 In San Juan, Puerto Rico this 14th day of June, 2012. 4 S/Gustavo A. Gelpí 5 GUSTAVO A. GELPÍ 6 United States District Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

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