FI L ED

U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T Sept. 1, 2009

THOMAS K. KAH

N

CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

N o

. 0 8

- 1 5 0 2 9

N o n

- A r g u m e n t C a l e n d a r

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 8

- 1 4 1 6 9

- C V

- D L G

J O S E P H A R U A N N O

,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t

,

v e r s u s

M A R T I N C O U N T Y S H E R I F F

,

e t a l

. ,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l e e

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t

f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( S e p t e m b e r 1

, 2 0 0 9 )

B e f o r e C A R N E S

, B A R K E T T a n d W I L S O N

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.

P E R C U R I A M :

J o s e p h A r u a n n o , a p r o s e c i v i l d e t a i n e e , a p p e a l s t h e d i s m i s s a l o f h i s 4 2

U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 8 3 c i v i l r i g h t s c o m p l a i n t a l l e g i n g a F o u r t h A m e n d m e n t v i o l a t i o n f o rw r o n g f

u l i m p r i s o n m e n t a n d a F o u r t e e n t h A m e n d m e n t D u e P r o c e s s v i o l a t i o n f o r

d e n i a l o f a c c e s s t o t h e c o u r t s

. O n a p p e a l

, A r u a n n o a r g u e s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t

e r r e d i n d i s m i s s i n g h i s w r o n g f u l i m p r i s o n m e n t c l a i m a s t i m e

- b a r r e d b e c a u s e h i s

s t a t u s a s a p r i s o n e r e n t i t l e d h i m t o t o l l i n g o f t h e s t a t u t e o f l i m i t a t i o n s

. A r u a n n o

a l s o a r g u e s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d i n d i s m i s s i n g h i s d e n i a l o f a c c e s s t o t h e

c o u r t s c l a i m b e c a u s e h i s c o m p l a i n t a d e q u a t e l y a l l e g e d s u c h a c l a i m

.

W e r e v i e w d e n o v o a n a p p e a l f r o m a 2 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 1 5 ( e ) ( 2 ) ( B ) ( i i ) s u a

s p o n t e d i s m i s s a l f

o r f a i l u r e t o s t a t e a c l a i m u p o n w h i c h r e l i e f m a y b e g r a n t e d

,

t a k i n g a l l f

a c t u a l a l l e g a t i o n s a s t r u e

. H u g h e s v

. L o t t

, 3 5 0 F

. 3 d 1 1 5 7

, 1 1 5 9

- 6 0 ( 1 1 t h

C i r

. 2 0 0 3 )

. T h e s a m e s t a n d a r d s o f F e d e r a l R u l e o f C i v i l P r o c e d u r e 1 2 ( b ) ( 6 ) a l s o

g o v e r n § 1 9 1 5 ( e ) ( 2 ) ( B ) ( i i ) d i s m i s s a l s

. M i t c h e l l v

. F a r c a s s , 1 1 2 F

. 3 d 1 4 8 3

, 1 4 9 0

( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 7 )

. “ P r o s e p l e a d i n g s a r e h e l d t o a l e s s s t r i n g e n t s t a n d a r d t h a n

p l e a d i n g s d r a f

t e d b y a t t o r n e y s a n d w i l l

, t h e r e f o r e , b e l i b e r a l l y c o n s t r u e d

. ”

T a n n e n b a u m v

. U n i t e d S t a t e s , 1 4 8 F

. 3 d 1 2 6 2

, 1 2 6 3 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 8 )

.

P u r s u a n t t o 2 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 1 5

, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t s h a l l d i s m i s s a c a s e f i l e d i n

f o r m a p a u p e r i s “ a t a n y t i m e i f t h e c o u r t d e t e r m i n e s t h a t

. . . t h e a c t i o n o r a p p e a l

. . .

f a i l s t o s t a t e a c l a i m u p o n w h i c h r e l i e f m a y b e g r a n t e d

. . . . ” 2 8 U

. S

. C

.

§ 1 9 1 5 ( e ) ( 2 ) ( B ) ( i i )

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t m a y d i s m i s s a c o m p l a i n t f o r f a i l u r e t o s t a t e

a c l a i m w h e n i t a p p e a r s t h a t t h e p l a i n t i f f h a s l i t t l e o r n o c h a n c e o f s u c c e s s , i

. e

. ,

w h e n t h e c o m p l a i n t o n i t s f a c e m a k e s c l e a r l y b a s e l e s s a l l e g a t i o n s o r r e l i e s o n l e g a l

2t h e o r i e s t h a t a r e i n d i s p u t a b l y m e r i t l e s s

. C a r r o l l v

. G r o s s , 9 8 4 F

. 2 d 3 9 2

, 3 9 3 ( 1 1 t h

C i r

. 1 9 9 3 ) ( c i t i n g N e i t z k e v

. W i l l i a m s , 4 9 0 U

. S

. 3 1 9

, 3 2 7

, 1 0 9 S

. C t

. 1 8 2 7

, 1 8 3 2

,

1 0 4 L

. E d

. 2 d 3 3 8 ( 1 9 8 9 ) )

.

A c a u s e o f a c t i o n f

o r a § 1 9 8 3 c l a i m a c c r u e s w h e n “ t h e p l a i n t i f f s k n o w o r

s h o u l d k n o w ( 1 ) t h a t t h e y h a v e s u f f e r e d t h e i n

j u r y t h a t f

o r m s t h e b a s i s o f t h e i r

c o m p l a i n t a n d ( 2 ) w h o h a s i n f l i c t e d t h e i n

j u r y

. ” C h a p p e l l v

. R i c h

, 3 4 0 F

. 3 d 1 2 7 9

,

1 2 8 3 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 3 )

. I n F l o r i d a , t h e s t a t u t e o f l i m i t a t i o n s p e r i o d f o r § 1 9 8 3

c l a i m s i s f

o u r y e a r s

. I d

.

W i t h r e s p e c t t o A r u a n n o ’ s f i r s t i s s u e o n a p p e a l

, t h e r e i s n o d i s p u t e t h a t

A r u a n n o f

i l e d h i s w r o n g f

u l i m p r i s o n m e n t c l a i m w e l l b e y o n d t h e F l o r i d a ’ s f o u r

y e a r s t a t u t e o f l i m i t a t i o n s p e r i o d

. H i s s t a t u s a s p r i s o n e r , s t a n d i n g a l o n e , d o e s n o t 1

e n t i t l e A r u a n n o t o t o l l i n g u n d e r F l o r i d a l a w , n o r d o e s t h e r e c o r d r e v e a l a n y

l e g i t i m a t e r e a s o n t o e q u i t a b l y t o l l t h e s t a t u t e o f l i m i t a t i o n s i n t h i s c a s e

. 2

The imprisonment that forms the ba sis of this lawsuit occurre d in 1994, when Ar uanna 1 spent approximately

30 day s in Martin County J ail. He did not file his § 1983 suit until 2008.

Florida law does a llow for tolling in ce rtain instance s, Fla. Stat. § 95.051, but that list is 2 exhaustive, id. § 95.051(2); Hea rndon v. Gra

ham, 767 So.2d 1179, 1185 (Fla . 2000). I n Florida

, equitable tolling ma

y be ava ilable when the re is no misconduct on be half of the defe ndants and “may delay the running of the limitations period based on the pla intiff' s blameless ig noranc e and

the lack of

prejudice to the defe ndant.” Ma jor L eag ue B aseba ll v. Morsani, 790 So.2d 1071, 1077 n.11 (F la. 2001). I t may also be used when “a

plaintiff has be en misled or lulled into

inaction and ha s in some ext raor dinary way been pr evente d from asse rting his rights.” Alachua County v. Chesire, 603 So.2d 1334, 1337 (F la. 1992). Ne verthe less, “[equitable] toll ing is a n extraordinary

reme dy which should be e x tended only sparing ly .” Just ice v. United States, 6 F .3d 1474, 1479 (11th Cir.1993).

3A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d i d n o t e r r i n d i s m i s s i n g t h e w r o n g f u l i m p r i s o n m e n t

c l a i m a n d w e a f

f i r m

.

T u r n i n g t o A r u a n n o ’ s s e c o n d c l a i m , a n i n d i v i d u a l ’ s r i g h t o f a c c e s s t o t h e

c o u r t s i s p r o t e c t e d b y t h e D u e P r o c e s s C l a u s e o f t h e F o u r t e e n t h A m e n d m e n t

. S e e

T e n n e s s e e v

. L a n e , 5 4 1 U

. S

. 5 0 9

, 5 2 3

, 1 2 4 S

. C t

. 1 9 7 8

, 1 9 8 8

, 1 5 8 L

. E d

. 2 d 8 2 0

( 2 0 0 4 )

. H o w e v e r , p l a i n t i f f s m u s t s h o w a c t u a l i n

j u r y b y d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h a t t h e i r

e f f o r t s t o p u r s u e a n o n f

r i v o l o u s c l a i m w e r e f

r u s t r a t e d o r i m p e d e d b y a n o f f i c i a l ' s

a c t i o n

. B a s s v

. S i n g l e t a r y , 1 4 3 F

. 3 d 1 4 4 2

, 1 4 4 5 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 8 )

.

A r u a n n o h a s f

a i l e d t o a l l e g e a n y s e t o f f a c t s t h a t s h o w s h o w s t a t e o f f i c i a l s

p r e v e n t e d o r d e t e r r e d h i m f r o m p u r s u i n g h i s a c t i o n i n c o u r t

. I n d e e d

, A r u a n n o

a l l e g e s j u s t t h e o p p o s i t e : t h a t h e h a d b e e n a c t i v e i n p u r s u i n g h i s c l a i m d e s p i t e t h e

a l l e g e d a c t i o n s b y s t a t e o f f i c i a l s

. A l t h o u g h A r u a n n o d e s c r i b e s c e r t a i n c o n d u c t b y

h i s f o r m e r l a w y e r a s o b s t r u c t i v e , t h e l a w y e r w a s n o t a s t a t e o f f i c i a l

. T h e r e f

o r e ,

A r u a n n o h a s f

a i l e d t o s t a t e a c l a i m f

o r w h i c h r e l i e f c a n b e g r a n t e d

. T h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t c o r r e c t l y d i s m i s s e d A r u a n n o ’ s c o m p l a i n t p u r s u a n t t o 2 8 U

. S

. C

. §

1 9 1 5 ( e ) ( 2 ) ( B ) ( i i )

.

U p o n r e v i e w o f t h e r e c o r d

, a n d c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e p a r t i e s ’ b r i e f s , w e

a f f i r m

.

A F F I R M E D

4