Source: http://www.drjudywood.com/articles/NIST/Wood_motion_reconsider.shtml
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 15:13:47+00:00

Document:
Jerry V. Leaphart & Assoc., P.C.
Trautenberg v. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP et al.
Plaintiff, Dr. Judy Wood, (plaintiff), by her attorney, Jerry V. Leaphart of Jerry V. Leaphart & Assoc, P.C., hereby moves this court, under and pursuant to F.R.Civ.P. 59(e) and L.Civ.R. 6.3, for reconsideration of the Memorandum Decision and Order (Memorandum Decision) issued on June 26, 2008, (copy annexed as Exhibit A) that granted defendants' motions to dismiss with prejudice.
"None of plaintiffs' asserted legal claims can withstand defendants' motions to dismiss."
dismiss purposes, to be true.1 Even more glaringly fundamental to this assertion of misapprehension of plaintiff s claim is the fact that the document that is specifically incorporated into the complaint that gave rise to plaintiffs assertions of fraud and that constitutes the very essence of the "information" upon which her status as a qui tam relator is based is not mentioned, not referenced, not even acknowledged to exist anywhere in the Memorandum Decision. This refers to plaintiffs' Request for Correction filed with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on March 16, 2007.
"The focus of the NIST investigation was on the sequence of events "from the instance of aircraft impact to the initiation of collapse for each tower."
That aspect of what NIST did is a part of the fraud. The claim is that it is clear that in curtailing the investigation to timeframes where no aspect of the forensic information that plaintiff has articulated was considered, confirms both fraud and it also confirms that it is not logically possible to say plaintiff herein relied on "publicly disclosed" information. NCSTARl did not analyze what happened to the Twin Towers precisely because the investigation - all 10,000 pages of it - does not deal with the event itself. Defendants know that and defendants engaged in fraud, thereby. This is a "willful indifference" case.
1On a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), Fed.R.Civ. P., "[t]he plaintiff bears the burden of proving subject matter jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence." Aurecchione v. Schoolman Transp. System, Inc., 426 F.3d 635, 638 (2d Cir. 2005). However, a court must "accept as true all material factual allegations in the complaint," Shipping Fin. Servs. Corp. v. Drakos, 140 F.3d 129, 131 (2d Cir. 1998) (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S. Ct. 1683, 40 L. Ed. 2d 90 (1974)), but refrain from "drawing from the pleadings inferences favorable to the party asserting [jurisdiction]," APWU v. Potter, 343 F.3d 619, 623 (2d Cir. 2003) (citation omitted).
Accordingly, therefore, the Memorandum Decision does not show how the conclusion ÷ "[n]one of plaintiffs' asserted legal claims can withstand defendants' motions to dismiss" ÷ could possibly have been reached absent mention of them and absent acknowledgement of their being materially true. Indeed, the quoted language of the Memorandum Decision constitutes the opposite; namely: the rejection of plaintiffs' facts - those that are among the precious few that are even mentioned, let alone assessed, still less considered to be true. Thus misapprehension is demonstrated.
The posture of this case arises in a context where for motion to dismiss purposes, allegations contained in plaintiffs complaint are to be accorded great weight and deemed to be true.2 Yet, those allegations, and the voluminous substantiating information that plaintiff filed and relied on are not at all mentioned or acknowledged in the Memorandum Decision.
It is well settled and understood that an F.R.Civ.P Rule 59(e) motion for reconsideration is appropriate when "the Court has patently misunderstood a party, or has made a decision outside the adversarial issues presented to the Court by the parties, or has made an error not of reasoning but of apprehension. A further basis for a motion to reconsider would be a controlling or significant change in the law or facts since the submission of the issue to the Court." Bank of Waunakee v. Rochester Cheese Sales, Inc., 906 F.2d 1185, 1191 (7th Cir. 1990), (quoting Above the Belt, Inc. v. Mel Bohannan Roofing, Inc., 99 F.R.D. 99, 101 (E.D. Va. 1983)).ÊÊ Rule 59(e) relief is also appropriate when a legal error has been committed due to inadvertence or misapprehension. See Waunakee, 906 F.2d_at 1191-92 (quoting Belmont v.
Barb. 637, 641 (N.Y. Sup. 1869) (Cardozo, J.)). Otherwise, ignoring properly preserved legal error timely brought to the district court's attention after the entry of judgment would put the parties through the unnecessary expense and delay of having to appeal the case to get the error corrected. Divane v. Krull Electric Co., 194 F.3d 845, 850 (7th Cir. 1999) (quoting Moro v. Shell Oil Co., 91 F.3d 872, 876 (7th Cir. 1996)).
Thus, a "Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend a judgment properly may be used to ask a district court to reconsider its judgment and correct errors of law." United States Labor Party v. Oremus, 619 F.2d 683, 687 (7th Cir. 1980). Accord Danenberger v. Johnson, 821 F.2d 361, 363 (7th Cir. 1987); Reich v. Local 1, American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1118, 1994 WL 33971 *1 (N.D. 111. Feb. 4, 1994). See also Ray E. Friedman & Co. v. Jenkins, 824 F.2d 657, 660 (8th Cir. 1987) (Rule "59(e) provides a means 'to support reconsideration [by the court] of matters properly encompassed in a decision on the merits.' White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, 455 U.S. 445, 451, 71 L. Ed. 2d 325, 102 S. Ct. 1162 (1982). Under Rule 59(e) the court may reconsider issues before it, see id., and generally may examine the correctness of the judgment itself"). However, while a Rule 59(e) motion is a proper procedure for bringing to the court's attention legal errors in the proceedings, relief is not appropriate if the issue was not properly raised during the proceedings.
It is also acknowledged that Rule 59(e) motions are more likely to be granted if the issue is that of a change in the law that may not have been taken into consideration by the decision at hand. See Trautenberg v. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP et a! 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30625 (SDNY) (GBD).
C) At a bare minimum, removal of language from the Memorandum Decision that goes far beyond that which is necessary for purposes of rendering a decision in this case, and/or which concerns issues that are not properly before this court.
because she was the author of those documents and therefore had to have knowledge prior to the public filing of them.
The essential fact giving rise to the claim of misapprehension is that the Memorandum Decision makes no reference whatsoever to the plaintiffs RFC, let alone does it address the content thereof. Thus, a fundamental misapprehension is clearly demonstrated to have occurred.
At a bare minimum, and in order to place this case in proper perspective for appeal, it is crucial that the record reflect what the plaintiff, Dr. Judy Wood, claims, versus the polar opposite thereof.
"Plaintiffs theorize that what actually occurred was that the Twin Towers disintegrated after being struck by the United States Military's secret laser-like weapon." Memorandum Decision pg. 4.
3Rockwell Intl Corp. v United States, 127 S. Ct. 1397, 167 L. Ed. 2d 190, (2007).
their claim that the towers were struck by high powered energy beams." Memorandum Decision pg. 8.
A search reveals that plaintiff did not use the expression "high powered energy beams." The above quotes clearly entail a fundamental misapprehension of plaintiff, Dr. Judy Wood's complaint, because, among other reasons, the Memorandum Decision makes no reference whatsoever to the fact that plaintiff filed a Request for Correction (RFC) dated March 16, 2007, together with additional supplements filed thereafter, to which NIST replied on July 27, 2007 and on January 10, 2008, all of which, collectively, comprise the "information" upon which her status as either an original source for FCA purposes or a relator who need not qualify as an original source because she is the author of the disclosed information and her standing as having "direct and independent" information are based. Plaintiff, Dr. Judy Wood's said information - her RFC - are nowhere mentioned in the Memorandum Decision. This bears some emphasis here because the source of her information, her RFC, is simply not at all taken in consideration, much less accorded veracity, as it must, in the context of a motion to dismiss. Instead, the Memorandum Decision went so far as to dispute plaintiffs contentions. That is not the court's function in a motion to dismiss.
"The sufficiency of the pleadings is determined by examination of the complaint, the exhibits attached thereto, and matters incorporated by reference therein. Other independent submissions made by the defendants, with regard to the jurisdictional challenge, were not considered in assessing the legal adequacy of the complaints"
By virtue of that language, it is clear that Dr. Judy Wood's RFC must, of necessity, be considered an integral part of the complaint and the information relied on for purposes of jurisdiction under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. €3729 et seq. (FCA). Not only that, the allegations are to be deemed true.
"The allegations in plaintiffs' complaints are based entirely on information made publicly available through NIST's administrative investigation, the administrative report resulting therefrom (z.e.NCSTAR 1), a prior civil action and various media accounts." Memorandum Decision pg. 7.
Their personal hypothesis about what should be concluded from publicly disclosed information does not qualify either of them as an original source of information in order to sustain an individual FCA claim on behalf of the Government. See, Kreindler, 985 F.2d at 1159; see also, New York Med. Coll., 252 F. 3d at 121-22." Memorandum Decision pg. 8.
To state a FCA claim, plaintiffs must sufficiently allege the defendants knowingly presented a false or fraudulent claim; knowingly made or used a false record or statement to get a fraudulent claim paid; or knowingly made or used a false record or statement to decrease their obligation to pay the Government. The theory of plaintiffs' lawsuit is that the defendants violated the FCA because they were not entitled to any renumeration for the services they rendered to NIST since NIST ultimately failed to conclude, consistent with plaintiffs' hypothesis, that the Twin Towers was destroyed by the military's directed energy weapons." Memorandum Decision pg. 10.
Plaintiff simply has not been heard.Ê She did not rely on a "personal hypothesis;"
refer to her RFC as "her personal hypothesis" and thus there was absolutely no basis for the court to have done so; especially since, as indicated, for motion to dismiss purposes her claims are to be deemed true.
To be sure, plaintiff has stated that the defendants herein are aware, by virtue of their involvement in areas of specialty that are directly related to the manufacture, development and testing of DEW, of the lethal effects associated with their use, and/or their involvement and testing of the effects of fire or fire prevention. The plaintiffs claims are, then, in the nature of forensic science where she articulated an abundance of effects that could only be explained by DEW and not fire. When that set of facts is added to the fact that the defendants are knowledgeable about such weapons and their effects and also knowledgeable concerning the properties of fire, the elements of fraud are not only clear and palpable, they are entirely different from the way this court characterized her claims.
That merits reconsideration so that, at a minimum, what she has actually claimed should be properly referenced in the court's decision and findings. As things now stand, the Memorandum Decision does not address plaintiffs claims. This assertion follows from the fact that, among others, there is no connection between the court's articulation of the "original source" doctrine and the actual "information" upon which plaintiffs qui tam case is based. Dr. Judy Wood filed an RFC with NIST on March 16, 2007 and that is her "information."
Her complaint plainly confirms this characterization by the exact content of paragraphs 7 through 12 of her complaint.
It may be that plaintiffs complaint was not clear enough in this respect. For instance, it is true that plaintiff made a reference, based upon "information and belief," that DEW are and remain highly classified, secret instrumentalities of the military apparatus of the Armed Forces of the United States of America." That was not, however, an allegation of who did what, nor was it intended to convey any such claim. To the extent that that language may have led to the misapprehension hereinabove articulated, the proper remedy would be dismissal without prejudice so as to make sure the defendants know what they're being charged with having done.
It is respectfully submitted, however, that the defendants do know what they are charged with, all as was more fully elaborated on in, among other documents, the Affirmation of the undersigned (Docket # 90), which not only indicated clearly what this case is about, it also confirmed that defendants know what they are called upon to defend.
thus far not received, it would result in the denial of defendants' motions to dismiss. At a bare minimum, and in order to avoid the time and expense of an appeal on this issue, the Memorandum Decision requires reconsideration. This is the purpose of a Rule 59(e) motion, at its most fundamental level.
It has already been acknowledged in behalf of plaintiff that we know that the claims made in her case have a capacity to be startling. However, she still deserves to be properly understood and to have her claims addressed for what they actually are, and not otherwise.
"According to plaintiffs, the evidence demonstrates that the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers was caused by a United States secret military "directed energy weapon."
That claim is inaccurate. Plaintiff makes no assertion whatsoever about whether or not the directed energy weapons (DEW) that were used to destroy the World Trade Center (WTC) are, in fact, those of the United States military, secret or otherwise. Plaintiff does not say who destroyed the WTC. Plaintiffs case is a forensic evaluation of what destroyed the WTC and it arises in the context of challenging NIST's findings and the manner in which the contractors, the defendants herein, engaged in fraudulent work. Clearly, then, there exists, at present, a fundamental misapprehension in that plaintiff makes no claim at all about who perpetrated the destruction of the WTC.
"They contend that the NCSTAR 1 report constitutes a "fraudulent document," in that it conceals the true cause for the collapse of the Twin Towers. "
a. NIST and the contractors undertook a years long fraudulent scheme wherein and whereby millions of dollars were spent on obfuscation.
b. The final product NCSTARl was a 10,000 page tome that purported by its title and by NIST's mandate to describe why and how the Twin Towers' collapsed". Yet NIST admitted to plaintiff that it did not investigate the actual collapse, let alone analyze the destruction of the WTC.
c. The Twin Towers were destroyed by DEW.
d. The defendants are experts in the effects of DEW, directly or indirectly.
e. Nondisclosure that DEW destroyed the WTC was either overtly fraudulent or the result of willful blindness.
United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a field just outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, or the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia."
The quoted language in fact represents a misapprehension of plaintiff s case. Her claim is based on forensic science concerning the cause of destruction of the World Trade Center complex. The quoted language is utterly out of place with respect to plaintiffs claims. Note, too, that footnote 7 is obviously not a part of this case or of plaintiff's claim. Yet, by including footnote 7, the depth of the court's misapprehension of plaintiffs actual claim is further revealed.
"Such an argument, based solely on publicly available information, could no more support a federal lawsuit to advance an alternative theory regarding the assassination of President Kennedy, or whether men ever actually landed on the moon."
It is here asserted that the quoted language serves no purpose in this case and is not at all a part of the framework of what plaintiff alleges. In fact, the quoted language is consistent with the perception that plaintiff herein is engaging in what is pejoratively referred to as "conspiracy theory."ÊÊÊ Once again, this is not a case involving allegations of "who" destroyed the WTC. As such, this case, on its face, is not one claiming to involve "a conspiracy". That is not what this case is about and it is considered unfortunate that the case may be viewed that way. However, by virtue of not assessing the actual information upon which this case is based, it is a little more understandable how plaintiff and her claims could have been perceived as involving conspiracy claims. It does no such thing. The misapprehension cries out for correction sooner rather than later.
"In their respective complaints, plaintiffs allege that defendant Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. ("UL") "overtly suppressed [Jinformation [from NIST] by terminating the services of one of its employees, Kevin Ryan, who called attention to [the] incongruity of causal explanation." (Wood, Am. Compl. ]}39; Reynolds Compl. If37). Prior to the commencement of the cases at bar, Kevin Ryan filed suit against UL, claiming he was wrongfully discharged because he had sent an e-mail to NIST indicating that: UL had conducted WTC related metallurgical testing; the official explanation for the destruction of the WTC was not supported by a scientific analysis of the evidence; and there was substantial evidence that all three buildings collapsed from explosive devices. (Ryan v. Underwriters Lab., Inc., No. 06-1770 (S.D.Ind. filed Nov. 16, 2006). Thus the information at the heart of the Wood and Reynolds litigation "was publicly disclosed because it was available to anyone who wished to consult the [Ryan] court file.: Kreindler, 985 F.2d at 1158.
It is true that the plaintiffs complaint mentions "Kevin Ryan", however, that factual recital is not a part of plaintiff s "information" or claim, as such. Moreover, by calling attention to that paragraph of plaintiff s complaint, while simultaneously ignoring altogether the salient portions of what her information actually consists in, it merely confirms, in this additional particular, that plaintiff has been misapprehended.Ê Similarly the Memorandum Decision states that plaintiff relied on "newspapers". That is fundamental misapprehension. Plaintiff did not "rely" on newspapers and this allegation is not sourced in the Memorandum Decision.
"Plaintiffs have pled no factual allegations to support a reasonable inference that defendants knowingly sought payment from the government to which they were not entitled."
By virtue of not referencing plaintiffs actual information and actual claims of fraud, the quoted statement lacks a necessary foundation and is further evidence of the clear need for reconsideration of this case.
"Plaintiffs have not only failed to comply with the liberal pleading standards applicable to a consideration of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), they have also failed to meeting the stricter pleading standard under Fed.RCiv.P. 9(b)"
Plaintiff adequately addressed the Rule 9(b) issues in her responsive pleadings to the motion to dismiss. The court's reasoning cannot be said to have properly addressed that reasoning because of the exclusion of the actual information upon which plaintiffs claims of fraud are based.
Moreover, the proper remedy for a lack of particularity would certainly include a dismissal without prejudice so as to afford an opportunity to provide those particulars. However, as noted in plaintiffs submittals, the defendants' herein are corporate defendants and they have dominion and control over the information from which additional particulars could be found. It was also noted that their claims for particularity did not prevent them from actually and formally "answering" plaintiffs claims, thus putting paid to the claim they needed additional particulars.
"A belief, no matter how incredible, that the WTC was destroyed using secret exotic weaponry, does not give rise to even a colorable claim for relief. All plaintiffs, as well as the attorney for the plaintiff here, are hereby warned that filing further successive untenable actions may result in the imposition of monetary or other serious sanctions."
It is respectfully submitted that based on the fundamental misapprehension of plaintiff's claims, as articulated hereinabove, the quoted portion of Footnote 19 should be deleted from the court's Memorandum Decision. The plaintiff is a materials engineering scientist who articulated in forensic detail the nature of her claims. Her actual claims were not mentioned by the court, hence the quoted portion of footnote 19 has no actual application to her. Moreover, the quoted portion of footnote 19 utterly eradicates all semblance of compliance with motion to dismiss protocol whereby, as noted above, a court must "accept as true all material factual allegations in the complaint," Shipping Fin. Servs.Corp. v. Drakos, 140F.3d 129, 131 (2d Cir. 1998) (citing Scheuerv. Rhodes. 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S. Ct. 1683, 40 L. Ed. 2d 90 (1974)), but refrain from "drawing from the pleadings inferences favorable to the party asserting [jurisdiction]," APWU v. Potter, 343 F.3d 619, 623 (2d Cir. 2003) (citation omitted). Instead, the court has basically rejected plaintiffs forensic work, even without specifically referring to that work as the basis of her "information". The quoted part of footnote 19 clearly establishes that plaintiff merits the reconsideration she has requested.
questionable since the basic requirement to treat plaintiffs claim as true has been openly breached.
For all of the reasons set forth herein, this is a case that cries out for the granting of plaintiff s motion for reconsideration in its entirety; or, at a minimum, to change the "with prejudice" outcome to one of "without prejudice." At a bare minimum, the decision should be corrected to remove all of the inaccuracies mentioned herein so as to pave the way for an orderly appeal.
?I hereby certify that on July 11, 2008, a copy of the foregoing Motion was filed electronically and served by mail on anyone unable to accept electronic filing. Notice of this filing will be sent by email to all parties by operation of the Courts electronic filing system or by mail to anyone unable to accept electronic filing as indicated on the Notice of Electronic Filing. Parties may access this filing through the Courts CM/ECF System.
June 26, 2008, George B. Daniels, United States District Judge, New York, New York.

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