Opinion ID: 760509
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appellate Jurisdiction in the First Case.

Text: 9 1. The Effect of a Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice. The Tribe argues that a voluntary dismissal without prejudice of a remaining defendant under Rule 41(a)(1)(i) does not render a previous order finally dismissing other defendants immediately appealable. We disagree. First, we note that this contention presumes the case has ended in the district court, yet the Tribe offers no suggestion as to when the order dismissing it would be appealable. In other words, the Tribe seeks the windfall of complete freedom from appellate review because the State failed to dismiss UniStar with prejudice. A less equitable position is hard to imagine. 10 Second, the Tribe relies primarily upon cases from other circuits holding that a voluntary dismissal of the claims pending against a defendant must be with prejudice to render final and appealable a previous order dismissing other claims against the same defendant. See Chappelle v. Beacon Commun. Corp., 84 F.3d 652, 654 (2d Cir.1996); Horwitz v. Alloy Automotive Co., 957 F.2d 1431, 1435-36 (7th Cir.1992). But see Division 241 Amalgamated Transit Union v. Suscy, 538 F.2d 1264 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1029, 97 S.Ct. 653, 50 L.Ed.2d 632 (1976). These cases further the well-entrenched policy that bars a plaintiff from splitting its claims against a defendant. But this policy does not extend to requiring a plaintiff to join multiple defendants in a single lawsuit, so the policy is not violated when a plaintiff unjoins multiple defendants through a voluntary dismissal without prejudice. See 8 MOORE'S FEDERAL PRACTICE p 41.33[g][i] (3d ed.1998). Moreover, our court has never adopted the rule applied in Chappelle and Horwitz. Indeed, in Chrysler Motors Corp. v. Thomas Auto Co., 939 F.2d 538 (8th Cir.1991), we upheld appellate jurisdiction after the parties agreed to dismiss without prejudice the only claims remaining against the defendant. 11 In Johnston v. Cartwright, 344 F.2d 773, 774 (8th Cir.1965), plaintiff appealed the dismissal of one defendant after voluntarily dismissing the remaining two defendants without prejudice by court order under Rule 41(a)(2). We held the dismissal order became final and appealable when the other defendants were voluntarily dismissed from the lawsuit. The Tribe's contention that Johnston should not apply equally to voluntary dismissals as of right under Rule 41(a)(1)(i) is unpersuasive. Either type of voluntary dismissal leaves the action in the same posture as if suit had never been brought against the dismissed defendant. 1 12 2. Did the District Court's Order Invalidate the State's Voluntary Dismissal? Having concluded a Rule 41(a)(1)(i) dismissal normally makes a prior interlocutory dismissal order final and appealable, we must determine whether the district court's order properly invalidated the State's voluntary dismissal. A voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(i) must be filed before service by the adverse party of an answer or of a motion for summary judgment. Here, UniStar's Rule 12(b)(6) motion papers included matters outside the State's pleading, namely, copies of the Tribal Code and U.S. Lottery Internet pages stating tribal sovereign immunity was not waived. Long after it ruled on the motion, the district court concluded this automatically converted the motion to one for summary judgment, and it declared the State's voluntary dismissal untimely and invalid. The Tribe argues we have no jurisdiction because the State's claims against UniStar are therefore still pending. 13 The problem with this contention is that the district court took its action after the State filed its notice of appeal. Once a notice of appeal is filed, the district court is divested of jurisdiction over matters on appeal. See Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co., 459 U.S. 56, 58, 103 S.Ct. 400, 74 L.Ed.2d 225 (1982); Liddell v. Board of Educ., 73 F.3d 819, 822 (8th Cir.1996). For example, while an appeal is pending, the district court may not reexamine or supplement the order being appealed. See 20 MOORE'S FEDERAL PRACTICE § 303.32[a][ii] & n. 15. This jurisdictional principle is not absolute. To prevent parties from using frivolous appeals to delay or interrupt proceedings in the district court, that court does not normally lose jurisdiction to proceed with the case when one party appeals a non-appealable order. Id. at § 303.32[b][iv][B] & cases cited. However, appellate jurisdiction is primarily an issue for the appellate court. Therefore, if an appeal is taken from an interlocutory order and the issue of appealability is in doubt, the district court should stay its hand until we resolve the issue of our jurisdiction, or remand for further clarification of that issue. See Johnson v. Hay, 931 F.2d 456, 459 n. 2 (8th Cir.1991). 14 In this case, the district court did not treat the Rule 12(b)(6) motions as motions for summary judgment nor give both parties the opportunity to present additional summary judgment materials, as Rule 12(b) requires. On appeal, no party suggests the district court improperly relied upon disputed factual matters outside the pleadings in granting the Tribe's motion to dismiss--the State challenges the ruling on the merits, and the Tribe simply wants to recast the ruling so as to deprive us of jurisdiction. 2 In this circuit, Rule 12(b)(6) motions are not automatically converted into motions for summary judgment simply because one party submits additional matters in support of or opposition to the motion. See Martin v. Sargent, 780 F.2d 1334, 1336-37 (8th Cir.1985). Some materials that are part of the public record or do not contradict the complaint may be considered by a court in deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. See Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 268 n. 1, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986); Hollis v. United States Dep't of Army, 856 F.2d 1541, 1543-44 (D.C.Cir.1988). Thus, when filed, the State's Rule 41(a)(1)(i) voluntary dismissal of UniStar was facially valid. 15 The State's facially valid voluntary dismissal of UniStar gave this court apparent jurisdiction over the State's appeal from the prior orders dismissing the Tribe and refusing to remand. The question of appellate jurisdiction is fundamental to an appeal. 3 If the Tribe or UniStar wished to challenge the validity of the Rule 41(a)(1)(i) voluntary dismissal, they should have come to this court, not the district court, asking us to dismiss the appeal, or to remand if they believed that clarification from the district court would be helpful. Therefore, the district court's July 1998 order purporting to recast its prior dismissal order so as to divest this court of appellate jurisdiction was beyond the district court's jurisdiction and is void. The Tribe asserts no other basis for its challenge to our jurisdiction, and the State's voluntary dismissal is facially valid. Therefore, the Tribe's motion and amended motion to dismiss the State's appeal in the first case are denied. 16