Opinion ID: 483247
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Pertinent Pretrial Rulings

Text: 7 Defendants moved to dismiss the action on various grounds, including failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, res judicata or collateral estoppel on account of the State Court Judgment dismissing plaintiffs' earlier action, and the statute of limitations. In a series of orders issued over a span of more than eight years, the district court dismissed so much of the complaint as sought relief directly under the Constitution and under state law, but ruled that the complaint stated claims under Sec. 1983 upon which relief could be granted and it found that these claims were not precluded by the State Court Judgment. It initially dismissed plaintiffs' RICO claims for failure to allege a sufficient connection between the challenged conduct and interstate commerce, but it later reinstated these claims. 8 The court held that plaintiffs' claims under both RICO and Sec. 1983 were governed by a three-year statute of limitations and that the running of the statute had not been tolled. Accordingly, it ruled that claims that accrued prior to December 14, 1973, were barred. Finding that Landi's individual claims had accrued prior to December 14, 1973, the court summarily dismissed those claims. 9 The court ordered that the trial be bifurcated between liability and remedy issues. In light of the statute-of-limitations rulings, the liability trial was to focus on defendants' conduct beginning January 1, 1973. 10 Prior to commencement of the trial on liability, the district court ordered that a final judgment (1979 Judgment) be entered pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) on the claims it had dismissed, and it certified other questions for immediate appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(b). This Court, concluding that the dismissed claims were too closely related to the claims that remained pending, and observing that the district court had not given any reason for its view that judgment should be entered immediately, dismissed the appeal from the 1979 Judgment on the ground that the Rule 54(b) certification had been an abuse of discretion and that the 1979 Judgment was not properly a final judgment under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. Cullen v. Margiotta, 618 F.2d 226 (2d Cir.1980) (per curiam). In addition, we denied leave to appeal the orders certified pursuant to Sec. 1292(b); and we dismissed still other attempted appeals as improper under either Sec. 1291 or Sec. 1292.