Opinion ID: 2972906
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Civil Proceedings

Text: On October 2, 2000, Mettetal filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against: (1) Vanderbilt University and Officer Edna Sue Pully, Officer Jennifer D.K. West, Officer Donnie Young, Lieutenant Jackson, Sergeant James Campbell, and Director Allan R. Guyet of the Vanderbilt University Department of Security, in their individual and official capacities; (2) the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (“Metropolitan Nashville”); (3) several officers of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department in their individual and official capacities (i.e., Sergeant Thomas Burke, Officer Gray, Officer on more serious charges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. 7 Bradley Putnam, Detective David Miller, Captain L.M. Miller, Lieutenant Tommy Jacobs, and five unknown Metropolitan Nashville Police Department detectives); (3) Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Special Agent J. Stephen Dickey, in his individual and official capacities; (4) David Dixon, U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of Tennessee, in his individual and official capacities; (5) Sheriff Gayle Ray, supervisor of the Metropolitan Nashville jail, in her individual and official capacities; (6) unknown employees of the Metropolitan Nashville jail; (7) attorney Patrick T. McNally, who represented Mettetal during his criminal proceedings in the Middle District of Tennessee; (8) the Harrisonburg, Virginia Police Department and several of its officers (i.e., Investigator D.W. Cox, Investigator Tom D. Hoover, Officer W.H. Frank, Officer S. Antoine, and Lieutenant W.H. Holloway), in their individual and official capacities; (9) Sergeant Ken Hutton of the MWAA Police Department, in his individual and official capacities; (10) Hilliard Hester, Assistant United States Attorney (“AUSA”) for the Middle District of Tennessee, in his individual and official capacities; (11) Davidson County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Thurman and Assistant District Attorney General Lisa Naylor, in their individual and official capacities; and (12) Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Public Information Manager Don Aaron, in his individual and official capacities. On January 8, 2001, Mettetal filed an amended complaint adding the MWAA Police Department as a party, and on March 2, 2001, Mettetal again amended his complaint, this time adding as parties: (1) AUSA Ray B. Fitzgerald of the Western District of Virginia, in his individual and official capacities; (2) the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution-Petersburg (“FCI-Petersburg”) Wardens Stephen J. DeWalt and Joseph M. Brooks and employees Janet Clark and Ricardo Bradford, in their individual and official capacities; (3) District Judge James H. Michael, Jr. of the Western District of Virginia in his individual and official 8 capacities; and (4) John Burns Earle III and Marsha Garst (Mettetal’s court-appointed attorneys in Virginia) in their individual capacities. On December 17, 2002, Mettetal filed his final amended complaint, which added as defendants: (1) U.S. Navy Captain James P. Buran of Bethesda, Maryland; (2) Dr. Ann Kelleher and Dr. Drew Richardson of the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia; and (3) John F. Hewetson and Jennifer Hager of Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland. Mettetal’s final amended complaint describes Mettetal’s suit as “a civil action for money damages brought pursuant to 42 USC sections 1983 and 1986, 18 USC sections 1983 and 1986, 18 USC section 1964(c) [the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”)], 28 USC 1346(b), and the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and under the common laws of the states of Tennessee and Virginia” and enumerates fourteen causes of action. On appeal, Mettetal challenges three district court orders that resulted in the dismissal of all defendants and all claims in Mettetal’s suit. The first order, entered on July 22, 2003, was issued by the district court sua sponte pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).2 See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) (providing that when a party proceeds in forma pauperis, “[n]otwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that — (A) the allegation of poverty is untrue; or (B) the action or appeal — (i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.”). The district court ordered all claims against District Judge James Michael, Jr., Gayle Ray, Don Aaron, the Director of the 2 When Mettetal filed his first complaint on October 2, 2000, Mettetal had not been granted in forma pauperis status, and accordingly paid a filing fee of $150 to institute this action. Mettetal filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis on November 7, 2000, and his motion was initially denied by the magistrate judge on November 9, 2000. Mettetal refiled his in forma pauperis motion on November 29, 2000, and the motion was granted by the magistrate judge on December 1, 2000. 9 Bureau of Prisons, Stephen DeWalt, Joseph Brooks, Janet Clark, and Ricardo Bradford to be dismissed with prejudice and all claims against Officer Gray and the MWAA Police Department dismissed without prejudice. The second order, entered on March 8, 2004, adopted over Mettetal’s objection the magistrate judge’s February 13, 2004 Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) with respect to various motions to dismiss. As a result, the claims against Vanderbilt University, Edna Sue Pully, Jennifer D.K. West, Donnie Young, James Campbell, Allen R. Guyet, John Jackson, Tom Thurman, Lisa Naylor, Thomas Burke, Brad Putnam, Thomas Jacobs, L.M. Miller, David Miller, the Metropolitan Nashville Government, Hilliard Hester, David Dixon, and Stephen Dickey were dismissed with prejudice, and the claims against the Harrisonburg Police Department, Tom D. Hoover, D.W. Cox, W.H. Frank, W.H. Holloway, Kenneth Hutton, Ray B. Fitzgerald, and S. Antoine were dismissed without prejudice. In its March 8, 2004 order, the district court also denied Mettetal’s motion to amend his complaint; quashed the summonses issued for the MWAA and S. Antoine; denied as moot several motions for stays of discovery; denied as moot MWAA’s motion to dismiss; and denied Mettetal’s motion for review and affirmed the magistrate judge’s order denying Mettetal’s motion for issuance of a subpoena duces tecum. The third order from which Mettetal appeals was issued by the district court on March 19, 2004. In that order, the district court adopted the magistrate judge’s March 8, 2004 R&R granted Earle and Garst’s motion to dismiss; granted McNally’s motion for summary judgment; dismissed all claims against Earle, Garst, and McNally; dismissed all claims against Kelleher, Burans, Hewetson, and Hager; dismissed all claims against Richardson; denied Mettetal’s motion for change of venue; and directed that the case be closed. 10