Court Opinion

ID: 3206287
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2016-05-24 18:00:50.395726+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:03:05.447510
License: Public Domain

Case: 15-40704          Document: 00513518735              Page: 1       Date Filed: 05/24/2016

           IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
                                                                                    United States Court of Appeals

                                          No. 15-40704
                                                                                             Fifth Circuit

                                                                                           FILED
                                        Summary Calendar                               May 24, 2016
                                                                                      Lyle W. Cayce
JEROLD WILLIAMS,                                                                           Clerk

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA; SANTOS MONTEZ,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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ALEJANDRO AVILA

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

ANGEL DAVILA; TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL - JUSTICE
CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS DIVISION,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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      Case: 15-40704          Document: 00513518735              Page: 2       Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                            No. 15-40704

JOSHUA MAZIQUE BURTON

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; SANTOS O. MONTEZ; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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XAVIER COOPER

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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JULIUS TIMOTHY DAWSON

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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      Case: 15-40704          Document: 00513518735              Page: 3         Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                            No. 15-40704

JEROME DEGREE

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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NICHOLAS D. GRAVES; JOSHUA BURTON,

                                                          Plaintiffs-Appellants

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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LEON HARPER

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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      Case: 15-40704          Document: 00513518735              Page: 4         Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                            No. 15-40704

BENJAMIN D. MARTIN

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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BILLY WAYNE MORGAN

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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TROY D. RECTOR

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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      Case: 15-40704          Document: 00513518735              Page: 5         Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                            No. 15-40704

ELIAZAR M. RINCON

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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JAMES EARL SADBERRY

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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ANTONIO SHELVIN

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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                                                     5
      Case: 15-40704          Document: 00513518735              Page: 6        Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                            No. 15-40704

BENJAMIN VALLIE

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

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JOSEPH A. WHITFIELD

                                                          Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS DIVISION; ANGEL DAVILA,

                                                          Defendants-Appellees

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Southern District of Texas
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-313
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-316
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-317
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-318
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-320
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-321
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-322
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-325
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-327
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-328
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-329
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-339
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-342
                                 USDC No. 3:11-CV-346

                                                     6
     Case: 15-40704      Document: 00513518735         Page: 7    Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                      No. 15-40704

                                USDC No. 3:11-CV-347
                                USDC No. 3:11-CV-348

Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and DAVIS and GRAVES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
         Sixteen Texas state prisoners filed separate civil rights complaints in
state court against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional
Institutions Divisions (TDCJ) and Correctional Officers Santos Montez and
Angel Davila. The cases were removed to federal court and consolidated by the
district court for pretrial and, if needed, trial purposes. The district court
granted the defendants’ motions for summary judgment in part, dismissing the
claims against Officer Montez and the TDCJ. The court also dismissed the
claims as moot of ten plaintiffs no longer housed at the Terrell Unit. The
plaintiffs whose claims were dismissed as moot were identified in the court’s
memorandum opinion as Jerold Williams, Alejandro Avila, Joshua Mazique
Burton, Xavier Cooper, Benjamin Martin, Benjamin Vallie, Jr., Billy Wayne
Morgan, Jerome Degree, Leon Harper, and Eliazar M. Rincon.                        Another
plaintiff, Troy D. Rector, was dismissed based on information that he had been
killed. However, the district court denied the defendants’ motion for summary
judgment as to claims concerning Officer Davila, finding that the claims
against Davila were redressable in the event that the plaintiffs prevailed at
trial.
         On the same date as its memorandum opinion granting in part and
denying in part the motion for summary judgment, the district court entered a
“final judgment” dismissing the case with prejudice as moot based on its

         Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
         *

be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.

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    Case: 15-40704     Document: 00513518735    Page: 8   Date Filed: 05/24/2016

                                 No. 15-40704

memorandum opinions and orders. In the memorandum opinions and orders,
the district court did not dismiss the claims of plaintiffs Julius Timothy
Dawson, Nicholas D. Graves, James Earl Sadberry, Antonio Shelvin, and
Joseph A. Whitfield.
      “This Court must examine the basis of its jurisdiction, on its own motion,
if necessary.” Mosley v. Cozby, 813 F.2d 659, 660 (5th Cir. 1987). Because the
claims of five plaintiffs remain pending in the district court, we lack
jurisdiction over this appeal. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1292(a),(b); FED. R. CIV.
P. 54(b); Martin v. Halliburton, 618 F.3d 476, 481 (5th Cir. 2010); Briargrove
Shopping Ctr. Joint Venture v. Pilgrim Enters., Inc., 170 F.3d 536, 538-41 (5th
Cir. 1999).
      Accordingly, the appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

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