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Date: 05-18-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 3:22-Cv-543
Judge: Claria Horn Boom
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Jefferson County)
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: No appearance
Description: Louisville, Kentucky pro se Plaintiff sued Defendants on a federal question theory.
Plaintiff filed her Complaint on a Court-approved form. [R. 1]. Plaintiff names as Defendants Attorney Beth Casper, Jefferson District Court Judge Jennifer Leibson, Jefferson District Court Judge Anne Delahanty, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Susan Schultz Gibson, Meadowood Management and its owner Terry, and Leasing Agent Mark Thomas. Id. at 2, 10, 19, 26, 35, 43. Plaintiff asserts federal-question jurisdiction based on alleged violations of: the “Corona Virus Act,” which the Court construes as the CARES Act; 18 U.S.C. § 371: Conspiracy to Commit Fraud; and 28 U.S.C. § 4101. Id. at 3. She also asserts additional claims against Judges Delahanty, Gibson, and Leibson in their individual capacities under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of her Fourteenth Amendment rights, “racial and pro se litigant discrimination,” and “suppression of speech.” See id. at 11. Plaintiff filed a Motion to Amend her Complaint to update “a small
portion” of the Complaint. [R. 14]. Plaintiff's Motion to Amend her Complaint is granted, and the Court will consider both h0er Complaint and Amended Complaint in conducting this initial review.
Plaintiff alleges that she is a tenant at Gagel Terrace Apartment Buildings owned by Meadowood Management and that Defendants conspired to evict her from the premises. [R. 1; R. 14]. Plaintiff asserts that Leasing Agent Mark Thomas, Terry (Owner of Meadowood Management), and their attorney Beth Casper violated § 4024(b) of the “Corona Virus Act” and 18 U.S.C. § 371: Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by threatening to evict her because she failed to pay late charges “that didn't [a]ctually accrue.” [R. 1, p. 38]. She contends that the eviction is illegal and that she made her rent payments timely. Id. She further asserts that the eviction was retaliatory because she had previously filed a state civil action against Thomas and Meadowood Management. Id. at 45.
Plaintiff alleges that during a March 8, 2021, hearing, Casper wrongfully accused Plaintiff of being disruptive and in pleadings filed in the eviction proceeding represented that Plaintiff's arguments did not make any sense. Id. at 46-47. She claims that Casper is racist and committed fraud upon the court by stating that Plaintiff had not paid any rent or late charges to Meadowood Management since December of 2020, by informing her that she had sued the wrong defendant, by misrepresenting her as “a tenant and a human being,” and by filing a “writ of possession knowingly and willfully aware that Meadowood [Management] [w]as already in the midst of selling the apt. building.” Id. at 5, 13; [R. 14, p. 1]. Plaintiff contends that this conduct violates 28 U.S.C. § 4101. [R. 1, p. 3].
Plaintiff maintains that Judges Delahanty, Leibson, and Gibson presided over various stages of the eviction proceeding in March 2021, an appeal in June 2021, and a forceable detainer hearing in December 2022. Judge Leibson also presided over a state civil action brought by Plaintiff against Thomas and Meadowood Management related to their threats of eviction in October and December of 2020. Id. at 30. Plaintiff accuses the judges of perpetrating fraud on the state court, exhibiting a lack of compassion and overt racism by permitting the eviction, and conspiring with Casper to hide the fact that the eviction was illegal. Id. at 13, 21, 30. Additionally, with respect to Judge Delahanty and Judge Leibson, Plaintiff claims that they limited how long she could speak at one or more hearings. Id. at 13, 30. Finally, Plaintiff asserts a claim against Judge Leibson for presiding over an illegal eviction on August 19, 2015. Id. at 28-29.
As relief, Plaintiff seeks monetary damages, a declaration that the actions were unlawful, and an injunction against the retaliatory eviction and the rent increase. Id. at 32, 38, 40. In her Amended Complaint, she withdrew her monetary damage claim against the judges and now seeks only declaratory and injunctive relief. [R. 14-1, p. 1; R. 14-2, p. 1; R. 14-3, p. 1].
Outcome:
For these reasons, IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. Plaintiff Angela Goodall's Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint [R. 14] is GRANTED.
2. Plaintiff Angela Goodall's Complaint and Amended Complaint [R. 1; R. 14] are DISMISSED.
3. Plaintiff's remaining motions [R. 3; R. 10; R. 11] are DENIED as moot.
4. The court will enter a separate judgment consistent with this Memorandum Opinion and Order.
Goodall v. Casper (W.D. Ky. 2023)
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: