Cassise v. Brnovich ( 2021 )

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Louis Joseph Cassise, No. CV-20-00633-PHX-MTL 10 Petitioner, ORDER 11 v. 12 Mark Brnovich, et al., 13 Respondents. 14 15 Before the Court is Petitioner’s Motion for Reconsideration and Review of the 16 Entire Record De Novo (the “Motion”) (Doc. 26). Petitioner first filed a Petition for Writ 17 of Habeas Corpus in July 2015. (Doc. 19 at 2.) Judge Paul G. Rosenblatt adopted the 18 Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) and dismissed the petition 19 without prejudice. (Id.) Petitioner then filed an Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas 20 Corpus. (Id. at 3.) Judge John J. Tuchi adopted the Magistrate Judge’s R&R and 21 dismissed this amended petition with prejudice. (Id.) Petitioner appealed that dismissal 22 but was denied a Certificate of Appealability by the Ninth Circuit. (Id.) 23 Petitioner then filed an Amended Petition in this Court, which was his third federal 24 habeas proceeding. (Doc. 7.) Magistrate Judge Michael T. Morrissey issued an R&R in 25 July 2020 recommending that Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction 26 be granted and Petitioner’s Amended Petition be dismissed. (Doc. 19.) Magistrate Judge 27 Morrissey also recommended that this Court grant a Certificate of Appealability to the 28 United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as to whether a second or successive 1 habeas petition may be filed. (Id.) This Court adopted the R&R, which granted 2 Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction and dismissed the Amended 3 Petition. (Doc. 24.) The Court also adopted the R&R’s recommendation to grant a 4 Certificate of Appealability. (Id.) The Clerk of the Court then entered judgment and 5 closed the case. (Doc. 25.) 6 On April 9, 2021, almost seven months after this Court’s decision, Petitioner filed 7 the instant Motion. (Doc. 26.) Motions for reconsideration should be granted only in rare 8 circumstances. Defs. of Wildlife v. Browner, 909 F. Supp. 1342, 1351 (D. Ariz. 1995). A 9 motion for reconsideration is appropriate where the district court “(1) is presented with 10 newly discovered evidence, (2) committed clear error or the initial decision was 11 manifestly unjust, or (3) if there is an intervening change in controlling law.” Sch. Dist. 12 No. 1J, Multnomah Cnty. v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 1263 (9th Cir. 1993). Such 13 motions should not be used for the purpose of asking a court “‘to rethink what the court 14 had already thought through – rightly or wrongly.’” Defs. of Wildlife, 909 F. Supp. at 15 1351 (quotations omitted). A motion for reconsideration “may not be used to raise 16 arguments or present evidence for the first time when they could reasonably have been 17 raised earlier in the litigation.” Kona Enters., Inc. v. Estate of Bishop, 229 F.3d 877, 890 18 (9th Cir. 2000). Nor may a motion for reconsideration repeat any argument previously 19 made in support of or in opposition to a motion. Motorola, Inc. v. J.B. Rodgers Mech. 20 Contractors, Inc., 215 F.R.D. 581, 586 (D. Ariz. 2003). 21 Petitioner’s Motion was filed several months late and he has not shown good 22 cause to excuse this delay. See LR Civ 7.2(g). Thus, the Court will deny the untimely 23 motion for reconsideration. See Combs v. Arizona, No. CV-06-2011-PHX-DGC, 2008 24 WL 1994911, at *1 (D. Ariz. May 6, 2008) (denying untimely motion for reconsideration 25 where good cause had not been shown). Even if this Court considered the Motion, it 26 improperly repeats many of the same arguments that Petitioner previously made. 27 Petitioner has not presented the Court with any newly discovered evidence, has not 28 shown the Court committed clear error, and has not identified any change in controlling 1 || law. The Court therefore denies Petitioner’s Motion. 2 Accordingly, 3 IT IS ORDERED denying Petitioner’s Motion for Reconsideration and Review 4|| of the Entire Record De Novo (Doc. 26). 5 Dated this 14th day of April, 2021. 6 ’ Wichal T. Hburde 8 Michael T. Liburdi 9 United States District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _3-