Thresa Lynn Williams v. Univ. of Alabama Hospital ( 2009 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
NOVEMBER 25, 2009
No. 09-11803 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 09-00211-CV-E
THRESA LYNN WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HOSPITAL AT BIRMINGHAM,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
_________________________
(November 25, 2009)
Before EDMONDSON, BIRCH and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Thresa Lynn Williams appeals pro se the dismissal of her complaint against
the University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham. The district court ruled that it
lacked jurisdiction to consider Williams’s complaint. We affirm.
Williams, a resident of Birmingham, Alabama, filed a complaint against the
Hospital. Williams alleged that she was restrained and medicated by medical staff
and admitted to the psychiatric ward after she complained of symptoms of food
poisoning. Williams complained that the Hospital was liable for her personal
injuries and committed medical malpractice, assault, 18 U.S.C. §§ 113, and
bribery, id. § 201.
The Hospital argues that Williams failed timely to appeal the judgment, but
we disagree. The district court dismissed Williams’s complaint on February 26,
2009. Because the court did not enter its judgment in a separate document as
required by Federal Rule of Evidence 58(a), Williams had 150 days, or until July
27, 2009, to appeal the judgment. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(7)(A)(ii). Williams
timely filed her notice of appeal on April 8, 2009.
The district court did not err by dismissing Williams’s complaint. Williams
complains that the Hospital committed federal offenses of assault and bribery, but
she lacks standing to bring these charges. See Linda R.S. v. Richard D., 410 U.S.
614, 619, 93 S. Ct. 1146, 1149 (1973) (“[A] private citizen lacks a judicially
cognizable interest in the prosecution or nonprosecution of another.”). The
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government, not private citizens, prosecutes crimes. Williams’s remaining
complaint is that the Hospital committed medical malpractice and caused her
personal injuries under Alabama law. The district court lacked jurisdiction to
consider that complaint because there is no diversity of citizenship between the
parties. 28 U.S.C. § 1332; see MacGinnitie v. Hobbs Group, LLC, 420 F.3d 1234,
1239 (11th Cir. 2005).
The dismissal of Williams’s complaint is AFFIRMED.
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