Estate of Brennan v. Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc. , 527 F. App'x 830 ( 2013 )

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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 12-16513
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 8:09-cv-00264-SDM-EAJ
ESTATE OF KYLE THOMAS BRENNAN, etc.,
Plaintiff,
KENNAN G. DANDAR,
DANDAR & DANDAR, P.A.,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
versus
CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG
SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC.,
DENISE GENTILE,
a.k.a. Denise Miscavige Gentile,
GERALD GENTILE,
THOMAS BRENNAN,
Defendants-Appellees,
ROBERT E. BEACH,
Defendant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(August 21, 2013)
Before HULL, MARCUS and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
This is the third appeal in this case, and this one involves only
post-final-judgment motions. Specifically, Appellant Kennan Dandar and his law
firm, Dandar & Dandar, P.A. (collectively, “Dandar”), appeal from the district
court’s denial of their post-judgment motion for emergency injunctive relief and
sanctions against Appellee Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization and
related defendants (collectively, “Scientology”). In this post-judgment motion,
Dandar sought, pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, (1) emergency
injunctive relief related to state court proceedings in which he and Scientology
were involved; and (2) sanctions against Scientology. Dandar also appeals the
district court’s order denying his motion for reconsideration of the denial of that
requested relief. After review, we affirm.
I. TWO PRIOR APPEALS
Beginning in 2009, Dandar represented the estate of Kyle Brennan and filed
this wrongful death suit in federal district court against Scientology and others
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(hereinafter referred to as the federal Brennan case). However, prior to this federal
Brennan case, Dandar had entered into a settlement agreement in an earlier,
unrelated wrongful death suit in Florida state court, in which Dandar agreed to no
longer represent parties suing Scientology. Accordingly, Dandar’s representation
of the Brennan estate appeared to violate that settlement agreement. After the state
court held Dandar in contempt for violating the settlement agreement, Dandar
unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw from representing the Brennan estate in this
federal case, an attempt that resulted in the federal district court issuing an
injunction against the state court contempt proceedings.
In the first appeal, we reversed the district court’s order imposing the
injunction against the state court proceedings, Estate of Brennan v. Church of
Scientology Flag Serv. Org., 645 F.3d 1267, 1277 (11th Cir. 2011) (“Brennan I”),
cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 1557 (2012), and Dandar was eventually permitted to
withdraw nunc pro tunc from representing the Brennan estate in further
proceedings in the federal Brennan case. The district court later granted summary
judgment in favor of Scientology, and we affirmed in 2012. Estate of Brennan v.
Church of Scientology Flag Serv. Org., Inc., 490 F. App’x 229, 230 (11th Cir.
2012).
The Florida state court contempt proceedings against Dandar continued,
however. As a result of orders entered in these state court proceedings, in
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December 2012 Dandar filed a motion in the now-closed federal Brennan case for
a new injunction and for sanctions against Scientology, pursuant to the All Writs
Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651. The district court denied Dandar’s motion, stating that
(1) it did not retain any jurisdiction in the now-closed Brennan case, (2) no other
basis for exercising jurisdiction existed, and (3) granting an injunction would also
violate this Court’s Brennan I decision, which held that the district court could not
enter precisely the injunction against the state court proceedings that Dandar
sought. Dandar moved for reconsideration, which the district court denied. 1
II. THIRD APPEAL
After review of the record and briefs, we find no reversible error in the
district court’s denial of Dandar’s post-judgment motion for injunctive relief and
sanctions against Scientology. Additionally, because the district court properly
denied Dandar’s post-judgment motion and recognized that it was bound by our
mandate not to enjoin the state court contempt proceedings, it did not abuse its
discretion in denying Dandar’s motion for reconsideration. 2
1
Whether a district court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a matter is a question of
law we review de novo. Holston Invs., Inc. B.V.I. v. Lanlogistics Corp., 677 F.3d 1068, 1070
(11th Cir. 2012). We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s denial of a motion for
reconsideration. Sanderlin v. Seminole Tribe of Fla., 243 F.3d 1282, 1285 (11th Cir. 2001).
2
“Appellee’s Designation of Additional Items to Be Included in Record on Appeal” and
“Appellee’s Motion to Include Within the Record Documents Previously Filed Under Seal,”
construed as motions to supplement the record on appeal, are DENIED AS MOOT.
Appellants’ “Motion to File Out of Time Appellants’ Response to Appellee’s Motion for
Damages for Frivolous Appeal” is GRANTED. “Appellee’s Motion for Damages for Frivolous
Appeal” is DENIED.
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AFFIRMED.
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