Johnson v. Moon

Appellate Case: 22-6001 Document: 010110690039 Date Filed: 05/27/2022 Page: 1
FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT May 27, 2022
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Christopher M. Wolpert
Clerk of Court
ANTIONE DIRAY JOHNSON,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. No. 22-6001
(D.C. No. 5:21-CV-00401-R)
ANDY MOON, (W.D. Okla.)
Defendant - Appellee.
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ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
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Before PHILLIPS, MURPHY, and EID, Circuit Judges.**
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Antione Diray Johnson appeals the denial of two motions that he filed after the
district court dismissed his complaint as untimely. Exercising jurisdiction under 28
U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
In September 2010, Johnson was convicted on five counts of robbery with a
dangerous weapon. From 2012 to 2016, he filed three motions for post-conviction
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines
of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for
its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
**
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument.
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relief in Oklahoma state court, each of which was denied. He appealed those denials
to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed.
Johnson also sought relief in federal court. In November 2014, he petitioned
for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. His petition was denied, so he
sought a certificate of appealability (“COA”) in this court, which we denied. Johnson
v. Patton, 634 F. App’x 653 (10th Cir. 2015). Johnson filed a second habeas petition
in 2017, but that was also denied. And he again requested a COA, which we denied.
Johnson v. Patton, 698 F. App’x 564 (10th Cir. 2017).
Johnson filed this action in April 2021. He sought to compel testimony from
United States Marshal Andy Moon, who Johnson alleged was at the scene during the
arrest that led to his robbery convictions. Johnson believed that Moon’s testimony
might help him establish grounds to re-open his habeas petitions.
Moon was served with Johnson’s complaint in July 2021 but never answered
it. In October 2021, the magistrate judge screened Johnson’s complaint and
recommended that it be dismissed without prejudice as untimely. The district judge
adopted that recommendation in December 2021, except that he dismissed the
complaint with prejudice. He entered a final judgment on the same day.
Johnson subsequently filed two motions, one to enforce a judgment for a
specific act under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 70, and one for leave to file a
supplemental pleading under Rule 15(d) (collectively, the “Post-Judgment Motions”).
In the latter, Johnson argued that Moon’s failure to answer his original complaint
created a new claim that had “a substantial (ancillary effect) on the untimely claim
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originally pleaded which . . . creates a different tolling [effect for the statute of]
limitations.” R. Vol. 1 at 83. And through his Rule 70 motion, Johnson asked the
court to hold Moon in contempt for failing to answer his original complaint. In
December 2021, the district court denied the Post-Judgment Motions. Johnson now
appeals.
DISCUSSION
On appeal, Johnson doesn’t challenge the dismissal of his original complaint
as untimely. His brief doesn’t address the issue, and he conceded that his complaint
was untimely in his motion to file a supplemental pleading. See R. Vol. 1 at 82
(“Plaintiff[] acknowledges [that] his original claim[] . . . has run its two-year
limitation period.”).
Johnson does challenge the district court’s denial of his motion to supplement.
We review the denial of that motion for abuse of discretion. Duncan v. Manager,
Dep’t of Safety, City and Cnty. of Denver, 397 F.3d 1300, 1315 (10th Cir. 2005).
Leave to file a supplemental pleading “should be liberally granted unless good reason
exists for denying leave, such as prejudice to the defendants.” Walker v. United
Parcel Serv., Inc., 240 F.3d 1268, 1278 (10th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted). But
whether to permit leave falls within the trial court’s sound discretion. Id.The thrust of Johnson’s supplemental pleading is that he was harmed by
Moon’s failure to answer his complaint before the magistrate judge screened and
dismissed it. But the magistrate judge acted appropriately in screening Johnson’s
complaint when it did. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), a court is tasked with reviewing
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a prisoner’s complaint “before docketing, if feasible or, in any event, as soon as
practicable after docketing.” If the court determines that a complaint is frivolous or
fails to state a claim, it must dismiss that complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). And
under § 1915(e)(2), a court must dismiss a case “at any time” if it determines that the
case is frivolous or fails to state a claim. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)–(ii). The
Supreme Court has clarified that “[a]ll this may take place before any responsive
pleading is filed.” Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 213 (2007).
Johnson’s implicit view—that defendants should have to answer before
screening occurs—conflicts with the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s goal of
efficiently filtering out non-meritorious claims. See Green v. Nottingham, 90 F.3d
415, 418 (10th Cir. 1996) (“The clear import of the Prison Litigation Reform Act . . .
is to curtail meritless prisoner litigation.”). We thus conclude that the district court
did not abuse its discretion in denying Johnson’s motion to supplement.1
We review the denial of Johnson’s Rule 70 motion for abuse of discretion.
Analytical Eng’g, Inc. v. Baldwin Filters, Inc., 425 F.3d 443, 449 (7th Cir. 2005). On
appeal, Johnson doesn’t explain how the district court abused its discretion. That
alone is grounds to decline considering the issue. See Dubbs v. Head Start, Inc., 336
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We also deny Johnson’s “Motion to Amend Supplemental Complaint 15(d).”
He filed that motion during this appeal to add a claim for punitive damages. But
Johnson didn’t request punitive damages before the district court, so he waived the
issue on appeal. See Wilburn v. Mid-South Health Dev., 343 F.3d 1274, 1281 (10th
Cir. 2003) (“An issue is waived if it was not raised below in the district court.”).
Johnson was warned of this when he filed this appeal. See Op. Br. at 1 (“New issues
raised for the first time on appeal generally will not be considered. An appeal is not a
retrial but rather a review of the proceedings in the district court.”).
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F.3d 1194, 1219 (10th Cir. 2003) (“This Court has held that issues will be deemed
waived if they are not adequately briefed on appeal.”) (quotations omitted). At any
rate, the district court did not abuse its discretion because “Rule 70 gives the district
court a discrete and limited power to deal with parties who thwart final judgments by
refusing to comply with orders to perform specific acts.” Analytical Eng’g, 425 F.3d
at 449 (emphasis added). The district court’s final judgment merely dismissed
Johnson’s complaint with prejudice. Moon hasn’t thwarted that judgment in any way.
CONCLUSION
The district court’s order is affirmed. Separately, we grant Johnson’s motion to
proceed on appeal in forma pauperis. But we remind him that he must still pay the
fees that are associated with this appeal in full, through partial payments under 28
U.S.C. § 1915.
Entered for the Court
Gregory A. Phillips
Circuit Judge
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