Opinion
Case No. CV415-145
12-18-2015
MICHEAL A. BRIGHT, Plaintiff, v. CORIZON HEALTH CORPORATION, et al. Defendants.
ORDER
Inmate Micheal (not Michael) A. Bright, proceeding pro se, brings this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 lawsuit over the medical care he received inside the Chatham County, Georgia jail. Doc. 1 at 5. While there, he says, he "was given medication by a nurse employee of Corizon Health, Inc. (nurse Simmons) that was the direct cause of my heart flatlining 3 (three) times and having me hospitalized for 17 (seventeen) day[s]. . . ." Id. Bright "hold[s] the employer . . . responsible for nearly taking my life away from me!" Id. He seeks $3 million. Id. at 6.
There are Michael (not Micheal) A. Bright lawsuits on this Court's docket. Attached are pre-digital-docket sheets for Bright v. Chatham Cnty Jail, MC497-045, doc. 6 (S.D. Ga. June 9, 1997) (case dismissed); Bright v. Savannah Police Dept., CV495-080, doc. 7 (S.D. Ga. May 17, 1995) (dismissing civil rights case as "legally frivolous"); and Bright v. Chatham County Sheriff, CV495-074, doc. 35 (S.D. Ga. Mar. 25, 1996) (summary judgment to defendant, plaintiff's case dismissed).
In 1998 the Court digitized its filings (years later, this enabled E-filing). Prior year filings thus cannot be accessed without expensively retrieving them from the Federal Records Center. Short of that, one can gather what occurred in non-digitized cases by reading only the docket entries within them. Those entries summarize rulings made within court decisions. That is the case for the pre-1998 cases noted here.
In this lawsuit Micheal A. Bright used a standard § 1983 form complaint. Question 1(B) asked him, "[w]hile incarcerated in any facility, have you brought any lawsuits in federal court which deal with facts other than those involved in this action?" Doc. 1 at 2. Bright checked "no." Id. Question 1(C) asked whether he suffered any dismissals in IFP actions "on the ground that [such were] frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a claim?" He checked "no" again. Id. at 3.
The veracity of these answers are especially significant because serial filers who seek IFP status face the three-strikes rule of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), as illuminated in Owens v. Morales, 2015 WL 5040245 at * 1 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 25, 2015) and Williams v. Freesemann, 2015 WL 6798946 at * 1 (S.D. Ga. Oct. 15, 2015). That provision states:
In no event shall a prisoner bring a civil action or appeal a judgment in a civil action or proceeding under this section if the prisoner has, on 3 or more prior occasions, while incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an action or appeal in a court of the United States that was dismissed on the grounds that it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) (emphasis added).
Bright's incentive to omit his prior case information is strong because of the § 1915(g) three-strike bar. If he is the same Michael A. Bright as the litigant who brought those cases, then it would also support the reasonable inference that he changed the spelling of his first name to thwart the Court's § 1915(g) detection efforts (binary computer systems can omit prior cases if a name is off by just one letter).
A warning to Bright: Lying manipulation is not tolerated here. Willis v. Brown, CV412-209, 2012 WL 6016834 at * 1 (S.D. Ga. Dec. 23, 2012) ("Charles Anthony Willis, a 1915(g) three-striker, has once again lied to a judicial tribunal. Accordingly, his case should be dismissed for abusing the judicial process."), adopted, 2012 WL 6553919 (S.D. Ga. Dec. 12, 2012), aff'd, CV412-209, doc. 39 at 6 (11th Cir. July 30, 2013) ("[T]he District Court did not abuse its discretion when it dismissed Mr. Willis's complaint as a sanction for violating Rule 11 's prohibition against filing false pleadings.").
Furthermore, liars may be prosecuted. See United States v. Dickerson, CR608-36, doc. 1 (S.D. Ga. Dec. 11, 2008) (§ 2255 movant indicted for perjury for knowingly lying in his motion seeking collateral relief from his conviction); id., doc. 47 (guilty verdict), cited in Colony Ins. Co. v. 9400 Abercorn, LLC, 866 F. Supp. 2d 1376, 1378 n. 2 (S.D. Ga. 2012) (collecting sanction cases).
The Court therefore ORDERS Bright to show cause why this case should not be dismissed for lying to this Court. See Shelton v. Rohrs, 2010 WL 5122580 at * 1 (11th Cir. Dec. 15, 2010) (upholding dismissal for misleading the court and noting that "[e]ven if Shelton did not have access to his materials, he would have known that he filed multiple previous lawsuits"); McClain v. Nelson, 2011 WL 675030 at * 2 (S.D. Ga. Feb. 3, 2011), adopted, 2011 WL 674894 (S.D. Ga. Feb. 17, 2011).
This is a well-traveled road:
The district court in Hines v. Thomas also uncovered, inter alia, prior case concealment, and that figured into that court's ruling that the plaintiff had engaged in "conduct that courts have deemed abusive, and for which, courts have imposed the double sanction dismissing the action without prejudice and counting the dismissal as a strike on the ground of being malicious." 604 Fed.Appx. 796, 798 (11th Cir. 2015). The Hines appellate panel did not disagree with that misconduct assessment but ruled that the district court went too far. Id. at 800 (with prejudice dismissal of prisoner's case was an abuse of discretion, lesser sanction to be considered on remand, where inmate was "certainly negligent in failing to inform the court of his litigation history, [but] his actions as a whole d[id] not present a clear record of willful misconduct."). Even at that, a "without prejudice" dismissal likely would not have been reversed. Id. ("Had the dismissal truly been without prejudice to re-filing, the district court likely would not have abused its discretion in dismissing the action.").
If Bright insists that another Michael A. Bright filed those prior cases, then he must declare that under penalty of perjury. Hence, he must return, within 21 days of the date this Order is served, his Show Cause Declaration (using the attached Statement form). On it he must clearly print his full name, especially his first name, and confirm whether he has used different forms of it (and if so, what they were) in the past. Finally, he must (as he has usefully done with his latest Complaint, doc. 1 at 1 & 7) furnish his inmate number next to his signature, and do so in any future cases or appeals that he may file.
SO ORDERED, this 18th day of December, 2015.
/s/ _________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MICHEAL A. BRIGHT'S SHOW CAUSE DECLARATION
MY COMPLETE LEGAL NAME IS (PRINT CLEARLY):
__________ OTHER NAMES I HAVE USED IN THE PAST, INCLUDING ANY ALIASES (PRINT CLEARLY): __________ MY PREVIOUS LAWSUITS (CAPTION OF CASE, INCLUDING CASE NUMBER AND COURT(S) IN WHICH EACH CASE WAS FILED) (PRINT CLEARLY): __________ __________
I AM SHOWING CAUSE WHY THIS LAWSUIT SHOULDNOT BE DISMISSED (PRINT CLEARLY):
__________ Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746 , I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct and that this was placed in my prison's mailing system on __________, 201___. Cross out the wrong spelling:
Cross out the wrong spelling:
/s/_________
Micheal A. Bright
Michael A. Bright Bright v. Chatham County Jail, et al
Assigned to: Judge B. Avant Edenfield
Demand: $0 Date Filed: 04/15/1997
Date Terminated: 06/09/1997
Nature of Suit: 0 zero
Jurisdiction: 0 Plaintiff
Michael A. Bright represented by Michael A. Bright
9401 Dunwoody Drive
Savannah, GA 31406
PRO SE V. Defendant
Chatham County Jail Defendant
Gary R. Blake Defendant
Officer Martha Lucas
| Date Filed | # | Docket Text |
|---|---|---|
| 04/15/1997 | CASE assigned to Judge B. Avant Edenfield (nmt) (Entered: 04/17/1997) | |
| 04/15/1997 | CASE REFERRED to Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith (nmt) (Entered: 04/17/1997) | |
| 04/15/1997 | 1 | AFFIDAVIT by Michael A. Bright Re: IFP (nmt) (Entered: 04/17/1997) |
| 04/21/1997 | 2 | ORDER directing Plaintiff to advise the Court as to whether or not he wishes toproceed pursuant to PRLA ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copiesserved. (lsg) (Entered: 04/21/1997) |
| 05/07/1997 | 3 | MOTION by Michael A. Bright for dismissal (nmt) (Entered: 05/07/1997) |
| 05/15/1997 | 4 | REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS of Magistrate Judge G. R. Smithrecommending that plaintiff's case be dismissed. Case no longer referred toMagistrate Judge G. R. Smith Objections to R and R due by 6/2/97 (dks)(Entered: 05/16/1997) |
| 05/15/1997 | 5 | ORDER directing Clerk to serve copies of R/R upon plaintiff and counsel for thedefendant ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copies served. (dks)(Entered: 05/16/1997) |
| 06/09/1997 | 6 | ORDER adopting Magistrate's R & R as the opinion of this Court; case isDISMISSED. ( signed by Judge B. Avant Edenfield ); copies served. (lsc)(Entered: 06/09/1997) |
| 06/09/1997 | Case closed (lsc) (Entered: 06/09/1997) | |
| 07/31/2000 | Record transferred to the FRC. Group #021, Accession # 00 0542, Box # 3 of 5,Location # 4-010-85-4-9 (bcw) Modified on 6/27/2007 (Hill, Mary Anne).(Entered: 07/31/2000) |
Assigned to; Judge B. Avant Edenfield
Demand: $0
Cause: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights Date Filed: 04/11/1995
Date Terminated: 05/17/1995
Jury Demand: None
Nature of Suit: 550 Prisoner: Civil
Rights
Jurisdiction: Federal Question Plaintiff
Michael Anthony Bright represented by Michael Anthony Bright
EF-344352
Post Office Box 7150
Garden City, Ga 31418
PRO SE V. Defendant
Savannah Police Department Defendant
David Gellatly
Chief of Police Defendant
Officer Kendricks
| Date Filed | # | Docket Text |
|---|---|---|
| 04/10/1995 | 1 | AFFIDAVIT by Michael Anthony Bright Re: In Forma Pauperis (lsc) (Entered:04/11/1995) |
| 04/11/1995 | 2 | ORDER granting [1-1] affidavit for in forma pauperis ( signed by MagistrateJudge G. R, Smith ); copies served. (lsc) (Entered: 04/11/1995) |
| 04/11/1995 | 3 | COMPLAINT filed nunc pro tunc 04/10/95 (lsc) (Entered: 04/11/1995) |
| 04/11/1995 | CASE REFERRED to Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith (lsc) (Entered: 04/11/1995) | |
| 04/21/1995 | 4 | REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS of Magistrate Judge G. R. Smithrecommends action be dismissed as legally frivolous. Case no longer referred to |
| Magistrate G.R. Smith. Objections to R and R due by 5/1/95 (dks) (Entered:04/24/1995) | ||
| 04/21/1995 | 5 | ORDER serving copy of R/R on plaintiff by Clerk of Court with objections filedwith Clerk not later than May 8, 1995. ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R.Smith ); copies served. (dks) (Entered: 04/24/1995) |
| 05/17/1995 | 6 | ORDER adopting Magistrate's R&R as opinion of the Court; case is dismissed.( signed by Chief Judge B, Avant Edenfield ); copies served. (lsc) (Entered:05/17/1995) |
| 05/17/1995 | 7 | JUDGMENT adopting Magistrate's R & R as opinion of the court for SavannahPolice Dept, David Gellatly, Kendricks against Michael Anthony Bright (); copiesserved. (lsc) (Entered: 05/17/1995) |
| 05/17/1995 | Case closed (lsc) (Entered: 05/17/1995) | |
| 05/22/1995 | 8 | OBJECTION by plaintiff Michael Anthony Bright to [7-1] judgment order, [6-1]order (nmt) (Entered: 05/24/1995) |
| 09/17/1996 | Record transfered to the FRC. Group #021, Accession # 96-0593, Box # 69 of 70,Location # 5-001-00-3-9 (slt) Modified on 4/3/2009 (mah). (Entered: 09/17/1996) |
Assigned to: Judge B. Avant Edenfield
Referred to: Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith
Demand: $0
Cause: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights Date Filed: 04/03/1995
Date Terminated: 03/25/1996
Jury Demand: None
Nature of Suit: 550 Prisoner: Civil
Rights
Jurisdiction: Federal Question Plaintiff
Michael Anthony Bright represented by Michael Anthony Bright
EF344352
Valdosta Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 310
Valdosta, GA 31603-0310
PRO SE V. Defendant
Ricky Mikells represented by Emily E. Garrard
Chatham County Attorney's Office
P.O. Box 8161
Savannah, GA 31412-8161
912-652-7881
Fax: 912-652-7887
LEAD ATTORNEY
ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Thomas J. Mahoney, Jr.
Ranitz, Mahoney & Mahoney, PC
P.O. Box 786
Savannah, GA 31402
912-233-7961
Fax: 912-236-0288
Email: tmahoneyjr@ranitzlaw.com
LEAD ATTORNEY
ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Date Filed # Docket Text 13 04/03/1995 CASE REFERRED to Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith (nmt) (Entered: 04/04/1995) 04/03/1995 1 MOTION by Michael Anthony Bright to Proceed in Forma Pauperis nunc pro tunc 3-23-95 (nmt) (Entered: 04/04/1995) 04/03/1995 2 ORDER granting [1-1] motion to Proceed in Forma Pauperis. Directing Clerk to serve deft Ricky Mikells only. ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copies served. (nmt) Modified on 04/04/1995 (Entered: 04/04/1995) 04/03/1995 3 COMPLAINT nunc pro tunc 3-23-95 (nmt) (Entered: 04/04/1995) 04/20/1995 4 WAIVER OF SERVICE Returned Executed as to Ricky Mikells 4/17/95 Answer due on 6/16/95 for Ricky Mikells (lsg) (Entered: 04/20/1995) 06/14/1995 5 ANSWER to Complaint by Ricky Mikells (Attorney Thomas J. Mahoney Jr., Emily Elizabeth Garrard), (lsg) (Entered: 06/15/1995) 06/14/1995 6 ANSWER to Local Rule 8.6 Interrogatories by Ricky Mikells (lsg) (Entered: 06/15/1995) 06/14/1995 7 CERTIFICATE pursuant to Local Rule 1.6. by defendant Ricky Mikells (lsg) (Entered: 06/15/1995) 06/14/1995 SCHEDULING NOTICE setting Summary Judgment deadline on 11/11/95 ; Joining of parties,amending of pleadings by 8/13/95 ; Motion Filing deadline on 11/1/95 ; Discovery cutoff 10/12/95 ; Status Report due on 9/12/95 ; copies served. (lsc) (Entered: 07/26/1995) 07/03/1995 8 MOTION by Ricky Mikells for order authorizing affidavit of Tidelands Employee, Erma Lee with brief in support. (dks) (Entered: 07/05/1995) 07/25/1995 9 ORDER granting [8-1] motion for order authorizing affidavit of Tidelands Employee, Erma Lee ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copies served. (lsc) (Entered: 07/25/1995) 08/01/1995 10 MOTION by Ricky Mikells to Compel discovery with brief in support. (dks) (Entered: 08/01/1995) 08/29/1995 11 ORDER granting [10-1] motion to Compel discovery ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ) Pl is Ordered to serve discovery responses w/i 10 days; copies served. (lsg) (Entered: 08/29/1995) 09/12/1995 12 MOTION by Ricky Mikells to Dismiss Complaint with brief in support. (lsc) (Entered: 09/13/1995) 09/12/1995 13 MEMORANDUM by Ricky Mikells in support of [12-1] motion to Dismiss Complaint by Ricky Mikells (lsc) (Entered: 09/13/1995) 09/12/1995 14 UNILATERAL STATUS REPORT by dft Ricky Mikells (lsc) (Entered: 09/13/1995) 09/12/1995 15 RESPONSE TO ORDER by plaintiff Michael Anthony Bright in reference to [11-1] order (dks) (Entered: 09/14/1995) 09/15/1995 16 14 ORDER directing pltf to respond to dft's interrogatories and request for production, set Discovery deadline to 10/15/95 ( signed by Magistrate Judge G, R. Smith ); copies served. (lsc) (Entered: 09/15/1995) 09/28/1995 17 ANSWER to Local Rule 8.6 Interrogatories by Michael Anthony Bright (dks) (Entered: 10/05/1995) 10/04/1995 18 ORDER directing dft to advise court of intentions regarding dft's motion to dismiss, set Notice of Compliance deadline to 10/14/95 ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copies served. (lsc) Modified on 10/05/1995 (Entered: 10/05/1995) 10/11/1995 18 AMENDED MOTION by Ricky Mikells to Dismiss referring to [12-1] motion to Dismiss Complaint by Ricky Mikells (lsg) (Entered: 10/11/1995) 10/16/1995 19 MOTION by Michael Anthony Bright for Protective Order with brief in support. (nmt) Modified on 10/16/1995 (Entered: 10/16/1995) 10/27/1995 20 RESPONSE by Ricky Mikells to [19-1] motion for Protective Order by Michael Anthony Bright (dks) (Entered: 10/27/1995) 10/31/1995 21 ORDER denying [19-1] motion for Protective Order ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copies served. (bcw) (Entered: 10/31/1995) 11/07/1995 22 MOTION by Ricky Mikells for Summary Judgment with brief in support. (dks) (Entered: 11/08/1995) 11/07/1995 23 MEMORANDUM by Ricky Mikells in support of [22-1] motion for Summary Judgment by Ricky Mikells (dks) (Entered: 11/08/1995) 11/07/1995 24 STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS by defendant Ricky Mikells in support of [22-1] motion for Summary Judgment by Ricky Mikells (dks) (Entered: 11/08/1995) 11/07/1995 NOTICE issued re: [22-1] motion for Summary Judgment (dks) (Entered: 11/08/1995) 11/08/1995 25 MOTION by Michael Anthony Bright for Summary Judgment with brief in support. (dks) (Entered: 11/09/1995) 11/08/1995 26 RESPONSE TO ORDER by plaintiff Michael Anthony Bright in reference to [21-1] order (dks) (Entered: 11/09/1995) 11/13/1995 27 RESPONSE by Ricky Mikells to [25-1] motion for Summary Judgment by Michael Anthony Bright (dks) (Entered: 11/13/1995) 11/16/1995 28 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS of Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith to deny Re: [25-1] motion for Summary Judgment; Motion no longer referred; copies served. Objections to R and R due by 12/4/95 (nmt) (Entered: 11/17/1995) 11/16/1995 29 ORDER that R/R be served upon pltf and cnsl for deft. ( signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith ); copies served. (nmt) (Entered: 11/17/1995) 11/17/1995 30 RESPONSE by Michael Anthony Bright to [22-1] motion for Summary Judgment by Ricky Mikells (lsc) (Entered: 11/22/1995) 15 11/27/1995 31 OBJECTION by Michael Anthony Bright to [28-1] report and recommendations (dks) (Entered: 11/27/1995) 12/06/1995 32 ORDER adopting the Magistrate's R/R and denying [25-1] motion for Summary Judgment ( signed by Chief Judge B. Avant Edenfield ); copies served. (bcw) (Entered: 12/06/1995) 03/01/1996 33 DEFENDANT'S UNILATERAL PROPOSED PRETRIAL ORDER (dks) Modified on 03/01/1996 (Entered: 03/01/1996) 03/14/1996 Notice of change of address by Michael Bright, new address: P.O. Box 310 Valdosta, GA 31603 (bcw) (Entered: 03/14/1996) 03/25/1996 34 ORDER granting [22-1] motion for Summary Judgment ( signed by Chief Judge B. Avant Edenfield ); copies served. (dks) (Entered: 03/25/1996) 03/25/1996 35 JUDGMENT for Ricky Mikells against Michael Anthony Bright, case is dismissed with prejudice; copies served. (dks) (Entered: 03/25/1996) 03/25/1996 Case closed (dks) (Entered: 03/25/1996) 07/10/1998 Record transfered to the FRC. Group #021, Accession # 98-0111, Box # 36, Location #1-005-55-7-1(jgb) Modified on 9/18/2008 (mah). (Entered: 07/10/1998)
Owens v. Morales, 2015 WL 5040245 at * 2 (S.D, Ga. Aug. 25, 2015); see also id. at * 3 (the Court "gave Owens 21 days to complete a 'Show Cause Statement,' under penalty of perjury, why this case should not be dismissed without prejudice (and fetch a § 1915(g) strike) for misleading, if not deliberately lying to, this Court."); id. (in response, he moved to voluntarily dismiss his case, and this Court granted it).