Isaac Mendez v. New Jersey State Lottery, 3rd Cir. (2013)

DLD-264
NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 13-1059
___________
ISAAC MENDEZ,
Appellant
v.
NEW JERSEY STATE LOTTERY COMMISION; NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL;

NEW JERSEY STATE TREASURY; NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES &
RECORDS MANAGEMENT; NEW JERSEY OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE;
LOUIS DAVID BALK, ESQ.; MARIBEL TORRES; REYNALDO TORRES; MARC E.
SAPIN, Esq., Law Firm of Fuchs, Greenberg & Sapin; LAW FIRM OF FUCHS,
GREENBERG & SAPIN; LAWRENCE LEVIN, ESQ.
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civil No. 3:11-cv-06932)
District Judge: Honorable Freda L. Wolfson
____________________________________
Submitted for Possible Summary Action
Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
May 31, 2013
Before: AMBRO, SMITH and CHAGARES, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: June 13, 2013)
_________
OPINION
_________
PER CURIAM
Isaac Mendez, proceeding pro se, appeals from the District Courts order granting the
defendants motions to dismiss, denying his motion for default judgment, and dismissing
various named defendants for failure to serve.
Because the appeal does not present a
substantial question, we will summarily affirm the District Courts judgment. See 3d Cir.
L.A.R. 27.4; I.O.P. 10.6.
I.
This action stems from Mendezs prolonged dispute over a winning lottery ticket.
According to Mendez, he purchased the winning ticket for the New Jersey Lottery Pick 6 in
September 2002. Subsequently, he accidentally dropped the ticket on a bus. Later that month,
Maribel Torres, Reynaldo Torres, and Juan Carlos Ayala submitted a claim for the winning
ticket, as did Mendez. The New Jersey Lottery Commission (Lottery Commission) opened
an investigation and concluded that the winnings should be paid to Maribel and Reynaldo
Torres.
In November 2002, Mendez filed suit in the New Jersey Superior Court for Hudson
County against the Lottery Commission, its acting director, and the Torreses, alleging that he
was denied a hearing in order to determine ownership of the lottery winnings. A jury trial was
held in November 2003, and the jury ruled in favor of the Torreses and awarded them
$1,955,158, an amount equal to the lottery winnings. The Appellate Division affirmed the
verdict.
Mendez filed a second lawsuit in the Superior Court in October 2009 against the various
state departments named as defendants in this suit (State defendants). In this suit, Mendez
sought an injunction to protect a tape recording of a statement he had made to the Lottery
2
Commission and video surveillance footage from the Lottery Commissions headquarters.
This suit was transferred to the Superior Court for Mercer County, and Mendez filed an
amended complaint that added new defendants and allegations of civil rights violations.
In February 2010, the Superior Court granted the State defendants motion to dismiss;
subsequently, it clarified that its order only dismissed Mendezs initial complaint, not his
amended complaint. Mendez then filed for default against the State defendants, and default
was entered by the Superior Court Clerk. Subsequently, the State defendants moved to vacate
the default, which the Superior Court did after determining that Mendez had not properly
served the State defendants with his amended complaint.
Mendezs suit was eventually
dismissed in its entirety.

In November 2011, Mendez filed his complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 and
1985, asserting that: (1) the State defendants deprived him of his procedural due process rights
and his right to a default judgment in the 2009 case, and the non-State defendants furthered the
States purpose; (2) the State defendants deprived him of his default judgment by abuse of
process; and (3) the State and non-State defendants deprived him of his due process rights to a
fair trial. The defendants filed motions to dismiss, and Mendez filed a motion for declaratory
relief in the form of a default judgment against the State defendants. The District Court
subsequently granted the defendants motions and denied Mendezs motion. The District
Court also dismissed Maribel and Reynaldo Torres and Lawrence Levin, Esq., pursuant to Fed.
R. Civ. P. 4(m), for Mendezs failure to serve them. This appeal followed. 1
Mendez filed a motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) on
December 28, 2012, which the District Court denied on April 16, 2013. Accordingly,
3
II.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291. We exercise plenary review over
the District Courts dismissal order. See Allah v. Seiverling, 229 F.3d 220, 223 (3d Cir. 2000).
To survive dismissal pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), a complaint must contain sufficient
factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S.
544, 570 (2007)). We review for abuse of discretion the denial of Mendezs motion for default
judgment and the dismissal of defendants on the basis of failed service of process.
Chamberlain v. Giampapa, 210 F.3d 154, 164 (3d Cir. 2000); Umbenhauer v. Woog, 969 F.2d
25, 28 (3d Cir. 1992).
III.
As an initial matter, we cannot agree that the District Court abused its discretion by not
entering default judgment against the State defendants. We consider three factors to determine
whether default judgment should be granted: (1) prejudice to the plaintiff if default is denied;
(2) whether the defendant appears to have a litigable defense; and (3) whether defendants
delay is due to culpable conduct. See Chamberlain, 210 F.3d at 164. Here, there is no
Mendezs notice of appeal became effective as to the District Courts December 18, 2012 order
granting the defendants motions to dismiss as of that date. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(4)(B)(i).
However, we lack jurisdiction over the District Courts subsequent denial of Mendezs motion
for relief from judgment, as Mendez has not separately appealed it. See Fed. R. App. P.
4(a)(4)(B)(ii).
4
evidence in the record of bad faith or dilatory motive. The District Courts docket reflects that
the State defendants filed a motion to dismiss Mendezs second amended complaint. 2
We conclude that the District Court properly dismissed the State defendants based upon
principles of sovereign immunity. The Eleventh Amendment protects a state or state agency
from a 1983 suit, unless Congress has specifically abrogated the states immunity or the state
has waived its own immunity. See MCI Telecomm. Corp. v. Bell Atl.-Pa., 271 F.3d 491, 50304 (3d Cir. 2001). Section 1983 does not abrogate states immunity. See Quern v. Jordan, 440
U.S. 332, 340-41 (1979). Furthermore, New Jersey has not waived its immunity in federal
court. Port Auth. Police Benevolent Assn, Inc. v. Port Auth., 819 F.2d 413, 418 (3d Cir.
1987), abrogated on other grounds by Hess v. Port Auth. Trans-Hudson Corp., 513 U.S. 30
(1994); cf. N.J. Stat. Ann. 59:1-2 (waiving immunity only under the New Jersey Tort Claims
Act).
We also agree that the District Court properly granted the non-State defendants
motions to dismiss. Mendez failed to allege how the various named attorneys acted under
color of state law so as to deprive him of his civil rights. See Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626, 646
(3d Cir. 2009). While a private party is a state actor where he has acted together with or
has obtained significant aid from state officials, or because his conduct is otherwise chargeable
to the State, Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 937 (1982), Mendezs complaint
2
Even if the State defendants had not filed a responsive pleading, the District Courts decision
not to enter default judgment would not have prejudiced Mendez. As discussed below in the
text, the District Court properly dismissed the State defendants based upon sovereign
immunity. Furthermore, Mendezs motion sought default judgment based upon the State
defendants alleged failure to file an answer in state court proceedings. We note that this
alleged inaction in state court has no bearing on whether default judgment was warranted in the
District Court.
5
falls short of permitting us to infer a plausible connection among the defendants such that the
private actions of the non-State defendants would constitute state action, see Groman v.
Twp. of Manalpan, 47 F.3d 628, 638 (3d Cir. 1995) (A private action is not converted into
one under color of state law merely by some tenuous connection to state action.).
Furthermore, we agree that Mendez failed to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. 1985(3), as
nowhere did he allege that the non-State defendants, or any other defendants, entered into a
conspiracy motivated by some racial, or perhaps otherwise class-based, invidiously
discriminatory animus.3 Farber v. City of Paterson, 440 F.3d 131, 135 (3d Cir. 2006)
(quoting Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 102 (1971)) (emphasis omitted).
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, no substantial question is presented and we will affirm the
District Courts judgment. Murray v. Bledsoe, 650 F.3d 246, 248 (3d Cir. 2011) (per curiam);
see also 3d Cir. L.A.R. 27.4; I.O.P. 10.6.
Because Mendezs claims against the Torreses and Levin are meritless, we need not
determine whether the District Court abused its discretion in dismissing them from the suit
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m).
6

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DLD-264

NEW JERSEY STATE LOTTERY COMMISION; NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL;

Because the appeal does not present a

Mendezs suit was eventually

dismissed in its entirety.

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