William Poku v. William Himelman , 448 F. App'x 217 ( 2011 )

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 10-4759
___________
WILLIAM POKU,
Appellant
v.
WILLIAM HIMELMAN, Honorable, in his professional and individual capacities;
CENTRAL JERSEY TOWING; MILKO, Officer, in his official and individual
capacities; IRA KREIZMAN, Honorable, in his official and individual capacities;
BOROUGH OF RED BANK; MARK FITZGERALD, Chief Police,
in his official and individual capacities; JOHN DOE; JANE DOES
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civil No. 08-0209)
District Judge: Honorable Joel A. Pisano
____________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
September 6, 2011
Before: RENDELL, CHAGARES and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: September 7, 2011 )
_________
OPINION
_________
PER CURIAM
Pro se appellant William Poku appeals the District Court’s orders granting two
1
defendants’ motions to dismiss and the remaining defendants’ motion for summary
judgment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and exercise a plenary standard
of review. See Gelman v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 583 F.3d 187, 190 (3d Cir.
2009); State Auto Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Pro Design, P.C., 566 F.3d 86, 89 (3d Cir.
2009). For the reasons discussed below, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment.
On January 12, 2006, Sergeant Joseph Milko of the Red Bank Police Department
received a complaint about a seemingly abandoned vehicle that had two flat tires and was
surrounded by debris. Upon arriving on the scene, Milko learned that the vehicle
belonged to Poku; however, because the vehicle did not have a current registration as
required by New Jersey law, see N.J. Stat. Ann. § 39:3-4, Milko issued Poku a summons
and towed the vehicle. Poku pleaded not guilty and, after a trial before New Jersey
Municipal Court Judge Himelman, was found guilty of having an unregistered vehicle.
He then appealed to New Jersey Superior Court Judge Kreizman and prevailed in part:
Judge Kreizman overturned Poku’s conviction for having an unregistered vehicle but
found him guilty of a lesser offense, failing to exhibit his registration in violation of N.J.
Stat. Ann. § 39:3-29.
Poku filed a multi-count complaint in the District Court, asserting claims under
federal and state law against Sergeant Milko and other individuals allegedly involved in
towing his vehicle (“the officer defendants”) and Judges Himmelman and Kreizman (“the
judicial defendants”). The judicial defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that they
were absolutely immune from suit, which the District Court granted. After minimal
2
discovery, the officer defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, which the
District Court also granted. Poku then filed a timely notice of appeal in this Court.
In his appellate brief, Poku devotes the majority of his attention to attempting to
make out a claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO),
18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968. However, he did not present a RICO claim to the District
Court, and we will not address the merits of the claim for the first time on appeal. See
C.H. v. Cape Henlopen Sch. Dist., 606 F.3d 59, 73 (3d Cir. 2010).
Poku next argues that the District Court erred in according immunity to the
judicial defendants.1 As the District Court recognized, “[a] judicial officer in the
performance of his duties has absolute immunity from suit and will not be liable for his
judicial acts.” Azubuko v. Royal, 443 F.3d 302, 303 (3d Cir. 2006). There are two
exceptions to this immunity — a judge is not immune (1) for “actions not taken in the
judge’s judicial capacity,” and (2) “for actions, though judicial in nature, taken in the
complete absence of all jurisdiction.” Gallas v. Supreme Court, 211 F.3d 760, 768 (3d
Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Poku’s reliance on these exceptions is to no avail. The relevant acts of the judicial
1
Because Poku is proceeding pro se, we construe his brief liberally, and will
address even those arguments that he has not developed in great detail. See, e.g., United
States v. Otero, 502 F.3d 331, 334 (3d Cir. 2007). At the same time, we will review only
those arguments that he has actually presented. See United States v. Pelullo, 399 F.3d
197, 222 (3d Cir. 2005) (“It is well settled that an appellant’s failure to identify or argue
an issue in his opening brief constitutes waiver of that issue on appeal.”); see also Timson
v. Sampson, 518 F.3d 870, 874 (11th Cir. 2008) (per curiam) (“While we read briefs filed
by pro se litigants liberally, issues not briefed on appeal by a pro se litigant are deemed
abandoned[.]” (internal citation omitted)).
3
defendants were unquestionably judicial — Poku focuses entirely on their conduct in
adjudicating his motor-vehicle action. See id. at 770. He seeks to avoid the judicial-
immunity bar by arguing that the judicial defendants bore ill will toward him personally;
however, “judicial immunity is not overcome by allegations of bad faith or malice.”
Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 11 (1991). Further, while Poku takes issue with Judge
Kreizman’s disposition of his appeal, Judge Kreizman possessed jurisdiction over the
appeal pursuant to N.J. Const. art. 6, § 3, ¶ 2 and N.J. Ct. R. 4:74-3; the fact that Poku
claims that Judge Kreizman misapplied the law in resolving the appeal does not show that
he clearly lacked jurisdiction. See Gallas, 211 F.3d at 769-71. Accordingly, we discern
no error in the District Court’s order dismissing Poku’s claims against the judicial
defendants.
We will likewise affirm the District Court’s order granting judgment to the officer
defendants on Poku’s malicious-prosecution claim. To prove malicious prosecution
under § 1983, the plaintiff must show, among other things, that “the criminal proceeding
ended in plaintiff’s favor.” Kossler v. Crisanti, 564 F.3d 181, 186 (3d Cir. 2009) (en
banc) (internal quotation marks omitted). We have explained that in cases like this one,
where the plaintiff was acquitted of one charge but convicted of another, the plaintiff will
fail to establish that the proceeding ended in his favor “[w]hen the circumstances — both
the offenses as stated in the statute and the underlying facts of the case — indicate that
the judgment as a whole does not reflect the plaintiff’s innocence.” Id. at 188. Here,
Poku’s conviction for failing to exhibit his registration grew out of precisely the same
4
underlying conduct as the failing-to-maintain-a-registration charge. Accordingly, we
conclude, even viewing the facts in Poku’s favor, that the state criminal action did not
end in his favor. See id. at 189.
Poku next reasserts his claim that the officer defendants enforced the motor-
vehicle laws in a racially discriminatory fashion; we assume that Poku intends to assert a
claim under the Equal Protection Clause. See, e.g., Holder v. City of Allentown, 987
F.2d 188, 197 (3d Cir. 1993) (explaining that selective, discriminatory enforcement of a
facially valid law is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause). To establish a
selective-enforcement claim, Poku must show “(1) that he was treated differently from
other similarly situated individuals, and (2) that this selective treatment was based on an
unjustifiable standard, such as race, or religion, or some other arbitrary factor, or to
prevent the exercise of a fundamental right.” Dique v. N.J. State Police, 603 F.3d 181,
184 n.5 (3d Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks, alterations omitted).
We agree with the District Court that Poku has failed to present sufficient
evidence in support of this claim to survive summary judgment. While he has argued that
some vehicles that do not have valid registration have not been towed, he has not shown
that the officer defendants had received complaints about those vehicles, that the vehicles
were in a similar condition to his, or that the owners of those vehicles are of a different
race. See, e.g., United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 465 (1996) (plaintiff bringing
a selective-enforcement claim based on race “must show that similarly situated
individuals of a different race were not prosecuted”). Therefore, we will affirm the
5
District Court’s order granting summary judgment to the officer defendants on this claim.
See Chambers v. Sch. Dist. of Phila. Bd. of Educ., 587 F.3d 176, 196-97 (3d Cir. 2009);
Bradley v. United States, 299 F.3d 197, 206-07 (3d Cir. 2002).
Finally, we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in
declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Poku’s claims arising under state
law. See Stehney v. Perry, 101 F.3d 925, 939 (3d Cir. 1996).
Accordingly, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment.2
2
The judicial defendants’ motion to file a supplemental appendix is granted.
Poku’s motions to strike the officer defendants’ brief and the judicial defendants’
supplemental appendix are denied.
6