Giles v. Stokes


<- Return to Search Results


Docket Number: 2007-CP-01075-COA
Linked Case(s): 2007-CA-01075-COA
Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 07-22-2008
Opinion Author: GRIFFIS, J.
Holding: Affirmed
Additional Case Information: Topic: Malicious prosecution - Amendment of complaint - Statute of limitations - Section 15-1-49 - M.R.C.P. 15©
Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., IRVING, CHANDLER, BARNES, ISHEE, ROBERTS AND CARLTON, JJ.
Procedural History: Dismissal
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - TORTS-OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE
Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 01-17-2007
Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court
Judge: Winston Kidd
Disposition: TRIAL COURT GRANTED STOKE’S MOTION TO DISMISS.
Case Number: 251-02-616CIV
  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: JIMMY D. GILES




 VICTOR ISRAEL FLEITAS



  
  • Appellant #1 Brief
    		•
    Appellee: KENNETH I. STOKES PIETER JOHN TEEUWISSEN, JAMES RICHARD DAVIS  
    Synopsis provided by:

    If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
    hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office.
    Topic: Malicious prosecution - Amendment of complaint - Statute of limitations - Section 15-1-49 - M.R.C.P. 15©
    Summary of the Facts: Jimmy Giles filed a complaint against Kenneth Stokes alleging claims for malicious prosecution, abuse of process, false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress, libel, and slander. Stokes filed a motion to dismiss. Approximately two and a half years after the initial complaint, Giles filed a motion to amend his complaint. The circuit court denied the motion to amend and dismissed the case. Giles appeals.
    Summary of Opinion Analysis: Giles asked for leave to amend the complaint and add a federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that alleged that Councilman Stokes had violated Giles’s constitutional right to free speech. Giles argues that the circuit court abused its discretion by not allowing him to amend his complaint because the rule requires that amendments be liberally allowed. Under section 15-1-49, Giles was required to file his complaint within three years of the date his action accrued in order to be within the statute of limitations. In his proposed amended complaint, Giles accused Councilman Stokes of throwing him out of a city council meeting and violating his right to free speech on March 6, 2001. Giles’s § 1983 action accrued on March 6, 2001. Giles filed his motion to amend three years and nine months after this date on December 15, 2004. Therefore, Giles’s cause of action is time-barred. In addition, the claims asserted in Giles’s original complaint bear no relation to the claims asserted in his amended complaint. The causes of action in Giles’s two pleadings do not arise out of the same nucleus of common facts and thus do not relate back to the date of the original pleading under M.R.C.P. 15(c). Furthermore, Councilman Stokes was not put on notice regarding the claim raised by the amended pleading. Therefore, the circuit court did not err when it dismissed Giles’s case.


    Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court