Bruzzone v. McManis

Background

Michael A. Bruzzone filed two motions: one seeking “relief from dismissal” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) and/or 60(b)(3), and another seeking to “vacate” the judgment under Rule 60(b)(1), (b)(3), (b)(4), and/or (b)(6). Rule 60(b) allows a party to seek relief from a judgment in specified circumstances.

The court entered judgment and terminated the case on October 31, 2018. On the same date, it imposed pre-filing review. The earlier dismissal order described Bruzzone’s litigation history and the history of the case, incorporated the factual record and reasoning from an earlier vexatious-litigant order, and found that his claims were inordinate, without merit, frivolous, harassing, and brought without an objective good-faith expectation of prevailing. The court characterized the conduct as a flagrant abuse of the judicial process and made a substantive finding of harassment.

The opinion states that the dismissal was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit and that the Supreme Court denied review. It also states that Bruzzone filed a motion for “reexamination” in 2022, which the court denied while stating it would not entertain motions for reconsideration of that order. Bruzzone later filed another motion to vacate, which the court denied as untimely and deficient on the merits.

Ruling

The court concluded that Bruzzone’s motion for relief from dismissal and motion to vacate were without merit. It therefore denied both motions. The court also stated that it would not entertain any further motions or requests in the case and that any further filings would be terminated without comment.

Classification

This is a procedural order because the court denied motions seeking relief from or reconsideration of an earlier judgment rather than deciding the underlying claims in this order.