Bonilla v. Goodfellow

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla, identified as a state prisoner and a condemned prisoner, filed multiple civil-rights complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 without a lawyer. The complaints were nearly identical. They named state superior courts and officials involved in his criminal prosecution and sought relief concerning his underlying conviction or the handling of his other cases by state and federal courts.

The opinion also states that Bonilla had a pending federal petition challenging his custody with appointed counsel and was represented by counsel in state-court proceedings. Those related proceedings were cited in the opinion, but the court did not decide them in this order.

Ruling

The court addressed Bonilla's ability to proceed without paying the filing fee. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), a prisoner disqualified from that procedure may proceed without paying only if he was in imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed the complaint. The court found that Bonilla's allegations did not show imminent danger at the time of filing.

The court further stated that, even if an application to proceed without paying the filing fee were granted, the lawsuits would be barred under Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, or Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The opinion does not explain separately which doctrine applied to which case or claim.

The court therefore dismissed the cases with prejudice. It directed the clerk to terminate all pending motions and close the cases, and to return without filing any further documents Bonilla submitted in the closed cases. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton signed the order.