Court dismisses $61.1M suit vs 2 judges, others

The federal court has dismissed the $61.1 million lawsuit against judges Alex R. Munson and David A. Wiseman and many other persons that had been filed by a man who was previously convicted over a threatening letter.

U.S. District Court for the NMI designated judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood ruled that John S. Pangelinan’s lawsuit “is repetitive, meritless, vexatious, abusive, and burdensome.”

Tydingo-Gatewood also sanctioned Pangelinan to pay attorneys’ fees and court costs to all non-federal defendants he included in his litigation.

In a separate order, the judge gave Pangelinan until May 22, 2008 at 3:30pm to explain why he should not be declared a vexatious litigant.

Tydingco-Gatewood described the plaintiff as the Commonwealth’s most active pro se litigant.

The judge noted that court records show that Pangelinan filed 18 appeals related to the court’s judgment in a 1997 case where he was found liable to pay $270,000.

In January 2008, Pangelinan filed the $61.1 million lawsuit against judges Munson and Wiseman. He also named as co-defendants two lawyers, a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent, two federal probation officers, two U.S. Marshals, and seven other people.

In the lawsuit he filed pro se (without a lawyer), Pangelinan even sued 13 grand jurors and 12 jurors.

Named as co-defendants were attorneys Robert T. Torres, Lillian A. Tenorio, assistant U.S. attorney Craig Moore, federal probation officers Margarita D.L.G. Wonenberg and Melinda N. Brunson, FBI agent Joseph Auther, U.S. Marshals Donald Hall and Wolf Calvert, businessman Roy Alexander, Rufo T. Mafnas, Angelito Trinidad, Ronnie Palomo, Herman Tejada, Esperanza David, and Antonio Alovera.

Pangelinan said the defendants collaborated in his arrest without probable cause, prosecution, conviction and imprisonment solely in retaliation for his public criticism through his June 1, 2006, letter to the editor. He said the defendants denied him due process of law.

On Sept. 27, 2006, a federal jury found Pangelinan guilty of charges relating to his letter to the editor dated June 1, 2006 and another letter to the editor on June 19, 2006.

The defense’s argument was that Pangelinan was just exercising his freedom of expression in writing the two letters.

But the prosecution asserted that the issue was not about writing the letters, but the threat contained in the letters.

In January 2007, U.S. District Court for the NMI designated presiding judge Wiseman imposed a one-year prison term on Pangelinan.

The defendant appealed.

In October 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Pangelinan’s conviction on one count of obstruction of a court order. The appellate, however, affirmed the conviction of the same charge in the other count.

In June 2006, the FBI arrested Pangelinan after an indictment was filed in court charging him with two counts of obstruction of a court order.

Five persons, through attorney Charles Rotbart, filed a lawsuit in 1997 against Pangelinan and co-defendants for fraud and violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Pangelinan lost the case and had judgment entered against him in the amount of $205,787 plus interest, and for attorneys’ fees in the amount of $70,200.

In 2002, Pangelinan initiated a civil lawsuit against Munson and Rotbart, alleging that both conspired to deprive him of his constitutional rights. The case was subsequently dismissed.

In August 2002, federal court designated judge Edward Manibusan convicted Pangelinan of criminal contempt for disobeying Munson’s order related to the 1997 case.