CURTIS v. KUNZ FREED III 99 (2018)

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Candace Louise CURTIS; Rik Wayne Munson, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. Candace KUNZ-FREED; Albert Vacek, Jr.; Bernard Lyle Matthews, III; Neal Spielman; Bradley Featherston; Stephen A. Mendel; Darlene Payne Smith; Jason Ostrom; Gregory Lester; Jill Willard Young; Christine Riddle Butts; Clarinda Comstock; Toni Biamonte; Bobbie Bayless; Anita Brunsting; Amy Brunsting; Does 1-99, Defendants-Appellees

No. 17-20360

Decided: June 06, 2018

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, DENNIS, and COSTA, Circuit Judges.

Candace Louise Curtis, Pro Se Rik Wayne Munson, Pro Se Andrew Johnson, Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Defendants-Appellees Candace Kunz-Freed, Albert Vacek, Jr. Bernard Lilse Mathews, III, Mathews Law Firm, Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee Bernard Lyle Matthews, III Martin Samuel Schexnayder, Esq., Eron Floyd Reid, Winget, Spadafora & Schwartzberg, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee Adraon DelJohn Greene, Kelsi M. Wade, Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith, Houston, TX, for Defendants-Appellees Bradley Featherston, Stephen A. Mendel Barry Abrams, Joshua A. Huber, Blank Rome, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee Darlene Payne Smith Jason Bradley Ostrom, Stacy Lynn Kelly, Ostrom Morris, P.L.L.C., Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee Jason Ostrom Stacy Lynn Kelly, Ostrom Morris, P.L.L.C., Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee Gregory Lester Keith Adams Toler, Esq., Assistant County Attorney, Laura Beckman Hedge, County Attorney's Office for the County of Harris, Houston, TX, for Defendants-Appellees Christine Riddle Butts, Clarinda Comstock, Toni Biamonte Bobbie G. Bayless, Pro Se Anita Brunsting, Pro Se Amy Brunsting, Pro Se Robert Stanford Harrell, Mayer Brown, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Rafe A. Schaefer, Norton Rose Fulbright US, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee

Candace Louis Curtis and Rik Wayne Munson sued more than fifteen individuals—the judges, attorneys, court officials, and parties from a probate proceeding in Harris County—alleging that the defendants collectively violated RICO, committed common law fraud, and breached their fiduciary duties. Plaintiffs contend that defendants are part of the “Harris County Tomb Raiders a.k.a Probate Mafia,” which it alleges is a secret society of probate practitioners, court personnel, probate judges, and other elected officials who are running a “criminal theft enterprise” and “organized criminal consortium,” designed to “judicially kidnap and rob the elderly” and other heirs and beneficiaries of their “familial relations and inheritance expectations.” The district court dismissed all claims based on a number of often overlapping grounds: (1) judicial immunity, (2) attorney immunity, (3) failure to state a claim, and (4) the court’s inherent power to dismiss frivolous complaints.

We review de novo a district court's dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). Chhim v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin, 836 F.3d 467, 469 (5th Cir. 2016). Plaintiffs’ appeal focuses on the dismissal of their RICO claim. They set forth the elements of that offense and attempt to address each one. But the factual allegations they use to support those elements are mostly, as the district court put it, “fantastical” and often nonsensical. We agree with the district court that the allegations are frivolous and certainly do not rise to the level of plausibility that the law requires.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTE.

PER CURIAM: * FN* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.

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