Unpublished Disposition, 912 F.2d 469 (9th Cir. 1990)

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - 912 F.2d 469 (9th Cir. 1990)

No. 90-55205.

Submitted Aug. 9, 1990.* 
Decided Aug. 29, 1990.

Before: POOLE and DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judges, and PRO, District Judge.** 

MEMORANDUM*** 

Parviz Karim-Panahi appeals the district court's dismissal of his complaint with prejudice. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

FACTS

Karim-Panahi filed his initial complaint in this action on January 7, 1988. The complaint was twenty pages long and named eight defendants. Several defendants filed motions to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim and for a violation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8.

On April 4, 1988 the magistrate assigned to the case heard the defendants' motions. The magistrate concluded that the complaint violated Rule 8, and ordered Karim-Panahi to file an amended complaint that indicated who in particular had caused him harm, exactly what type of harm he had suffered, and where and when the events giving rise to the harm had transpired.

Karim-Panahi filed an amended complaint on May 16, 1988. The amended complaint was forty-two pages long and named fifty-one defendants. Motions to dismiss the amended complaint were filed. On January 4, 1990, the magistrate filed his report and recommendation that Karim-Panahi's complaint be dismissed with prejudice for failure to comply with Rule 8. The district court adopted the magistrate's recommendation and dismissed the complaint with prejudice. Karim-Panahi timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

A complaint must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief," Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a), and each "averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise, and direct." Id. 8(e) (1). "A complaint which fails to comply with rules 8(a) and 8(e) may be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to rule 41(b)." Nevijel v. North Coast Life Ins. Co., 651 F.2d 671, 673 (1981). We review a dismissal pursuant to Rule 41(b) for abuse of discretion, id. at 674, paying particular attention to "whether the district court might have first adopted other less drastic alternatives, ... [including] allowing further amended complaints, allowing additional time, or insisting that appellant associate experienced counsel." Id.

The magistrate gave Karim-Panahi the opportunity to amend his initial complaint and provided him with specific instructions for complying with Rule 8. The amended complaint, however, compounded rather than resolved the problems with the original complaint. The magistrate explicitly considered less drastic sanctions, but found that Karim-Panahi was "unlikely to, or unwilling to plead in accordance with the rules successfully enough to lend sense to any subsequent proceedings." The district court adopted the magistrate's findings and conclusions.

Based upon Karim-Panahi's disregard for the magistrate's directions and the rambling, vague, and conclusory nature of his amended complaint, we conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion by dismissing Karim-Panahi's complaint with prejudice.

Although we do not sanction Karim-Panahi for having pursued a frivolous appeal in this case, we call his attention to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38 which provides: "If a court of appeals shall determine that an appeal is frivolous, it may award just damages and single or double costs to the appellee."

AFFIRMED.

 *

The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for disposition without oral argument. Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 9th Cir.R. 34-4

 **

Honorable Philip M. Pro, United States District Judge for the District of Nevada, sitting by designation

 ***

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as provided by 9th Cir.R. 36-3

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