Opinion
8:23-cv-1461-CEH-AAS
07-19-2024
ROBERT JONES, Plaintiff, v. THE LAMAR COMPANY, L.L.C., LAMAR ADVERTISING, LAMAR ADVERTISING COMPANY, THE LAMAR COMPANIES and LAMAR MEDIA CORPORATION, Defendants.
ORDER
CHARLENE EDWARDS HONEYWELL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter comes before the Court on the Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice (Doc. 17) in Support of their Amended Motion to Dismiss. In the motion, Defendants seek an Order taking judicial notice of state court proceedings involving the parties. Plaintiff, Robert Jones, who is proceeding pro se, opposes the motion. Doc. 33. The Court, having considered the motion and being fully advised in the premises, will grant Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice in Support of their Amended Motion to Dismiss.
DISCUSSION
Rule 201(b), Federal Rules of Evidence, allows a court to take judicial notice of “a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it: (1) is generally known within the trial court's territorial jurisdiction; or (2) can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Fed.R.Evid. 201(b). This includes “public records within its files relating to the particular case before it or other related cases.” Cash Inn of Dade, Inc. v. Metro. Dade Cty., 938 F.2d 1239, 1243 (11th Cir. 1991). Additionally, the Court may take judicial notice of a document filed in another court, not for the truth of the matters asserted in the other litigation, but rather to establish the fact of such litigation and related filings. United States v. Jones, 29 F.3d 1549, 1553 (11th Cir. 1994). Pursuant to Rule 201(c)(2), the Court “must take judicial notice if a party requests it and the court is supplied with the necessary information.”
In Defendants' motion, they request this Court take judicial notice of the state court cases of Tichinia Jones and Robert Jones v. Lamar Company, LLC, filed in the County Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Hillsborough County, Florida, Case No.: 17-CC-012407; Tichinia Jones and Robert Jones v. The Lamar Company, filed in the County Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Hillsborough County, Case No.: 17-CC-026201; and Tichinia Jones and Robert Jones v. Lamar Company, LLC, filed in the District Court of Appeal of Florida - Second District; Case No.: 2D22-2338. Additionally, Defendants request the Court to specifically take judicial notice of 16 filings in those cases that Defendants attach as Exhibits 1 though 16 to their motion.
Although Plaintiff opposes the request to take judicial notice, he does not refute the existence of the litigation or that the filings were made in the underlying cases. Rather, he challenges the facts of what happened in those cases, specifically contending that Defendants acted with fraud and misrepresentation to prevail in those actions. The accuracy of the documents can be readily ascertained from the public court records.
Upon consideration, the motion is due to be granted. The Court will take judicial notice-not for the truth of the matters asserted in the litigation, but rather to establish the fact of such litigation and the filings therein. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED:
1. Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice in Support of their Amended Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 17) is GRANTED.
DONE AND ORDERED.