Murphy v. Farmer

176 F.Supp.3d 1325

John H. Murphy, Plaintiff,

v.Millard C. Farmer, Jr., Alfred L. King, Jr., Larry King, P.C., Deborah L. Beacham, and My Advocate Center, Inc., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION FILE NUMBER 3:15–cv–00092–TCB

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Newnan Division.

Signed March 31, 2016

Wilmer Parker, III, Maloy Jenkins Parker, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff.

Deborah L. Beacham, Roswell, GA, pro se.

Millard C. Farmer, Jr., Office of Millard C. Farmer, Jr., John Colquitt Rogers, Carlock Copeland & Stair, LLP, Atlanta, GA, Mary Helen Moses, Mary Helen Moses, Esq, LLS, St. Simons Island, GA, for Defendants.

ORDER

Timothy C. Batten, Sr., United States District Judge

This case comes before the Court on Defendants' motions to dismiss Plaintiff John H. Murphy's initial complaint [11, 13, 23 & 24]; Defendant Millard C. Farmer, Jr.'s motion to appoint a guardian ad litem [34]; Defendants' motions to dismiss Plaintiff's amended complaint [36, 37, 38, 40 & 41]; the motion to strike filed by Defendants Deborah L. Beacham and My Advocate Center, Inc. (together the “Beacham Defendants”) [39]; the motion to stay filed by the Beacham Defendants and joined by Defendants Alfred L. King, Jr. and Larry King, P.C. (together, the “King Defendants”) [42 & 52]; Murphy's motion for entry of default against the Beacham Defendants [46]; and Murphy's motion to strike certain portions of the reply briefs filed by the Beacham Defendants and the King Defendants [60].

I. Background

On May 21, 2015, Murphy filed this action for damages under the state and federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) statutes and state tort law. The acts alleged in the complaint arise out of a bitterly contested child custody battle that has been ongoing in the Georgia state courts. Murphy alleges that Defendants, as members of an enterprise led by Farmer, “have employed and continue to employ tactics in an illegal effort to extort payments, forced concessions, and other unjust benefits in exchange for, in Defendant Farmer's own words, ‘restoring order’ to the individuals victimized ... by their illegal and unethically manufactured litigation chaos.” [31] ¶ 4. According to Murphy, participants in Farmer's enterprise, referred to as the “Conflictineering Enterprise,” include Defendants as well as Michelle Murphy (Murphy's ex-wife), Robert Hartman (Michelle Murphy's brother), Kimellen Tunkle (Farmer's assistant), T.B. (a minor child) and his mother, as well as other individuals.

The Court has attempted to summarize below the relevant allegations set forth in the 170–page amended complaint. For purposes of this summary, the Court assumes the facts set forth in the amended complaint are true. See Pellitteri v. Prine, 776 F.3d 777, 778 n. 1 (11th Cir.2015).

A. The Divorce and the Malpractice Action

In 2006, Murphy and his then-wife, Michelle Murphy, divorced. After the divorce they shared custody of their two children, who are referred to in the complaint as J.M. and T.M.

During the divorce proceedings, Michelle Murphy was represented by Delia Crouch. In December 2008, Farmer represented Michelle Murphy in a malpractice action against Crouch. In that action, Michelle Murphy claimed that Crouch had mishandled the equitable distribution of a pension, resulting in an alleged shortfall of approximately $50,000 to Michelle Murphy. In support of the complaint, King provided an affidavit expressing his opinion that Crouch had provided “substandard legal representation.” [31] ¶ 37. Farmer paid King fees for his participation in the litigation.

In November 2010, Farmer moved to join Murphy as a defendant in the malpractice action. Murphy and his wife engaged in discussions with Farmer, but Farmer refused to accept the full amount in dispute to resolve the case. After Farmer threatened to make the case expensive and painful, Murphy and his wife “capitulated to Defendant Farmer's extortionate demands and paid him and Michelle Murphy $150,000” to resolve the case. Id. ¶ 41. Farmer and King became “acutely aware of the wealth of Mr. Murphy and his wife” as a result of the malpractice litigation. Id. ¶ 42.

B. The Child Custody Proceedings

In 2011, Murphy became concerned about Michelle Murphy's custody of their children, and in April 2012, he filed an action in state court seeking to modify the child custody arrangement. (The Court will refer to the 2012 action filed in state court as the “child custody litigation.”)

Farmer and King represented Michelle Murphy in the child custody litigation, with Farmer serving as lead counsel.

During the course of the child custody litigation, Farmer and King filed more than twenty motions to disqualify judges involved in the proceedings. In May 2012, Michelle Murphy filed an answer seeking an upward modification of child support. She also asserted “a patently frivolous and vexatious” third-party complaint against Murphy's current wife. Id. ¶ 47. This claim was filed “solely to place pressure on her to persuade her husband to abandon his child custody claims and to secure a large shakedown payment for Defendants Farmer and King.” Id. ¶ 12.

Shortly after filing the third-party claim, King contacted Murphy's current wife to resolve the dispute raised in the third-party complaint against her. King proposed to “privately discuss the core dispute and resolve this matter outside the courtroom.” [31] ¶ 49. King wrote, “My plan is simple, I have [Defendant Farmer's] ear and he has the ability to develop a plan acceptable to Michelle.” [1–3]. King again reached out to Murphy's wife about a week later and proposed a private meeting saying, “My role in this litigation is a lot different from Mr. Farmer's. Mr. Farmer is a litigator. He only knows excessive litigation.” [31] ¶ 50 (emphasis omitted). Murphy alleges that “[t]he clear message conveyed” by King was that if Murphy's wife did not persuade her husband to abandon his claims in the child custody litigation and settle, “they would be faced with escalated ‘excessive litigation’ at the hands of” Farmer, who they knew would take unreasonable positions as he had done in the malpractice litigation and would file frivolous defamatory submissions as he had done with his motions to recuse the state court judge. Id. ¶ 51. Murphy's wife declined King's offer to discuss a resolution.¹

Murphy later amended his complaint, and in response Michelle Murphy filed an amended third-party complaint that was “replete with abusive, impertinent material, and fixated on the purported financial means and assets of” Murphy and his wife. Id. ¶ 54. Murphy alleges that such allegations confirm “the Conflictineering Enterprise's focus upon the assets they could target for themselves.” Id. ¶ 55. Murphy also alleges that throughout the litigation, Farmer and King used motions and appeals to delay adjudication of the merits of Murphy's claims and intimidate participants in the litigation.

C. Attacks on Guardians ad Litem and Evaluators

Murphy alleges that King and Farmer “engaged in systemic attacks” against the individuals appointed to serve as a guardian ad litem (“GAL”) for the children. After protesting the appointment of and refusing to pay for a GAL, Farmer and the enterprise “undertook to intimidate, harass, and badger the first GAL,” and as a result of these attacks she withdrew within two months of being appointed. Id. ¶ 65. In June 2012, a new GAL was appointed, and Farmer and King filed a “baseless and malicious” motion to disqualify her. Id. ¶ 66. The court denied their motion; they appealed; and the court of appeals ruled that the appeal was frivolous, imposing the maximum sanction available.

Farmer insisted upon the involvement of Dr. Patricia Nice, the children's treating psychiatrist, but he failed to disclose to the court that he had previously represented Dr. Nice free of charge in connection with several employment-related matters. Farmer arranged a meeting with Dr. Nice before a court hearing, and during that meeting he informed her that he expected her to support Michelle Murphy in her position in the child custody litigation. Dr. Nice informed him that she found it difficult to do so, but Farmer refused to accept Dr. Nice's view. Based on her observations of Farmer's prior behavior, she “reasonably feared that he expected her to suppress” any evidence or information that would put Michelle Murphy in a negative light, and she understood that “Farmer would seek to ‘destroy’ her publically, professionally, and personally if she” did so. Id. ¶ 76. Murphy alleges that as a result of Farmer's influence and intimidation, Dr. Nice did not provide any testimony at the hearing that was harmful to Michelle Murphy's interests.

Farmer then pushed to get Dr. Nice more involved with the litigation. Murphy avers that Farmer anticipated that Dr. Nice would capitulate to his threats and refuse to recommend a full custody evaluation, but Dr. Nice, along with psychologist Tony Johnson, Ph.D., issued a joint letter to the court recommending a full custody evaluation. Farmer and King filed a frivolous appeal to delay the court's decision regarding the evaluation. In the meantime, at Farmer's urging the children stopped attending their appointments with Drs. Johnson and Nice and became alienated from Murphy and his current wife.

D. Attempted Intimidation of Witnesses

In August 2013, Farmer engaged in several attempts to intimidate witnesses involved in the proceedings. Murphy submitted the affidavit of Bryan McLendon, who had rented a room to Michelle Murphy and provided transportation for the children. In his affidavit McLendon detailed disturbing conduct of Michelle Murphy and hazardous incidents involving the children. Shortly after the affidavit was filed, Farmer contacted McLendon, who was a former client of Farmer's, “for the overt purpose of threatening him with imprisonment, intimidating him, and pressuring him to recant his sworn testimony against Michelle Murphy.” Id. ¶ 90.

Murphy also alleges that Farmer issued...