Ali v. Lambert


FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT July 16, 2021 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court MURTAZA ALI, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 20-5084 (D.C. No. 4:16-CV-00027-CVE-FHM) TRAVIS LAMBERT, Det. Officer, (N.D. Okla.) Tulsa County Jail; GARY KAISER, Sgt., Tulsa County Jail, Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before HOLMES, MATHESON, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ After filing this civil rights case pro se, Murtaza Ali was removed from the United States because of his criminal record. The case progressed with Mr. Ali living abroad. But as trial approached, it became increasingly unclear whether Mr. Ali would be able to attend. The district court found a substantial likelihood that Mr. Ali’s immigration status would prevent him from reentering the country and, * After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. thus, from attending trial. It also found that his testimony would be too important to allow him to participate in the trial remotely through videoconferencing. After giving Mr. Ali a chance to obtain permission to reapply for admission to the United States, the court dismissed the case with prejudice for failure to prosecute. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND Mr. Ali is a citizen of India. In 2003, long before this case, he received a 25-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in an Oklahoma court to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. See Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 173. In 2005, he received an 11-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in federal court to conspiracy to possess a chemical that may be used to manufacture a controlled substance. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 843(a)(6), 846. Mr. Ali filed this case in 2016, alleging the defendants violated his constitutional rights while he was detained at the Tulsa County Jail. He filed the case from a detention center in Texas, where he was held by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Around April 1, 2017, he was removed to India, and he soon settled in the United Arab Emirates. But his location did not become clear to the court for more than two years because, after his removal, he updated his address with the court four times, each time listing an address in Texas. Meanwhile, the case moved forward. The district court dismissed the claims, and Mr. Ali appealed. Although we affirmed the dismissal of some claims, we 2 concluded that Mr. Ali’s excessive-force claims against two defendants should not have been dismissed. Ali …

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