U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2017

Frazier Ex Rel. LF v. United States

Frazier Ex Rel. LF v. United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Decided April 12, 2017 · Wilson, Black, Restani
685 F. App'x 730

Frazier Ex Rel. LF v. United States

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

After careful review of the briefs and the record, and having the benefit of oral argument, we find no reversible error.

Frazier argues that her complaint set forth a plausible claim for negligence, wrongful death, deliberate indifference, and negligent supervision; and the district court erred by granting the United States’ motion to dismiss for failure to allege a legal duty. According to Frazier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) owed a legal duty to her fiancé, Melvin Vernell, III (Vernell), because a “special relationship” existed between the FBI and its confidential informant, Mani Chulpayev (Chulpayev). Frazier asserts that the FBI, through Special Agent Jackson, had a professional relationship with Chulpayev for several years prior to the murder of Ver-nell.

After reviewing the district court’s grant of the motion to dismiss de novo, we conclude that Frazier’s allegations are insufficient to support a finding that the FBI had the requisite degree of control over Chul-payev to be held liable under Georgia law. Moreover, Frazier has not identified, nor havp we found, a liability-inducing cause of action for deliberate indifference under Georgia law in this context. The decision of the district court is

AFFIRMED.

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