John Stone v. United States
John Stone v. United States
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-1536
JOHN ERIK STONE; MILYNDA DESIRAE STONE,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, through its agency; HUNTINGTON VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER, of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Huntington. Robert C. Chambers, District Judge. (3:19-cv-00538)
Submitted: November 30, 2020 Decided: December 3, 2020
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and AGEE and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James D. McQueen, Jr., MCQUEEN DAVIS, Huntington, West Virginia, for Appellant. Michael B. Stuart, United States Attorney, Gregory P. Neil, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charleston, West Virginia, for the Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
John Erick Stone and Milynda Desirae Stone appeal the district court’s order
dismissing their claims pursuant to the discretionary function exception to the Federal Torts
Claims Act,
28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-80. On appeal, they contend that the officers
overrepresented the value of a meat slicer to secure a felony arrest warrant, misrepresented
the statements that John Stone gave to law enforcement, and procured his statements in
contravention of the Fifth Amendment. However, they concede that they did not raise
these arguments in the district court.
“When a party in a civil case fails to raise an argument in the lower court and instead
raises it for the first time before us, we may reverse only if the newly raised argument
establishes fundamental error or a denial of fundamental justice.” In re Under Seal,
749 F.3d 276, 285(4th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Stones have not
argued that they have met this standard. See
id. at 292(holding that failure to argue on
appeal for fundamental or plain error “marks the end of the road for [an] argument for
reversal not first presented to the district court” (internal quotation marks omitted)). And,
while the Stones argue waiver does not apply in a jurisdictional case, we have applied this
rule when an appellant raised a new argument seeking reversal of a district court’s order
dismissing his complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Pornomo v. United
States,
814 F.3d 681, 686(4th Cir. 2016).
2 Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. We dispense with oral argument
because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
3
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished