Godaire v. Lomo

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT ___________________ No. 99-40322 Summary Calendar __________________ RAYMOND PETER GODAIRE, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus ADJETEY LOMO, Defendant-Appellee. _________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (G-96-CV-475) _________________________________________________________________ December 15, 1999 Before SMITH, BARKSDALE, and PARKER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Raymond Peter Godaire, (TDCJ # 613522), appeals the district court’s dismissal, as frivolous, of his civil rights complaint. He contends that the court erred by dismissing his complaint on the basis that it would not ultimately be successful. We review the dismissal of an action as frivolous for abuse of discretion. Booker v. Koonce, 2 F.3d 114, 115 (5th Cir. 1993). It is inappropriate to dismiss a claim because its realistic chance of ultimate success is slight; on the other hand, dismissal because the claim has no realistic chance of success is proper. Id. at 114, 115-16 & n.9. Although he maintains that the record was not * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. sufficiently developed to permit dismissing the complaint as frivolous, Godaire was allowed to develop his claims by providing specific responses to the magistrate judge’s questionnaire. See Eason v. Thaler, 14 F.3d 8, 9-10 (5th Cir. 1994). For his claim to be successful, Godaire was required to establish that Dr. Lomo was either personally involved in the constitutional deprivation or that Dr. Lomo’s acts were causally connected to the deprivation alleged. See Woods v. Edwards, 51 F.3d 577, 583 (5th Cir. 1995). Godaire failed to make such a showing. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion. AFFIRMED - 2 -