Obaydullah v. Obama

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OBAYDULLAH, Petitioner, Civil Case No. 08-01173 (RJL) FILED JAN 30 2013 C|erk, U.S. Dist_rict_& Bankruptcy MEM()RAN])UM ()R])ER Courts for the Destnct ot Cu|umbla (Januaryz:@zoiz) [# 1381 V. BARACK H. OBAMA, et al., S§&é/S\J\¢I§J Resp0ndents. On February 8, 2012, petitioner Obaydulluh filed a motion for relief from this Court’s March 24, 2011 order denying his motion for reconsideration. Pet’r’s Mot. for Relief Pursuant to R. 60(b)(2) ("Pet’r’s Mot.") [Dkt. # 138] at l. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(2), a court may award a party relief from a final judgment or order in light of "newly discovered evidence that, with reasonable diligence, could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b) . . . ."' To receive relief from an order under Rule 60(b)(2), the petitioner must demonstrate that "(1) the newly discovered evidence is of facts that existed at the time of the trial or merits proceeding; (2) the party seeking relief was ‘ justifiably ignorant of the evidence despite due diligence’; (3) the evidence is admissible and is ‘of such importance that it probably would have changed the outcome’; and (4) the evidence is not merely cumulative or impeaching." Almerfedi v. Obama, No. l:O5CVl645 (PLF), 2012 WL 55()8383, at *2 l Rule 59(b) permits a party to file a motion for a new trial no later than 28 days after the entry of judgment Fed R. Civ. P. 59(b). (D.D.C. Oct. 26, 20l2) (quoting Duc/cworth v. Um'ted States, 808 F. Supp. 2d 210, 216 (D.D.C. 2011)). In his motion, petitioner states that his military defense counsel recently learned from unnamed witnesses that the dried blood in petitioner’s car-originally attributed to transporting wounded al Qaeda members after a bomb explosion-was instead the product of his wife’s childbirth several days prior to petitioner’s detention. Pet’r’s Mot. at 4-5. Also, petitioner cites a second-hand report indicating that an unidentified witness previously misrepresented having "seen" petitioner transporting the wounded al Qaeda members; instead, the witness may have inferred that petitioner transported these members after seeing the blood in petitioner’s car. Id. at 6-7 (citing Decl. of Richard Pandis 11 14). Petitioner also cites other unidentified witness reports alleging, inter alz`a, that petitioner was forced to attend Taliban training; that a Soviet commander left mines on petitioner’s property; that petitioner’s house was further from the mines than originally reported; and that two unidentified men from petitioner’s village had sold false information to Americans. Pet’r’s Mot. at 6-8. Unfortunately, for petitioner, his motion does not present this Court with "newly discovered evidence" warranting relief under Rule 60(b)(2). Much of this evidence is not new at all-simply a rehash of evidence that 1 already considered and dismissed when denying his petition. See, e.g., Mem. Order, Oct. 19, 2010, at 9-10 [Dl