Tony C. Thomas, for the Estate of Thalia Dukes v. Lawrence S. Craige

This Court has yet to resolve the question lying at the core of this appeal, which has produced a split amongst this country's federal judiciary: whether the rights preserved by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution attachs to the RookerFeldman doctrine where the defendant (not the clerk of court) authored a document announcing a hearing date in the State Court, adding the words, "or when the Judge is available." While Petitioner waited for a date certain from the judge, defendant, in the absence of Petitioner, convinced the judge to dismiss the matter, nullifying the jury trial that was scheduled. North Carolina Supreme Court refused get involved. The essential issue raised is whether the Rooker-Feldman doctrine can bar a federal suit where the Plaintiff was denied the opportunity to present his case in state court. Moreover, the RookerFeldman jurisdictional bar is a narrow one, and was applied too broadly in this case. Defendant was appointed guardian of the Estate of Plaintiff's mother (Thalia Dukes). Her bank account was more than adequate to satisfy her bills at the nursing home. Nevertheless, defendant placed a document in front of petitioner asking his permission to sell the many properties owned by his mother and to waive his right to complain.