Kelley Mala v. Crown Bay Marina
- Decided
- January 7, 2013
- Docket
- 10-4710
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,444 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that pro se litigants must “allege sufficient facts in their complaints to support a claim” — Marchisotto v. Malik (2022)
- holding that even pro se litigants “cannot flout procedural rules—they must abide by the same rules that apply to all other litigants” — Mills v. City of Philadelphia (2023)
- holding that “[a]t the end of the day, [pro se litigants] cannot flout procedural rules—they must abide by the same rules that apply to all other litigants” — Appelgren v. Recovery Centers of America at Lighthouse (2025)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
OPINION (January 7, 2013) Smith, Circuit Judge Kelley Mala sued Crown Bay Marina after his boat exploded. The District Court conducted a bench trial during which Mala represented himself and after which the court rejected his negligence claims. Mala now contends that the court should have provided him with additional assistance because of his status as a pro se litigant. He also contends that the court wrongfully denied his request for a jury trial and improperly ruled on a variety of post-trial motions. We reject these contentions and we will affirm.
I
Mala is a citizen of the United States Virgin Islands. On January 6, 2005, he went for a cruise in his powerboat near St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. When his boat ran low on gas, he entered Crown Bay Marina to refuel. Mala tied the boat to one of Crown Bay’s eight fueling stations and [*695] began filling his tank with an automatic gas pump. Before walking to the cash register to buy oil, Mala asked a Crown Bay attendant to watch his boat.
Statutes cited
Cite this
Kelley Mala v. Crown Bay Marina, 58 V.I. 691 (2013)Read the full opinion
Reading the library on this site uses your account’s daily calls, the same as the connector and the API. The Free plan needs no card. Calls a day on each plan.