Wilson Ochar v. Roy S. Rubenfield

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 25-1135
WILSON OCHAR,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
ROY S. RUBENFIELD,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Alexandria. Patricia Tolliver Giles, District Judge. (1:24-cv-01001-PTG-IDD)
Submitted: May 22, 2025 Decided: May 28, 2025
Before KING, AGEE, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed as modified by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Wilson Ochar, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Wilson Ochar filed this civil action in a Virginia circuit court, then removed it to
federal district court. The district court dismissed Ochar’s federal claims for failure to state
a claim, declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his state law claims, and
remanded the state law claims to the Virginia court. Ochar appeals.
Because Ochar removed his own complaint from state court to federal court, the
district court lacked jurisdiction over this action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) (providing that
only “the defendant or the defendants” may remove state action to federal court); Common
Cause v. Lewis, 956 F.3d 246, 252 (4th Cir. 2020) (indicating that removal is a
jurisdictional matter). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order as modified to
reflect that the federal claims are dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject matter
jurisdiction. We deny each of Ochar’s pending motions. 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 AS MODIFIED

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