FLORENCE v. JACKSON

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 20, 2023
Docket4:23-cv-00110
StatusUnknown

This text of FLORENCE v. JACKSON (FLORENCE v. JACKSON) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
FLORENCE v. JACKSON, (M.D. Ga. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA COLUMBUS DIVISION

KIM CAMILLE FLORENCE, M.D., : : Plaintiff, : : NO. 4:23-cv-110-CDL-MSH VS. : : DISTRICT ATTORNEY : STACEY JACKSON, et al., : : Defendants. : ________________________________ :

ORDER AND RECOMMENDATION OF DISMISSAL

Plaintiff Kim Camille Florence, M.D., a pretrial detainee in the Muscogee County Jail in Columbus, Georgia, filed a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 1. She also moved to proceed in forma pauperis. ECF Nos. 2; 8. The Court granted Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis and ordered her to pay an initial partial filing fee.1 ECF No. 8. Plaintiff has now paid the required fee. For reasons shown below, it is RECOMMENDED that Plaintiff’s “Motion for Emergent Writ of Habeas Corpus for Immediate Release from Muscogee County Jail” (ECF No. 5); “Extraordinary Motion for Emergency Injunctive Relief via Emergent Execution of Writ of Habeas Corpus” (ECF No. 11); and “Demand for Emergent Bond

1 Plaintiff filed two more motions to proceed in forma pauperis. ECF Nos. 10; 12. It is ORDERED that these motions are DENIED as moot. 1 Hearing” (ECF No. 15) be DENIED. It is also RECOMMENDED the complaint be DISMISSED without prejudice for both failure to follow the Court’s instructions and failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

I. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE COURT’S INSTRUCTIONS Plaintiff named five defendants in the heading of her original complaint: District Attorney Stacey Jackson, Mayor Skip Henderson, Sheriff Greg Countryman, Police Chief Freddie Blackmon, and Jail Commander Larry Mitchell. ECF No. 1 at 1. In response to question twelve on the standard 42 U.S.C. § 1983 form, which asks for the name, official

position, and place of employment of each defendant in the lawsuit, Plaintiff listed: Judge Steven D. Smith, Judge Art Smith, Judge Bobby Peters, Sheriff Greg Countryman, Clerk Reginald Thompson, Prosecutor Chris Berault, Freddy Blackmon, and Larry Mitchell. Id. at 4-5. Thus, it was unclear who Plaintiff wanted to sue. Unfortunately, her Statement of Claim, section V on the § 1983 form, only added to

the confusion. Plaintiff complained that “since 2011” she had been “abused” by the Muscogee County Jail and “legal system.” Id. at 6. She stated that she was “illegally evicted, transgressed, violated criminally, and exploited several times dating 2011, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, and now in 2023.” Id. at 7. Plaintiff alleged she faced “false accusations and false criminal charges” in the state courts. Id. She complained that judges and

prosecutors ignored “exculpatory evidence.” Id. at 8. Plaintiff stated that on May 5, 2021, jail officials placed a mentally ill “criminal” inside the holding cell with her and this individual attacked her, causing Plaintiff to lose vision in her left eye. Id. 2 Plaintiff indicated she was most recently evicted from her home and arrested on outstanding bench warrants in May 2023. Specifically, she stated that the Muscogee County Sheriff illegally executed a “writ of possession, eviction, and bench warrant” on

May 18, 2023, and she was being denied a fair trial. Id. at 6, 8. Plaintiff requested (1) immediate release from the Muscogee County Jail, (2) to have the Court “honor contract giving [her] the right to property and possession of 2525 Skylake Dr., Columbus, Georgia,” and (3) a “jury trial on all criminal charges.” Id. at 11. In its July 10, 2023 Order, the Court pointed out the various deficiencies in

Plaintiff’s complaint and ordered her to file an amended complaint if she wanted to proceed with this action. ECF No. 4. Plaintiff was informed that the Court could not grant her any of the relief she requested; it could not interfere with her ongoing criminal prosecution; and it appeared many of her claims were time-barred. Id. at 2-3. The Court provided instructions regarding how to file a recast complaint. Id. at 3-5. Plaintiff was told to file

one complaint, which should be no longer than ten pages. Id. at 5. Plaintiff was ordered not to include attachments or exhibits. Id. Plaintiff was ordered to list each defendant she wanted to sue in the heading of her complaint and in the Statement of Claims section of the complaint, list each defendant again and tell the Court exactly how and when each defendant violated Plaintiff’s constitutional or federal statutory rights. Id. at 4. Plaintiff

was told she must provide facts to support her claims because conclusory allegations, such as those in her original complaint, do not state viable claims. Id. The Court also ordered that Plaintiff raise only related claims and instructed her how to do so. Id. at 3-4. 3 The Court informed Plaintiff that the recast complaint would take the place of and supersede her original complaint. Id. at 5. Plaintiff was told that failure to follow the Court’s instructions would result in the dismissal of her action. Id. at 5.

Unfortunately, Plaintiff failed to follow the instructions. Plaintiff filed a twenty- two-page amended complaint (ECF No. 6) followed by a second seven-page complaint with an attached twelve-page “statement” (ECF Nos 9; 9-1). She later filed a forty-six- page supplement to the complaint (ECF No. 13) and a twenty-page “material facts/brief.” (ECF No. 14). Thus, while the Court ordered Plaintiff to file one recast complaint no longer

than ten pages and not to include any exhibits or attachments, Plaintiff has filed over one- hundred pages of various complaints, attachments, statements, supplements, and briefs. Interpreting these various filings is difficult, if not impossible. One thing that is clear in every document, however, is that the relief Plaintiff seeks is release from the Muscogee County Jail, which the Court already informed her is not a remedy available in

a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. ECF No. 4 at 2; ECF No. 5 (“Motion for emergent writ of habeas corpus for immediate release from Muscogee County Jail where I Kim [not Kimberly] Camille Florence, MD is being held illegally”); ECF No. 6 at 6 (seeking “emergent release from Muscogee County Jail”); ECF No. 9 at 7 (seeking “emergent execution of writ of habeas corpus for immediate release from Muscogee County Jail”);

ECF No 11 (“Extraordinary Motion for Emergency Injunctive Relief via Emergent Execution of Writ of Habeas Corpus”). Contrary to Plaintiff’s argument, her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaints are NOT “legal document[s] in support of petition for writ of habeas 4 corpus.” ECF No. 6 at 6. This is a civil rights action separate from any habeas that Plaintiff has filed, or may file, in this Court. While Plaintiff may seek habeas relief in this Court after she has exhausted available state remedies, she may not do so in this 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983 action. It is still not entirely clear who Plaintiff wishes to name as defendants or what many of these defendants did, or did not do, that violated her rights. Plaintiff lists eight defendants in the heading of her first recast complaint: (1) District Attorney Stacy Jackson, (2) Sheriff Greg Countryman, (3) “Chief of Cops” Freddie D. Blackmon, (4) Jail

Commander Larry Mitchell, (5) “Drug Addict in DA’s Office” Chris Berault, (6) Superior Court Judge Bobby Peterson,” (7) “Magistrate, Municipal Court Steven D. Smith,” and (8) Deputy Sheriff Calvin Parker. ECF No. 6 at 1.

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Bluebook (online)
FLORENCE v. JACKSON, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/florence-v-jackson-gamd-2023.