HARPER v. ADAMS

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 24, 2022
Docket5:21-cv-00405
StatusUnknown

This text of HARPER v. ADAMS (HARPER v. ADAMS) 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
HARPER v. ADAMS, (M.D. Ga. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION DAVID LAMAR HARPER, Plaintiff, v. CIVIL ACTION NO. WILLIAM PATRICK ADAMS, SHARELL 5:21-cv-00405-TES FINCHER LEWIS, REBECCA L. GRIST, TIMOTHY T. MOORE, LEE W. ROHRBACH, and DAVID JOHN DAVIS, Defendants.

ORDER DISMISSING PLAINTIFF’S COMPLAINT

Pro se Plaintiff David Lamar Harper initiated this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against various state actors for their alleged involvement in his arrest, conviction, and eventual incarceration. See generally [Doc. 1]. At this point in the proceedings, all named Defendants have moved to dismiss the claims asserted against them pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See [Doc. 3]; [Doc. 13]; [Doc. 24]. Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s claims are barred by the statute of limitations, the doctrine expressed in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), and/or the applicable immunity doctrines. For the reasons discussed in detail below, the Court agrees. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendant Adams’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 3]; Defendants Davis, Moore, and Rohrbach’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 13]; and Defendants Lewis and Grist’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 24].

FACTUAL BACKGROUND The Court takes the following facts from Plaintiff’s Complaint. Unless otherwise noted, the Court assumes these facts to be true for the purpose of ruling on the pending

Motions. See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556 (2007). This action arises from a series of events that unfolded on March 12, 2014. [Doc. 1, p. 6]. On that date, Plaintiff represents that he was working as a bail recovery agent interested in capturing a

fugitive. [Id.]. Pursuant to this interest, Plaintiff entered someone else’s home— specifically, the home of Tina McDaniel—via a rear door to the garage. [Id.]. In response to Plaintiff’s entry into her home, McDaniel contacted the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department. [Id.]. Sergeant Timothy Moore arrived at the scene and instructed

McDaniel to report the incident as a criminal trespass. [Id.]. The next day, Officer Justin Leese arrived at McDaniel’s home and officially made an incident report citing Plaintiff for criminal trespass. [Id.]. Then, on March 14th, Deputy Lee W. Rohrback issued a

warrant for Plaintiff’s arrest based on information supplied to him by Sergeant Moore. [Id.]. Plaintiff was arrested for criminal trespass and causing damage to McDaniel’s property. [Id.]. On June 24, 2015, Judge William Adams presided over Plaintiff’s criminal trial

for trespassing. [Id. at p. 5]. Plaintiff alleges that the charges against him were invalid and that someone influenced his witnesses not to appear in court. [Id. at p. 6]. At trial, a jury convicted Plaintiff on two counts of trespassing. [Id.]. Plaintiff appealed his

convictions to the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. [Id. at p. 6]. He alleges that “the decisions of the courts were erroneous [sic] violating criminal procedure and due process[.]” [Id.]. On November 13, 2018, Plaintiff was incarcerated at

the Bibb County Jail in Macon, Georgia, to serve out his sentences. [Id.]. Nearly three years after the date of his incarceration, Plaintiff sued Defendants for unspecified violations of his Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth

Amendment rights. See generally [Doc. 1]. The Court sets out the specific allegations brought against each Defendant below. As to Sergeant Moore, Plaintiff claims that he (1) “violated criminal procedure”; (2) “conspire[d] to commit false imprisonment under the color of legal process”; (3)

“instructed [McDaniel] to make a false 911 call . . .”; (4) “improperly obtained a case number”; (4) “fabricated probably [sic] cause”; (5) “improperly identified [him]”; (6) “tampered with evidence”; (7) “influenced witnesses”; and (8) “remained anonymous

(not testifying for the State).” [Id. at p. 4]. As to Officer Rohrbach, Plaintiff claims that he (1) “violated criminal procedure”; (2) “falsified an incident report and warrant”; and (3) committed perjury. [Id. at pp. 4– 5].

As to McDaniel, Plaintiff claims that she (1) “[c]onspir[ed] to commit false imprisonment under the color of legal process”; (2) “falsified a 911 call”; (3) “tampered with evidence”; (4) “influenced witnesses”; and (5) “committed perjury on the stand.”

[Id. at p. 5]. As to (then) Chief Assistant General Solicitor Lewis, Plaintiff claims that she (1) “conspir[ed] to commit false imprisonment under the color of legal process”; (2)

“violated criminal procedure”; (3) “created and prosecuted two invalid accusations”; (4) “influenced witnesses”; (5) “tampered with evidence”; (6) and “subordination [sic] to perjury.” [Id.]. Relatedly, Plaintiff brings claims against Solicitor General Rebecca Grist

on the ground that she is responsible for Lewis’s actions and “his illegal prosecution.” [Id.]. As to Judge Adams, Plaintiff claims that he (1) “violat[ed] criminal procedure”; (2) “presided over the case having no jurisdiction[]”; (3) “[d]id not provide[] checks and

balances[]”; (4) “[a]llowed [m]ultiple crimes to take place[]”; and (5) “sentence[d] beyond the guidelines to attack [b]ail [r]ecovery [l]aw.” [Id.]. And lastly, Plaintiff claims that Sheriff Davis was responsible for the deputy

officers involved in this action, and he allowed them “to commit crimes and stage crime scenes.” [Id.]. As a result, he alleges that Sheriff Davis committed multiple violations of criminal procedure. [Id.]. LEGAL STANDARD

When ruling on a 12(b)(6) motion, district courts must accept the facts set forth in the complaint as true. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 572 (2007). A complaint survives a motion to dismiss only if it alleges sufficient factual matter (accepted as true) that states a claim

for relief that is plausible on its face. McCullough v. Finley, 907 F.3d 1324, 1333 (11th Cir. 2018) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678–79 (2009)). In fact, a well-pled complaint “may proceed even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of those facts is improbable,

and that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556 (citations omitted). Although Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 does not require detailed factual

allegations, it does require “more than [ ] unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed- me accusation[s].” McCullough, 907 F.3d at 1333 (citation omitted). To decide whether a complaint survives a motion to dismiss, district courts are instructed to use a two-step framework. Id. The first step is to identify the allegations that are “no more than mere

conclusions.” Id. (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679). “Conclusory allegations are not entitled to the assumption of truth.” Id. (citation omitted). After disregarding the conclusory allegations, the second step is to “assume any remaining factual allegations are true and

determine whether those factual allegations ‘plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.’” Id. (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679). Furthermore, a complaint attacked by a 12(b)(6) motion is subject to dismissal when it fails to “give the defendant fair notice of what the . . .

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