Patrick v. Rodriguez

District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania·Decided March 18, 2024·No. 3:23-cv-00672·Unknown

Opinion

| IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT | FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA | QUINCY MICHAEL PATRICK, : No. 3:23cv672 | Plaintiff : : (Judge Munley) | V. : | : (Magistrate Judge Schwab) | JOHN RODRIGUEZ, et al., | Defendants : J SSE | MEMORANDUM | Before the court is the report and recommendation (“R&R”) of Magistrate | Judge Susan E. Schwab in this civil rights action filed by Plaintiff Quincy Michael | Patrick pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”). (Doc. 10). Plaintiff timely filed objections to the R&R (Doc. 11) and this matter is ripe for disposition." Background | Plaintiff does not object to the facts set forth by Magistrate Judge Schwab. | Finding no evidence of plain error’, the court thus adopts them as follows: | Patrick lists the following in the caption as defendants: (1) John Rodriguez (“Officer Rodriguez”); (2) Judge Michael J. | Dotzel (“Judge Dotzel”); (3) the Wilkes-Barre Township | Police Department; (4) “victims”; (5) “district attorney”; (6) po | 1 Plaintiffs objection is styled “Objection to the Report and Recommendation [and] [m]otion for | extension of time to appeal order.” The court only addresses plaintiffs objections at this juncture. | 2 See FED. R. Civ. P. 72(b) 1983 Advisory Committee Notes (“When no timely objection is filed, | the court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record to accept | the recommendation”)

| “Luzerne county Convention ctr. Auth Mohegan sun arena” (“Luzerne County Convention Center Authority”); (7) | “Disney productions or motion picture | employment/security/supervisor” (“Disney”); and (8) | “police officers on case” (“unnamed police officers”). Doc. | 6 at 1. He alleges the following facts in his amended complaint. | On January 12, 2023, while Patrick was at an event— | Disney on Ice—at the Mohegan Sun Arena, he was | approached by three or more police officers from the | Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department, who requested | that he speak to them. Id. at 6. | Patrick asked the officers if he was free to leave, and they responded that he was not. Id. Patrick recounts that he did | not feel the need or want to answer questions from the officers. Id. The officers then told Patrick “if [he] did not provide them [his] name [he] would be arrested.” Id.

While walking with the officers, Patrick asked what crime he had committed. Id. According to Patrick, he felt that he | was being interrogated, that he was under duress, and that | he was unsafe. Id. at 7. None of the officers would tell him | why he was being questioned, and they told him that if he | did not provide his name, he would be arrested for | obstruction of justice. Id. | After Patrick provided his name and address, the officers told him to leave the event or he would be arrested for | trespassing or some other charge. Id. Patrick then asked | to speak to the supervisor of the event, who also told | Patrick that he had to leave. Patrick requested a refund of what he had paid for his tickets to the event, but he never received such, and he left the event. Id.

| Later, Patrick received notice of criminal charges in the mail. Id. at 7. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and he | had a trial before Magisterial District Judge Dotzel. Id. At | trial, Judge Dotzel asked Patrick a question, which Patrick did not understand. Id. According to Patrick, after he asked | a Clarifying question in return, Judge Dotzel became unprofessional. Id. Judge Dotzel allegedly told Patrick that | since he did not want to give an oath, he was finding him | guilty without a hearing. Id. Patrick filed a summary appeal to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, where he | was found not guilty. Id. As relief, Patrick wants the “police officers and judge and | event staff to be held accountable for this illegal arrest false | police report malicious prosecution” and he is seeking monetary compensation. Id. at 7. Patrick repeatedly alleges that the officers did not have probable cause. Id. at 4. (Doc. 10 at 2-3). Magistrate Judge Schwab recommends that plaintiff's pro se amended complaint (Doc. 6) be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) for failure to | state claims against these defendants. The magistrate judge further recommends that plaintiff be provided one final opportunity to correct deficiencies | in his pleading as to his claims against Defendants Officer Rodriguez and the unnamed police officers. Plaintiff timely filed objections to the R&R and this matter is thus ripe for disposition.

Jurisdiction | As this case is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for constitutional otto, the court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (“The district courts | shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”). Furthermore, the court has jurisdiction

| pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343(a) | Standard of Review 1. Reports and Recommendations When a party files objections to a magistrate judge's report and recommendation on a dispositive motion, the district court must make a de novo determination of those portions of the report to which objections are made. 28 | U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); FED. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3); see also Henderson v. Carlson, 812 F.2d 874, 877 (3d Cir.1987). This court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge. | The district court judge may also receive further evidence or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions. Id. 2. Screening of Actions Filed In Forma Pauperis | Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e), which applies to civil actions commenced in forma pauperis (“IFP”), the court shall dismiss the matter if it determines that the

| action: 1) “is frivolous or malicious,” 2) “fails to state a claim on which relief may

| be granted,” or 3) “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)-(iii). Although enacted as part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, “the provisions of § 1915(e)(2) apply to all IFP complaints, not simply those filed by prisoners.” Atamian v. Burns, 236 F. App'x | 753, 755 (3d Cir. 2007)(citing Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103, 1114n. 19 (3d Cir. 2002); Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000)). In screening claims under Section 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), district courts apply the

same standard governing motions to dismiss filed pursuant to Federal Rule of | Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See, e.g., Smithson v. Koons, No. 15cev1757, 2017 WL 3016165, at *3 (M.D. Pa. June 26, 2017); Tourscher v. McCullough, 184 F.3d 236, 240 (3d Cir. 1999). In deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the court must accept as true the factual allegations in the complaint and draw all reasonable inferences from them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Phillips v.

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