Pratt v. State of NH
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Pratt v. State of NH. Read the opinion of the Court — 23 F.3d 394 →
Opinion
USCA1 Opinion
May 6, 1994 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
___________________
No. 93-2068
RAYMOND E. PRATT, JR.,
Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellees.
__________________
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
[Hon. Joseph A. DiClerico, U.S. District Judge]
___________________
Before
Torruella, Boudin and Stahl,
Circuit Judges.
______________
___________________
Raymond E. Pratt on brief pro se.
________________
Jeffrey R. Howard, Attorney General, and Daniel J. Mullen,
__________________ ________________
Senior Assistant Attorney General, Civil Bureau, on brief for
appellees.
__________________
__________________
Per Curiam. Plaintiff, pro se, appeals the
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dismissal of his civil rights complaint for failure to state
a claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983, 1985(3). Plaintiff is
currently incarcerated at the New Hampshire State Prison
following his conviction for certain sex offenses. He
challenges the validity of his conviction, claiming that New
Hampshire's sexual assault laws are unconstitutional because
they permit a conviction to rest solely on the alleged
victim's uncorroborated testimony that a crime occurred.
Plaintiff seeks both equitable and monetary relief. He names
as defendants the State of New Hampshire, the Governor, the
Cheshire County Commissioner, the Keene Police Department and
his own trial attorney.
Since plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis,
the magistrate undertook a preliminary review of the
complaint prior to completing service. See 28 U.S.C.
___
1915(d). The magistrate construed the complaint as seeking
both habeas relief and damages. He identified several
deficiencies in the statement of the claims and afforded
plaintiff an opportunity to amend the complaint to cure the
defects, or face a recommended dismissal for failure to state
a claim. See Forte v. Sullivan, 935 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.
___ _____ ________
1991); Purvis v. Ponte, 929 F.2d 822, 826-27 (1st Cir. 1991).
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Plaintiff filed an objection to the report, and an amended
complaint. The amendments added factual allegations about
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plaintiff's criminal case but did not cure the defects the
magistrate had noted in his 1983 claims. Plaintiff
insisted that he did not intend his equitable claims as a
habeas petition; and emphasized that he intended to assert
claims under both sections 1983 and 1985(3). The magistrate
once again reviewed the complaint, observing additional
deficiencies in the claims under 1985, and afforded
plaintiff yet another opportunity to amend. Plaintiff did
not file a second amendment, but again objected to the
magistrate's report. After reviewing the objection, the
district court accepted the magistrate's report and
recommendation, dismissing the complaint.
Plaintiff states that he is currently pursuing a
motion to set aside the verdict and for a new trial in his
state criminal case, as well as a state habeas petition.1
It is thus apparent that his equitable claims were properly
dismissed as an attempt to circumvent the federal habeas
corpus exhaustion rule. Guerro v. Mulhearn, 498 F.2d 1249
______ ________
(1st Cir. 1974). Habeas corpus is the sole avenue for
seeking release from confinement based on an allegedly
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1. Plaintiff informed the district court of the pendency of
his state habeas petition in his objection to the
magistrate's initial report and in his amended complaint. In
this court he has filed a "Motion to Introduce Supporting
Evidence" in which he additionally alleges the pendency of a
motion to set aside the verdict and for a new trial in his
state criminal case.
-3-
unlawful conviction. Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 490
_______ _________
(1973).
While ordinarily civil rights monetary claims are
stayed during the pendency of parallel state criminal
proceedings, they, too, may be dismissed for failure to state
a claim where the ground for dismissal does not affect issues
that must be first decided by the state court. Accord Duncan
______ ______
v. Gunter, 15 F.3d 989 (10th Cir. 1994) (affirming dismissal
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on grounds which need not be first decided in state
proceedings); cf. Bettencourt v. Board of Registration in
___ ___________ _________________________
Medicine, 904 F.2d 772, 781 (1st Cir. 1990) (observing that
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Deakins v. Monaghan, 484 U.S. 193 (1988) ordinarily requires
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a stay of 1983 monetary claims which cannot be asserted i
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Related
Preiser v. Rodriguez
411 U.S. 475 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Polk County v. Dodson
454 U.S. 312 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Harlow v. Fitzgerald
457 U.S. 800 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Deakins v. Monaghan
484 U.S. 193 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Will v. Michigan Department of State Police
491 U.S. 58 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic
506 U.S. 263 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Elder v. Holloway
510 U.S. 510 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Thomas A. Guerro v. Roger F. Mulhearn, Ralph F. Andrews v. Kathy Decote Young
498 F.2d 1249 (First Circuit, 1974)
Henry Malachowski and Julia Malachowski v. City of Keene
787 F.2d 704 (First Circuit, 1986)
Paul E. Bettencourt, M.D. v. Board of Registration in Medicine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
904 F.2d 772 (First Circuit, 1990)
Kevin C. Purvis v. Joseph Ponte
929 F.2d 822 (First Circuit, 1991)
Michael B. Forte v. Janis Sullivan
935 F.2d 1 (First Circuit, 1991)
Duncan v. Gunter
15 F.3d 989 (Tenth Circuit, 1994)