Robert Harvey, III v. Alexander Daniels, Officer, Forsyth Police Department

625 F. App'x 499
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 2, 2015
Docket14-14360
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 625 F. App'x 499 (Robert Harvey, III v. Alexander Daniels, Officer, Forsyth Police Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert Harvey, III v. Alexander Daniels, Officer, Forsyth Police Department, 625 F. App'x 499 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Robert Harvey, III appeals the district court’s sua sponte dismissal of his pro se 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint against Officer Alexander Daniels of the Forsyth Police Department. In his complaint, Harvey alleged that Daniels wrongfully arrested him for assaulting someone with a knife, and that the illegality of his arrest,and other evidence invalidated his conviction. He had already completed serving his prison sentence before filing his complaint. The district court dismissed the complaint without providing Harvey an opportunity to amend it. :

Qn appeal, Harvey does not expressly challenge any of the bases for the district court’s dismissal of his' complaint, but, instead, disputes the factual basis for the arrest at the heart of his ■ § 1983 complaint. 1

1.

A district court must'screen a complaint in a civil action in which'an indigent1 plaintiff seeks redress from a governmental entity, officer, or employee, and the court must dismiss the complaint if it, is frivolous, malicious, or -fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), (e)(2)(B). This Court reviews de novo a district court’s sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e)(2), Leal v. Georgia. Dept. of Corr., 254 F.3d 1276, 1278-79 (11th Cir.2001). A claim is frivolous only if it “lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact,” and.pro se pleadings must be liberally construed. Miller v. Donald, 541 F.3d 1091, 1100 (11th Cir. 2008) (quotations omitted), We may affirm on any basis supported by the record, regardless of whether the district court decided the case on that basis. Lucas v. W.W. Grainger, Inc., 257 F.3d 1249, 1256 (11th Cir.2001).

State prisoners must use habeas corpus, not § 1983, When seeking, whether directly or indirectly,- to invalidate their convictions: Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 78-82, 125 S.Ct. 1242, 1245-48, 161 L.Ed.2d 253 (2005). A prisoner indirectly challenges his confinement by requesting monetary damages for claims that would require a judicial determination about the invalidity of his conviction. Id. at 80-82, 125 S.Ct. at 1247-48. This bar to challenges under § 1983 to the fact or duration of confinement-was articulated by Heck v. *501 Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994), which held that a § 1983 action will not lie where “establishing the basis for the damages claim necessarily demonstrates the invalidity of the conviction.” Heck, 512 U.S. at 481-82, 114 S.Ct. at 2369-70. It is unclear, however, whether Heck bars § 1983 claims once, as in the instant case, a state prisoner is no longer in custody and cannot pursue habeas relief. See Morrow v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 610 F.3d 1271, 1272 (11th Cir.2010) (“[W]e do not understand Heck’s rule to extend to a case ... where Plaintiff is not in custody and where Plaintiff’s action ... in no way implies the invalidity of his conviction or of the sentence imposed by his conviction”) (citing Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 17, 118 S.Ct. 978, 988, 140 L.Ed.2d 43 (1998)).

A claimant is entitled to relief under § 1983 if he can prove that a person acting under color of state law deprived him of a federal right. Almand v. DeKalb Cnty., Ga., 103 F.3d 1510, 1513 (11th Cir.1997). We have identified malicious prosecution as a violation of the Fourth Amendment and a viable constitutional tort under § 1983. Wood v. Kesler, 323 F.3d 872, 881 (11th Cir.2003). The common law elements of malicious prosecution include: “(1) prosecution for a criminal offense; (2) instigated without probable cause; (3) .with malice; (4) under a valid warrant, accusation or summons; (5) which has terminated favorably to the plaintiff; and (6) has caused damage to the plaintiff.” Barnette v. Coastal Hematology & Oncology, P.C., 294 Ga.App. 733, 735, 670 S.E.2d 217, 220 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted).

We have also identified false arrest and false imprisonment as violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth' Amendment, respectively, and viable claims under § 1983. See Ortega v. Christian, 85 F.3d 1521, 1525-26 (11th Cir.1996). The common law elements of false arrest include: (1) an arrest under the process of law; (2) without probable cause; and (3) which is made maliciously. Mohamud v. Wachovia Corp., 260 Ga.App. 612, 612, 580 S.E.2d 259, 259 (2003). The common law elements of false imprisonment include: (1) the unlawful arrest, confinement, or detention of another, and (2) which is in violation of the individual’s personal liberty. Garcia v. State, 240 Ga.App. 53, 54, 527 S.E.2d 877, 878 (1999).

To avoid dismissal of a § 1983 claim, a plaintiff must allege facts showing he was deprived of a constitutional right by a person acting under color of state law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Holmes v. Crosby, 418 F.3d 1256, 1258 (11th Cir.2005). All constitutional claims brought under § 1983 are subject to the statute of limitations governing personal-injury actions'in the state where the § 1983 action Was brought. McNair v. Allen, 515 F.3d 1168, 1173 (11th Cir.2008). We independently review the district court’s ruling concerning the applicable statute of limitations. Uboh v. Reno, 141 F.3d 1000,1002 (11th Cir.1998). “Federal courts apply their-forum state’s statute of limitations for personal injury actions to actions brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.” Id. Federal law determines when the statute of limitations begins to run. Rozar v.

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Bluebook (online)
625 F. App'x 499, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-harvey-iii-v-alexander-daniels-officer-forsyth-police-department-ca11-2015.