Smith v. United States

CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedSeptember 26, 2024
Docket6:24-cv-04060
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Smith v. United States, (D.S.C. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA GREENVILLE DIVISION

Garrin David Smith, ) C/A No. 6:24-cv-04060-JFA-KFM ) Plaintiff, ) REPORT OF MAGISTRATE JUDGE ) vs. ) ) United States, Greenville County, ) Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, ) ) Defendants. ) ) This is a civil action filed by a pro se non-prisoner plaintiff. Pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Local Civil Rule 73.02(B)(2) (D.S.C.), this magistrate judge is authorized to review all pretrial matters in this case and submit findings and recommendations to the district court. For the reasons that follow, the undersigned recommends that this case be dismissed. The plaintiff’s complaint was entered on the docket on July 22, 2024 (doc. 1). By orders filed August 6, 2024, and August 28, 2024, the plaintiff was given a specific time frame in which to bring his case into proper form for judicial screening (docs. 8; 13). The plaintiff complied with the court’s orders, and the case is now in proper form for judicial screening. However, for the reasons that follow, it is recommended that this matter be dismissed. ALLEGATIONS This is a civil action filed by the plaintiff, a non prisoner proceeding pro se (doc. 1). The court takes judicial notice of the plaintiff’s convictions in the Greenville County General Sessions Court as well as in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.1 See Greenville County Public Index, https://publicindex.sccourts.org/ Greenville/PublicIndex/PISearch.aspx (enter the plaintiff’s name and H149064, H149065) (last visited September 26, 2024); see also United States v. Smith, C/A No. 6:04-cr-00466- TMC-1 (D.S.C.). The plaintiff’s charges in the Greenville County General Sessions Court were indicted and the plaintiff later pled guilty to each charge. See Greenville County Public Index (enter the plaintiff’s name and H149064, H149065) (last visited September 26, 2024). The plaintiff’s criminal charge in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina was indicted and the plaintiff pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. See United States v. Smith, C/A No. 6:04-cr-00466-TMC-1. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated his rights by obtaining an arrest warrant based on deliberate falsehoods (doc. 1 at 1). The plaintiff alleges that when he was arrested, there was never a neutral and detached magistrate involved, the warrant for his arrest was improperly issued, and the court did not have jurisdiction over the plaintiff (id. at 1, 5). The plaintiff contends that the actions by the defendants constituted false arrest (id. at 1–2). The plaintiff also contends that the warrant did not have his name on it, so he was illegally arrested (id. at 2, 5). The plaintiff contends that he was then forced to plead guilty to the charges after being arrested illegally in Jackson County, Georgia (id.). The plaintiff was later illegally extradited from Georgia to Greenville, South Carolina and only pled guilty after his attorney threatened him (id. at 3–4). The plaintiff alleges that the grand jury indictments were not issued legally (id. at 4). The plaintiff contends that agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) took him to Burger King to eat, which was illegal, and then illegally charged the plaintiff with a federal crime (id.). The plaintiff alleges that the federal officials acted outside of their 1 See Philips v. Pitt Cnty. Mem. Hosp., 572 F.3d 176, 180 (4th Cir. 2009) (explaining that courts “may properly take judicial notice of matters of public record”); Colonial Penn Ins. Co. v. Coil, 887 F.2d 1236, 1239 (4th Cir. 1989) (“We note that ‘the most frequent use of judicial notice is in noticing the content of court records.’”). 2 authority, which constituted fraud and violated his due process rights (id., at 4, 5). Because the criminal proceedings were void, the plaintiff alleges he is entitled to money damages because of the false imprisonment (id.). For relief, the plaintiff seeks money damages and to have the void charges expunged from his record (id.). APPLICABLE LAW & ANALYSIS The plaintiff filed this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the in forma pauperis statute. This statute authorizes the District Court to dismiss a case if it is satisfied that the action “fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” is “frivolous or malicious,” or “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). As a pro se litigant, the plaintiff’s pleadings are accorded liberal construction and held to a less stringent standard than formal pleadings drafted by attorneys. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89 (2007) (per curiam). The requirement of liberal construction does not mean that the Court can ignore a clear failure in the pleading to allege facts which set forth a claim cognizable in a federal district court. See Weller v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 901 F.2d 387, 391 (4th Cir. 1990). As an initial matter, although the instant matter is repetitive of earlier actions filed by the plaintiff, based upon the Heck bar, many of his prior actions were dismissed (in part or in whole) without prejudice. See Exhibit A; see also Hegedus v. Nationstar Mort. LLC, C/A No. 5:17-cv-00053, 2018 WL 146268, at *8 (W.D. Va. Feb. 1, 2018) (holding that dismissals for failure to state a claim are considered final judgments for purposes of res judicata unless “the prior action was expressly dismissed without prejudice”). As such, because the application of claim preclusion is unclear with respect to some of the plaintiff’s repetitive claims, the undersigned will address the pleading deficiencies with respect to each claim asserted in this action. Additionally, although this court does not have jurisdiction over actions that may have occurred in Georgia (involving defendant Jackson County Sheriff’s Office), the location of the plaintiff’s alleged constitutional violations is 3 unclear; thus, out of an abundance of caution for the pro se plaintiff, the undersigned has treated the allegations in the plaintiff’s complaint as arising within this court’s jurisdiction. The plaintiff’s complaint is barred by Heck v. Humphrey To the extent the plaintiff’s vague allegations of improper arrests, warrants, and convictions seeks money damages from the defendants for false imprisonment and improper incarceration, such claims are barred by Heck. Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). In Heck, the United States Supreme Court held that in order to recover damages for imprisonment in violation of the Constitution, the imprisonment must first be successfully challenged. Id. The Court stated: We hold that, in order to recover damages for allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment, or for other harm caused by actions whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, . . . a § 1983 plaintiff must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such a determination, or called into question by a federal court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

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Bluebook (online)
Smith v. United States, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-united-states-scd-2024.