Tillman v. Orange County

519 F. App'x 632
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 17, 2013
DocketNo. 12-11520
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 519 F. App'x 632 (Tillman v. Orange County) 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
Tillman v. Orange County, 519 F. App'x 632 (11th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Earnest Tillman, appearing pro se, appeals the district court’s dismissal of his claims, arising under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and under state law, against the Orange County Sheriffs Office; Sheriffs Kevin Beary and Jerry Demings; and Deputy Sheriffs Phillips Parks Duncan, Timothy Henri-quez, Carlos Torres, Sylvester Herrera, and Donald Melville. In his complaint, Tillman alleged that he was charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence based on the falsified charging affidavits of Henriquez, Duncan, and Melville, and convicted based on the false trial testimony of Henriquez and Torres. Although Tillman’s conviction was initially affirmed in Tillman v. State, 807 So.2d 106 (Fla. Dist.Ct.App.2002), the Florida Supreme Court later quashed it, concluding that Florida law only made it criminal to resist an officer in an arrest situation, as opposed to an investigatory situation. Tillman v. State (Tillman II), 934 So.2d 1263 (Fla.2006), superseded by statute, Fla. Stat. [635]*635§ 776.051(1), as recognized in J.M. v. Gargett, 101 So.3d 352 (Fla.2012). On remand, the state trial court found that the deputy sheriffs were not lawfully executing their legal duty at the time of Tillman’s arrest, and Tillman’s conviction and sentences were set aside for lack of probable cause to arrest and prosecute. Tillman then filed this lawsuit.

In this appeal, Tillman argues that the district court erred by: (1) dismissing his conspiracy to maliciously prosecute claim (against Henriquez, Duncan, Melville, and Torres) and his intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) claim (against all defendants) as time-barred; and (2) granting summary judgment against his malicious prosecution claim (against Henri-quez) based on the preclusive effect of a conviction that was entirely set aside. The Appellees argue that the district court’s dismissal of Tillman’s conspiracy claim may be affirmed under the intracorporate conspiracy doctrine. After careful review, we affirm in part, and vacate and remand in part.

We review de novo the grant of a motion to dismiss, accepting as true the complaint’s factual allegations and construing them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Glover v. Liggett Group, Inc., 459 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir.2006). We also review the application of statutes of limitations de novo. Center for Biological Diversity v. Hamilton, 453 F.3d 1331, 1334 (11th Cir.2006). And, we review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment, applying the same standard as the district court. Burton v. Tampa Housing Auth., 271 F.3d 1274, 1276-77 (11th Cir.2001). Finally, we review de novo a district court’s legal conclusions about collateral estoppel. Richardson v. Miller, 101 F.3d 665, 667-68 (11th Cir.1996).

First, we agree with Tillman that the district court erred in dismissing his conspiracy and IIED claims as time-barred. Although § 1983 provides a federal cause of action, we look to the law of the state in which the cause of action arose to determine the length of the statute of limitations. Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384, 387, 127 S.Ct. 1091, 166 L.Ed.2d 973 (2007). Florida has a four-year statute of limitations for personal-injury torts. Chappell v. Rich, 340 F.3d 1279, 1283 (11th Cir.2003); Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(o)-(p). However, the accrual date of a § 1983 claim, from which the statute of limitations begins to run, is determined by federal law. Wallace, 549 U.S. at 388, 127 S.Ct. 1091. Section 1983 accrual occurs when the plaintiff has a “complete and present cause of action” and can thus “file suit and obtain relief.” See Bay Area Laundry & Dry Cleaning Pension Trust Fund v. Ferbar Corp. of Cal., 522 U.S. 192, 201, 118 S.Ct. 542, 139 L.Ed.2d 553 (1997) (quotation omitted).

For § 1983 claims that “necessarily imply the invalidity of [a] conviction or sentence,” plaintiffs have no cause of action and cannot file suit until that conviction or sentence has been invalidated. Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486-87, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994). Heck thus institutes a rule of deferred accrual, “delaying] what would otherwise be the accrual date of a tort action until the setting aside of an extant conviction which success in that tort action would impugn.” Wallace, 549 U.S. at 393, 127 S.Ct. 1091 (emphasis omitted).

Whether a claim necessarily implicates the invalidity of a conviction is a “fact-specific question requiring careful review.” Abusaid v. Hillsborough Cnty. Bd. of Cnty. Commis., 405 F.3d 1298, 1315-17 n. 9 (11th Cir.2005); see Heck, 512 U.S. at 489-90, 114 S.Ct. 2364 (“[A] § 1983 cause of action for damages attributable to an unconstitutional conviction or sentence [636]*636does not accrue until the conviction or sentence has been invalidated.”).

As the record shows here, Tillman’s complaint alleges that his conspiracy claim is based on a conspiracy to maliciously prosecute, a claim that benefits from the Heck rule of delayed accrual. Construing Tillman’s •pro se pleadings liberally, see Tannenbaum v. United States, 148 F.3d 1262, 1263 (11th Cir.1998), Tillman has also adequately alleged his IIED damages to be based on malicious prosecution. Because Heck prevented Tillman from bringing his conspiracy and IIED claims, both based on malicious prosecution, until the underlying conviction was reversed, the district court erred in dismissing Tillman’s conspiracy and IIED claims as time-barred.

Nevertheless, we conclude that Tillman’s conspiracy claim does not survive. The intracoi'porate conspiracy doctrine, under which “a corporation cannot conspire with its employees, and its employees, when acting in the scope of their employment, cannot conspire among themselves,” applies to § 1983 conspiracy claims. Glider v. City of Auburn, 618 F.3d 1240, 1260-61 (11th Cir.2010) (quotation omitted). The intracorporate conspiracy doctrine also applies to public entities, like the Oi’ange County Sheriffs Office, and its personnel. See id. at 1261. Because the subject of the alleged conspiracy in this case — prosecution of Tillman by false charges — “involves job-related functions well within [their] scope of employment as police officers,” Tillman’s conspiracy to maliciously prosecute claim must be dismissed. See id. at 1261-62. Thus, the district court did not err in dismissing Tillman’s conspiracy claim. See Bircoll v. Miami-Dade Cnty.,

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519 F. App'x 632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tillman-v-orange-county-ca11-2013.