Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ared-3_20-cv-00131/USCOURTS-ared-3_20-cv-00131-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Candace Edwards
Defendant
DiAngelo Huffman
Plaintiff

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED ST ATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS 

NORTHERN DIVISION 

DIANGELO HUFFMAN 

v. No. 3:20-cv-131-DPM 

CANDACE EDWARDS, Circuit 

Court, Craighead County 

ORDER 

PLAINTIFF 

DEFENDANT 

1. Motion for status update, Doc. 3, granted. Huffman must be 

patient. It takes time for his papers to arrive in the mail, for the Court 

to review them, and for the Court's Orders to make their way back to 

Huffman. 

2. Motion to proceed in forma pauperis, Doc. 1, granted. Huffman 

must pay the filing fee, but over time. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(l). The Court 

assesses an initial partial fee of $3.83. After the initial fee is collected, 

Huffman's custodian must collect monthly payments from Huffman's 

prison trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds 

$10.00. These payments will be equal to twenty percent of the 

preceding month's income credited to the account; and they will be 

collected and forwarded to the Clerk of the Court until the $350.00 filing 

fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The payments forwarded on 

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Huffman's behalf must be clearly identified by case name and case 

number. 

3. The Court directs the Clerk to send a copy of this order to the 

Administrator of the Craighead County Detention Center, 901 Willett 

Road, Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401. 

4. The Court must screen Huffman's complaint. Doc. 2; 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915A. Public records show Huffman was charged with felony failure 

to appear and is awaiting trial in Craighead County, Arkansas. State v. 

Huffman, 16JCR-18-411. Huffman says he was wrongfully charged and 

detained with a bond set too high. He also says he is facing revocation 

proceedings based on past charges that were nolle prossed. And he 

claims he was assaulted by another inmate at the jail. Doc. 2. 

Huffman's claim about the assault while in custody is a challenge 

to his conditions of confinement. It must therefore be raised in a 

separate lawsuit. That claim is therefore dismissed without prejudice. 

The Court must abstain from proceeding with the remainder of 

Huffman's federal claims because his state criminal case is ongoing, 

Arkansas has an important interest in enforcing its criminal laws, and 

Huffman may raise his constitutional claims during his state criminal 

proceedings. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 43-45 (1971); Mounkes v. 

Conklin, 922 F. Supp. 1501, 1510-13 (D. Kansas 1996). Further, there's 

no indication of the bad faith or type of extraordinary circumstances 

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that would make abstention inappropriate. Tony Alamo Christian 

Ministries v. Selig, 664 F.3d 1245, 1254 (8th Cir. 2012). Huffman's 

remaining federal claims must therefore be put on hold until there's a 

final disposition of his pending state charges. Yamaha Motor 

Corporation, U.S.A. v. Stroud, 179 F.3d 598, 603-04 (8th Cir. 1999). 

* * * 

This case is stayed; and the Court directs the Clerk to 

administratively terminate it. Huffman can move to reopen this case 

after final disposition of his state case, including any appeal. Any 

motion to reopen must be filed within sixty days of that final 

disposition. If Huffman doesn't file a timely motion to reopen or a 

status report by 20 May 2021, then the Court will reopen the case and 

dismiss it without prejudice. 

So Ordered. 

D .P. Marshall Jr. 

United States District Judge 

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