B L D

- 1 9 0 NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

___ ________

No. 1 9

- 3 6 6 5

___________

A N T O N I O S I E R R A

, Appellant

v.

JOHN DANERI; TOM WO LF;

JOSH SHAPIRO; MICHAEL CLARK

____________________________________

On Appea l from the United S tates District Court

for the Western Distric t of P e n n s y l v a n i a

(D.C. Civil No. 1

- 19

- cv

- 00208 )

District Judge: Ho norable S u s a n P a r a d i s e B a x t e r

________________ ______ ______________

Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)( B) or

S ummary Action Pursuant to Third Circ uit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6

M a y 7

, 2 0 2 0

Before: A M B R O

, G R E E N A W A Y

, J R

. , a n d B I B A S

, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed : May 20

, 2020 )

__ _______

OPINION *

_________

PER CURIAM

A n t o n i o S i e r r a a p p e a l s p r o s e f r o m t h e Di strict Court’s o r d e r d i s m i s s i n g h i s

* Thi s dispositio n is not an opinion of the full C ourt and pursuant to I.O .P. 5.7 does not

constitute binding precedent.2 c omplaint pursuant to 28 U .S.C. § 1915(e)(2) ( B ) . We will d i s m i s s t h e a p p e a l as frivolous

under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i).

In 1998, following a jury trial in the of C o u r t Common Ple as o f Lebanon County

,

Sierra was con victed of t h i r t y

- o n e c r i m i n a l c o u n t s

, i n c l u d i n g c r i m i n a l a t t e m p t t o c o m m i t

c r i m i n a l h o m i c i d e

, r o b b e r y

, a n d a r s o n

. H e was sentenced to a t e r m o f t w e n t y t o s i x t y

y e a r s o f imprisonment. S i e r r a w a s u n s u c c e s s f u l o n d i r e c t a p p e a l a n d i n s t a t e p o s t

c o n v i c t i o n p r o c e e d i n g s

. H e a l s o a t t e m p t e d t o c h a l l e n g e h i s c o n v i c t i o n s i n t w o f e d e r a l

h a b e a s petitions

, b u t b o t h p e t i t i o n s w e r e d i s m i s s e d

.

I n J u l y 2 0 1 9

, S i e r r a filed a c o m p l a i n t p u r s u a n t t o 4 2 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 8 3 in the Dis tr ict

Court a g a i n s t J o h n D a n e r i

, t h e D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y o f E r i e C o u n t y ; T o m W o l f

, t h e G o v e r n o r

o f P e n n s y l v a n i a ; J o s h S h a p i r o

, t h e A t t o r n e y G e n e r a l o f P e n n s y l v a n i a ; a n d M i c h a e l C l a r k

,

t h e W a r d e n o f S C I

- A l b i o n

. S i e r r a c l a i m e d t h a t t h e d e f e n d a n t s v i o l a t e d h i s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l

r i g h t s b y m i s r e p r e s e n t i n g t o t h e c o u r t s ( i n h i s s t a t e a n d f e d e r a l p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n

p r o c e e d i n g s ) t h a t h i s 1 9 9 8 c o n v i c t i o n w a s f o r “ c r i m i n a l a t t e m p t t o c o m m i t c r i m i n a l

h o m i c i d e ” w h e n h e w a s a c t u a l l y c o n v i c t e d o f “ a t t e m p t e d t h i r d

- d e g r e e m u r d e r

. ” H e

e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e d e f e n d a n t s i n t e n t i o n a l l y m i s r e p r e s e n t e d h i s u n d e r l y i n g c o n v i c t i o n

b e c a u s e “ a t t e m p t e d t h i r d

- d e g r e e m u r d e r ” i s n o t a c r i m e t h a t i s r e c o g n i z e d u n d e r

P e n n s y l v a n i a l a w

. B y w a y o f r e l i e f

, S i e r r a a s k e d t h e D i s t r i c t C o u r t t o f i n d t h e d e f e n d a n t s

l i a b l e f o r t h e a l l e g e d c o n s t i t u t i o n a l v i o l a t i o n s

, a n d t o v a c a t e

, s e t a s i d e

, a n d d e c l a r e n u l l

a n d v o i d h i s c o n v i c t i o n f o r a t t e m p t e d t h i r d

- d e g r e e m u r d e r

.3 T he District Court granted S i e r r a leave to proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed

his complaint a s f r i v o l o u s a n d / o r f o r f a i l u r e t o s t a t e a c l a i m under § 1915(e)(2)(B) ( 1 )

- (ii)

o n t h e g r o u n d t h a t h i s c l a i m s w e r e b a r r e d b y Preiser v. Rodriguez , 411 U.S. 4 75, 500

(1973)

, a n d Heck v. Humphre y , 512 U.S. 477, 486

– 87 (1994). S i e r r a appeals

.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We e xercise plenary review of

the District Court’s dismi ssal f o r f a i l u r e t o s t a t e a c l a i m under § 1915(e)(2)

. D o o l e y v

.

W e t z e l

, N o

. 1 9

- 1 6 8 4

, 2 0 2 0 W L 1 9 8 2 1 9 4

, * 4 ( 3 d C i r

. A p r

. 2 7

, 2 0 2 0 )

. We apply the same

standard to the c ompla int’s dismissal as frivolous

. I d

.

T he District Co urt p r o p e r l y dismissed the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(e)(2)(B) ( i ) a n d ( i i )

. F i r s t

, a s t h e D i s t r i c t C o u r t e x p l a i n e d

, t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t S i e r r a

s o u g h t t o v a c a t e h i s u n d e r l y i n g c o n v i c t i o n o n t h e g r o u n d t h a t i t i s n o t r e c o g n i z e d b y

P e n n s y l v a n i a l a w

, his sole federal remedy is a writ of habeas c orpus, not a § 1983 action.

S e e Preiser , 411 U.S. a t 5 0 0

. S e c o n d

, t o the extent that S i e r r a c l a i m e d t h a t t h e d e f e n d a n t s

v i o l a t e d h i s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t s b y m i s r e p r e s e n t i n g h i s c o n v i c t i o n

, t h e r e c o r d i n d i c a t e s

t h a t h e w a s c o n v i c t e d o f c r i m i n a l a t t e m p t t o c o m m i t c r i m i n a l h o m i c i d e

, n o t a t t e m p t e d

t h i r d

- d e g r e e m u r d e r

. T h e r e f o r e

, t h i s c l a i m i s m e r i t l e s s

. L a s t l y

, t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t h i s

c o m p l a i n t c a n b e r e a d t o s e e k damages under § 1983 for h is allegedly illegal

confinement

, a favorable outcome would necessar ily demonstrate the invalidity of his

incarcerati on. Since S i e r r a ha s not successfully challenged his confinement in any state

or federal proceeding, he c o u l d not proceed under § 1983

. See Heck , 512 U.S. at 487 ;

s e e also Leamer v. Fauver , 288 F.3d 532, 5 42 (3d Cir. 2002).4 A c c o r d i n g l y , we will dismiss the appeal as frivo lous under 28 U.S.C.

§ 19 15(e) (2)( B)(i)

.