Opinion ID: 184273
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Strike

Text: Hafed v. Brooks was a civil rights suit appellant filed against three federal prosecutors and an FBI agent in the Southern District of Indiana on January 3, 2006. See D.C. No. 06-cv-00005-RLY-TAB, Doc. 1. On January 11, the district court granted ifp and dismissed the case without prejudice under § 1915A(b) because appellant alleged facts showing that he had no claim, that is, because the complaint failed to state a claim. See Brooks, D.C. No. 06-cv-00005-RLY-TAB, Doc. 4, at 2. The court held that appellant could not use a civil rights action to challenge his criminal detention, that he failed to allege the defendants' personal participation in an alleged assault in prison, and that his claims alleging that the defendants violated his constitutional rights by causing him to be charged with a crime were premature under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994), because his criminal convictions had not been nullified. Brooks, D.C. No. 06-cv-00005, Doc. 4, at 2. In Jennings, we addressed whether dismissals under § 1915(e)(2)(B) should count as strikes, but we did not decide whether a district court's dismissal subsequent to screening under § 1915A should count as a strike. See Jennings, 175 F.3d at 778-79. We now hold that a dismissal under § 1915A counts as a strike when the action was dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, the same grounds listed in § 1915(g). The Southern District of Indiana's dismissal in Brooks satisfies the standard for a strike under § 1915A(b)(1) and § 1915(g). At the time appellant brought his civil rights action in Brooks, he was a prisoner ... detained in any facility within the meaning of § 1915(g). The PLRA defines `prisoner' as `any person incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.' Merryfield v. Jordan, 584 F.3d 923, 927 (10th Cir.2009) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(h)). The docket sheet for appellant's criminal case shows that he was a detainee awaiting trial when he filed Brooks on January 3, 2006. See United States v. Shaaban , 1:05-CR-34-LJM-KPF-01 (S.D.Ind.), Doc. 1 (Nov. 16 & 18, 2005, entries showing appellant's remand to federal custody and arrest prior to trial in January 2006). As a result, the dismissal in Brooks may be counted as a strike under the plain language of § 1915(g). To the extent that the district court left it unclear that it considered all of the stated grounds for the dismissal in Brooks to be for appellant's failure to state a claim, we have previously upheld a dismissal of a prisoner's claims for damages on the basis that they were premature under Heck and failed to state a claim. See Davis v. Kan. Dep't of Corr., 507 F.3d 1246, 1248, 1249 (10th Cir.2007). Thus, in Brooks, the action was dismissed for failure to state a claim and was a strike. Because appellant did not appeal, the dismissal counts from March 13, 2006, when appellant's sixty days to appeal to the Seventh Circuit expired. See Jennings, 175 F.3d at 780; Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(1)(B).