Court Opinion

ID: 9899163
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-16 01:00:40.723899+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:28.506786
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40171         Document: 00516969149             Page: 1      Date Filed: 11/15/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                           Fifth Circuit

                                      ____________                                       FILED
                                                                                 November 15, 2023
                                        No. 23-40171                                  Lyle W. Cayce
                                      ____________                                         Clerk

   Brett Fountain,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                             versus

   Clifford Wayne Thomas; Wood County Criminal
   District Attorney’s Office; Angela Lea Albers,

                                               Defendants—Appellees.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Eastern District of Texas
                                USDC No. 6:22-CV-431
                      ______________________________

   Before Elrod, Oldham, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
          Brett Fountain was convicted of a misdemeanor traffic violation in
   Texas state court. Fountain then filed suit in federal district court under 42
   U.S.C. § 1983 against various officials involved in the state prosecution. For
   example, Fountain alleged that the special prosecutor “pretended he was the
   elected criminal district attorney of Wood County,” Texas.

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-40171     Document: 00516969149          Page: 2   Date Filed: 11/15/2023

                                   No. 23-40171

         Fountain’s claims are barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477
   (1994). Heck bars actions for damages under § 1983 (1) when a judgment in
   favor of the plaintiff would necessarily imply the invalidity of their
   conviction, and (2) that conviction has not “been reversed on direct appeal,
   expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized
   to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court’s
   issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254.” Id. at 486–87.
   Fountain’s conviction has not been reversed, expunged, or otherwise
   declared invalid. Accordingly, he cannot proceed with this § 1983 claim for
   damages. Id.; Johnson v. McElveen, 101 F.3d 423, 424 (5th Cir. 1996).
         AFFIRMED.

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