Court Opinion

ID: 2963806
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:15:24.92527+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:42:46.855649
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

          January 10, 1996      [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

                                                     
                                 ____________________

        No. 95-1345

                                  JOSE L. RODRIGUEZ,

                                Plaintiff, Appellant,

                                          v.

                               JUDD J. CARHART, ET AL.,

                                Defendants, Appellees.

                                                     
                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

                       [Hon. Rya W. Zobel, U.S. District Judge]
                                           ___________________

                                                     
                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                Cyr, Boudin and Lynch,
                                   Circuit Judges.
                                   ______________

                                                     
                                 ____________________

             Jose L. Rodriguez on brief pro se.
             _________________
             Walter B. Prince and Peckham, Lobel, Casey, Prince & Tye on brief
             ________________     ___________________________________
        for appellee Judd Carhart.
             George Criss on brief pro se.
             ____________
             Lisa Poblocki and Dolores E. O'Neill on brief for appellee Robert
             _____________     __________________
        Craig.
             Scott Harshbarger,  Attorney General, and Elisabeth  J. Medvedow,
             _________________                         ______________________
        Assistant Attorney General, on brief for appellee Sydney Hanlon.

                                                     
                                 ____________________

                                                     
                                 ____________________

                      Per Curiam.  Jose Rodriguez appeals from a district
                      __________

            court  judgment dismissing  his civil  rights claim  under 42

            U.S.C.   1983,  together with pendent state-law  claims.  His

            section 1983  claim charged  that  prosecutor Sydney  Hanlon,

            defense counsel Judd Carhart, court officer Robert Craig, and

            court  reporter   George  Criss   conspired  to   ensure  his

            conviction by  unconstitutional means  and to cover  up their

            misconduct  by  withholding,  losing  or   altering  critical

            transcripts.    We  affirm  the  district  court's  dismissal

            ruling,  in accordance with Heck v. Humphrey, 114 S. Ct. 2364
                                        ____    ________

            (1994),   but  remand  to  permit  entry  of  a  judgment  of

            dismissal, without prejudice.   See Guzman-Rivera v.  Rivera-
                       _______ _________    ___ _____________     _______

            Cruz, 29 F.3d 3, 6 (1st Cir. 1994).  The      claim      that
            ____

            defendants conspired  to  procure Rodriguez's  conviction  by

            unconstitutional  means,  and  to  cover  up  their  actions,

            essentially  challenges  the   validity  of  the   underlying

            conviction.  See Abella  v. Rubino, 63 F.3d 1063,  1065 (11th
                         ___ ______     ______

            Cir. 1995) (per curiam) (dismissing, under Heck, Bivens claim
                                                       ____  ______

            that defendants  conspired to ensure civil action plaintiff's

            conviction  by fabricating  testimony and  other evidence  in

            criminal  trial); Boyd v. Biggers, 31 F.3d 279, 283 (5th Cir.
                              ____    _______

            1994) (per curiam)  (dismissing, under Heck,  a   1983  claim
                                                   ____

            that  defendants  had  conspired  to  convict   civil  action

            plaintiff by providing ineffective assistance of counsel  and

            withholding  exculpatory  evidence  in criminal  proceeding);

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            Bell  v. Peters, 33 F.3d 18,  19 (7th Cir. 1994) (per curiam)
            ____     ______

            (vacating,  under Heck, a  judgment on the  merits of section
                              ____

            1983 plaintiff's claim that  his criminal conviction had been

            procured   by   unconstitutional   conduct;   remanding   for

            determination as  to whether conviction had been overturned).

            The holding  in Heck applies  retroactively.  See  Abella, 63
                            ____                          ___  ______

            F.3d at 1064; Boyd, 31 F.3d at 282 n.2.
                          ____

                      Since  Craig  and Criss  had  defaulted  before the

            district  court  dismissed   the  present  action,  Rodriguez

            argues, citing Quirindongo Pacheco v. Rolon Morales, 953 F.2d
                           ___________________    _____________

            15  (1st Cir. 1992), that  he should have  been notified that

            the court intended to review the sufficiency of the complaint

            against those  defendants.   Unlike in the  Quirindongo case,
                                                        ___________

            id. at  16, neither prior  notice nor an  evidentiary hearing
            __

            would  have  been useful  to  Rodriguez  since Heck  required
                                                           ____

            dismissal of the damages claim as a matter of law.  

                      Rodriguez argues  that the claim  against the court

            reporter should not have  been dismissed, because the failure

            to deliver accurate transcripts was a  "subissue" in the case

            and  he  cannot  overturn  his  conviction  without  accurate

            transcripts.1    Because  Rodriguez alleged  that  the  court

                                
            ____________________

                 1Rodriguez may be suggesting that the delay in providing
            transcripts violates his due process right to a speedy appeal
            and that such  a claim  should not be  dismissed under  Heck.
                                                                    ____
            See,  e.g., Harris v. Champion,  51 F.3d 901,  906, 909 (10th
            ___   ____  ______    ________
            Cir.  1995)  (considering     1983 claim  for  money  damages
            alleging  excessive  delay  in  processing   direct  criminal
            appeals); but see United  States v. Luciano-Mosquera, 63 F.3d
                      ___ ___ ______________    ________________

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            reporter  conspired  with the  other defendants  to withhold,

            lose  or  alter  transcripts   necessary  to  show  that  his

            conviction  is invalid,  he is,  in essence,  challenging his

            conviction.  See Sutton v. Lash, 576 F.2d 738, 746  (7th Cir.
                         ___ ______    ____

            1978) (per curiam) (retrial is proper remedy for claimed loss

            of  critical transcripts  which preclude  meaningful criminal

            appeal); see also  Wilcox v. Miller, 691 F.2d  739, 741 & n.4
                     ___ ____  ______    ______

            (5th  Cir.  1982)  (claim   that  defendants  in  civil  suit

            conspired to  alter criminal  trial transcripts to  assure an

            affirmance of civil plaintiff's criminal conviction on appeal

            "would seem" to  challenge validity of  criminal conviction);

            accord  Tedford v.  Hepting, 990  F.2d 745  (3d Cir.),  cert.
            ______  _______     _______                             ____

            denied, 114 S. Ct. 317 (1993) (similar).  Consequently,  Heck
            ______                                                   ____

            applies.  

                      Since   the   Rodriguez   conspiracy   claim   also

            challenges  the validity  of  his conviction,  the claim  for

            declaratory  relief  was properly  dismissed  as  well.   See
                                                                      ___

            Abella,  63  F.3d  at  1066  (dismissing  Bivens  action  for
            ______                                    ______

                                
            ____________________

            1142, 1158  (1st Cir.  1995) (analyzing merits  of underlying
            appeal from conviction to determine prejudice  resulting from
            appellate  delay).    Because  this claim  was  not  squarely
            presented  to  the district  court,  we  deem it  waived  for
            present purposes.   See  United States v.  Ocasio-Rivera, 991
                                ___  _____________     _____________
            F.2d 1,  3 (1st Cir. 1993).   Yet another hurdle  may loom in
            the path of any  section 1983 claim for damages based on such
            a  speedy-appeal claim.    It may  well  be that  Parratt  v.
                                                              _______
            Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 541-44 (1981), would be implicated were
            ______
            it  to appear  that  Massachusetts law  affords Rodriguez  an
            adequate   post-deprivation   remedy.      See   Campiti   v.
                                                       ___   _______
            Commonwealth, 630 N.E.2d 596, 598 (Mass. 1994).  
            ____________

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                                          4

            declaratory   relief   against   defendants,  who   allegedly

            conspired to convict plaintiff,  on ground that habeas relief

            is exclusive remedy,  per Preiser v. Rodriguez,  411 U.S. 475
                                      _______    _________

            (1973)).   Moreover, the claim for  injunctive relief against

            the  court reporter is moot  since it is  undisputed that the

            suppression hearing tape had been lost and that the defendant
            ___________ _______ ____

            court  reporter turned the voir  dire hearing tape  over to a
                                       ____  ____ _______ ____

            different  court  reporter  who  prepared  and  delivered  to

            Rodriguez a transcript based on the latter tape.  See DeLancy
                                                              ___ _______

            v.  Caldwell,  741  F.2d 1246,  1247  (10th  Cir. 1984)  (per
                ________

            curiam)   (   1983  claim  for  injunctive  relief  directing

            preparation of trial transcripts mooted because defendant had

            provided transcripts to plaintiff after suit was filed). 

                      As the premature section  1983 claims were properly

            dismissed,  we direct  that  the district  court judgment  be

            modified  so as to dismiss  both the section  1983 claims and

            the pendent state-law claims against all defendants,  without
                                                                  _______

            prejudice.  No costs.
            _________   __ _____

                      So ordered.
                      So ordered.
                      __ _______

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