Court Opinion

ID: 9386573
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-12 21:00:25.649323+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:07.399759
License: Public Domain

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                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 21-7524

        JOSEPH DWIGHT LAWSON,

                            Plaintiff - Appellant,

                     v.

        STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA; STOKES COUNTY SHERIFFS
        DEPARTMENT; OFFICER DENNIS BROWN; JUDGE ANGELA B. PUCKETT;
        QUINTON HARRIS,

                            Defendants - Appellees.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at
        Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:21-cv-00433-WO-JLW)

        Submitted: November 29, 2022                                        Decided: April 11, 2023

        Before NIEMEYER and RUSHING, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Joseph Dwight Lawson, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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        PER CURIAM:

               North Carolina state prisoner Joseph Dwight Lawson filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983

        complaint against the State of North Carolina, the Stokes County Sheriff’s Department,

        Officer Dennis Brown, Judge Angela Puckett, and District Attorney Quinton Harris.

        Lawson alleged that these Defendants conspired to falsely arrest him so they could steal

        his property and convict him of a crime he did not commit. The district court, accepting

        the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge, dismissed Lawson’s complaint

        under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). The district court also dismissed the

        complaint as to the state of North Carolina, Judge Puckett, and District Attorney Harris on

        the alternate ground that they were entitled to immunity. We affirm in part, vacate in part,

        and remand.

               Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), a district court must “engage in a preliminary

        screening of any complaint in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity

        or an officer or employee of a governmental entity.” McLean v. United States, 566 F.3d

        391, 394 (4th Cir. 2009), abrogated on other grounds by Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez, 140 S.

        Ct. 1721 (2020). A district court must dismiss the complaint if it “is frivolous, malicious,

        or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). This

        Court reviews de novo a dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), applying the same

        standards applicable to review of a Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) dismissal. Wilcox v. Brown,

        877 F.3d 161, 166 (4th Cir. 2017). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must

        contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible

        on its face.” Carey v. Throwe, 957 F.3d 468, 474 (4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks

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        omitted). “[W]hen a plaintiff raises a civil rights issue and files a complaint pro se, the

        court must construe pleading requirements liberally.” Wilcox, 877 F.3d at 167.

                In Heck, the Supreme Court held that

               when a state prisoner seeks damages in a § 1983 suit, the district court must
               consider whether a judgment in favor of the plaintiff would necessarily
               imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence; if it would, the complaint
               must be dismissed unless the plaintiff can demonstrate that the conviction
               or sentence has already been invalidated. But if the district court determines
               that the plaintiff’s action, even if successful, will not demonstrate the
               invalidity of any outstanding criminal judgment against the plaintiff, the
               action should be allowed to proceed.

        512 U.S. at 487.

               The district court concluded that a judgment in Lawson’s favor in this case would

        necessarily imply the invalidity of his underlying conviction.          However, as Lawson

        contended before the district court and reiterates on appeal, the primary claim that he seeks

        to pursue is a damages claim for false arrest. “[A] claim for false arrest . . . does not by its

        nature call into question the validity of a conviction.” Reynolds v. Jamison, 488 F.3d 756,

        767 (7th Cir. 2007); see also Gertsein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 110 (1975) (“[A] conviction

        will not be vacated on the ground that the defendant was detained pending trial without a

        determination of probable cause.”); Brooks v. City of Winston-Salem, 85 F.3d 178, 182 (4th

        Cir. 1996) (“[A] charge that probable cause for a warrantless arrest was lacking, and thus

        that the seizure was unconstitutional, would not necessarily implicate the validity of a

        subsequently obtained conviction—at least in the usual case.”). Accordingly, the district

        court erred in dismissing Lawson’s complaint at the pleading stage as barred by Heck.

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               However, the district court correctly found that the State of North Carolina, Judge

        Puckett, and District Attorney Harris are entitled to immunity. See Lytle v. Griffith, 240

        F.3d 404, 408 (4th Cir. 2001) (“[I]t is well established that an unconsenting State is immune

        [by virtue of the Eleventh Amendment] from suits brought in federal courts by her own

        citizens as well as by citizens of another State.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); Stump

        v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 355-56 (1978) (discussing well established principle that

        judges are absolutely immune from suits for damages for acts committed within their

        judicial jurisdiction); Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 430-31 (1976) (finding that, as

        quasi-judicial officers, prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity when performing

        prosecutorial functions as an advocate for the state).

               Because the district court erroneously dismissed Lawson’s complaint in its entirety

        as barred by Heck, we vacate the district court’s order dismissing Lawson’s complaint as

        to Officer Brown and the Sheriff’s Department and remand for further proceedings. We

        express no opinion on the merits of Lawson’s false arrest claim. We affirm the judgment

        as to the State of North Carolina, Judge Puckett, and District Attorney Harris. We dispense

        with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the

        materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                  AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED

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