Court Opinion

ID: 9389112
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-24 18:00:32.889246+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:11.215628
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-10897         Document: 00516722787             Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/24/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                         United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                          Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                        FILED
                                                                                      April 24, 2023
                                        No. 22-10897
                                      ____________                                    Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                           Clerk
   Matthew D. Melton,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                             versus

   Waxahachie Police Department; Albert Martinez,
   Detective, #133/#161; City of Waxahachie,

                                               Defendants—Appellees.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Northern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 3:21-CV-2854
                      ______________________________

   Before Elrod, Ho, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          This case concerns Matthew Melton’s arrest for allegedly assaulting
   his wife. In May of 2017, Melton’s wife called the Waxahachie Police De-
   partment and reported that Melton had attacked her. She reported a similar
   attack in 2008 and requested a protective order, but she later signed an affi-
   davit testifying that her allegations were “a mistake.”

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-10897      Document: 00516722787           Page: 2     Date Filed: 04/24/2023

                                     No. 22-10897

          After the report, Waxahachie police officers arrested Melton, and he
   was charged with family violence assault. Tex. Penal Code § 22.01(b). Mel-
   ton’s wife, however, bailed him out of jail and signed an “affidavit of non-
   prosecution,” asking the county authorities to drop the charges. She further
   explained that she and Melton had separated and that she was pursuing a di-
   vorce “so as to ensure another situation such as this never occurs again.”
   According to Melton’s complaint, the assault charges were eventually “dis-
   pos[ed],” although neither he nor the Defendants provide any records relat-
   ing to the initiation or dismissal of any criminal action.
          Over four years after the alleged assault, Melton filed a civil action in
   state court against the detective who responded to the wife’s report, the City
   of Waxahachie, and the Waxahachie Police Department. He brought a pan-
   oply of federal and state-law claims, including wrongful arrest, malicious
   prosecution, due-process violations, negligence, “dereliction of duty,” and
   others. The Defendants removed to federal court and, after Melton amended
   his complaint, moved to dismiss. Melton moved to remand.
          On the magistrate judge’s report, the district court denied the motion
   to remand, granted the motion to dismiss, and entered judgment for the De-
   fendants. The magistrate judge recommended that the district court had ju-
   risdiction over the federal claims asserted in Melton’s original petition, and
   that the district court had supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims.
   The magistrate judge thoroughly considered each of Melton’s claims, con-
   cluding that some were barred by the statute of limitations, some were not
   cognizable, some were barred by state governmental immunity, some were
   barred by qualified immunity, and that some failed on the merits. Finally, the
   magistrate judge recommended that leave to amend be denied, reasoning that
   Melton had already been allowed to amend twice, and that he had therefore
   pleaded his best case. The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s care-
   ful report and recommendation. We see no reversible error.

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Case: 22-10897     Document: 00516722787           Page: 3   Date Filed: 04/24/2023

                                    No. 22-10897

          Accordingly, the judgment is AFFIRMED for substantially the same
   reasons as those explained by the district court and magistrate judge.

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