Fourth Circuit: Heck Bar Inapplicable to § 1983 False Imprisonment Suit

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has joined five other circuits in holding that a former prisoner’s § 1983 false imprisonment claim is not barred by the “favorable termination” requirement of Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994).

Lee O. Wilson, Jr. was arrested on March 24, 2005 in Virginia for grand larceny of a motor vehicle. He pleaded guilty on July 26, 2005 and was sentenced “to twelve months imprisonment, six months of which was suspended due to time served.” The Virginia Department of Corrections initially calculated Wilson’s release date as April 21, 2006, but later re-calculated it as July 17, 2006.

After he was released and his sentence had expired, Wilson filed a § 1983 action seeking $105,000 for false imprisonment. The district court dismissed his lawsuit sua sponte, “holding that Heck’s favorable termination requirement barred his § 1983 claim” and noting that he could resubmit his claim in a federal habeas corpus petition.

The Fourth Circuit weighed in on the sole issue of “whether Wilson’s § 1983 claim for wrongful imprisonment, filed af-ter his sentence expired, is cognizable.” The appellate court suggested that while the Supreme ...

The State of Washington paid $6,000 to settle a wrongful imprisonment claim.

The claim involved the probation violation arrest of Kenneth Butler. When he reported to the community corrections office on January 23, 2008, as required, he was advised that his probation officer, Andrea Maldonado, wanted him to check in ...

Washington State’s King County has settled an excessive force and false imprisonment claim for $20,000. The claim, brought by Bradley T. Nebinger, sought compensation for injuries incurred at the jail on March 4, 2006.

Nebinger claimed that he was assaulted and had extreme excessive force used on him by guards ...

A remitter has been ordered in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action brought by a psychologist formerly employed by the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (DMRDD) after the psychologist was falsely accused of sexual misconduct.

A jury originally awarded the plaintiff, Mark Komlosi, $6.6 million ...

On January 16, 2004, the County of Sacramento, California settled for $1,000 a suit brought by a former Sacramento County Jail prisoner whose arm had allegedly been broken by a deputy and who had been arrested without an outstanding warrant.

Henry A. Freeman, an elderly black man, was arrested by ...

A California federal jury awarded $1.31 million to a man who spent eight months in jail for being unlawfully arrested on a home invasion murder he did not commit.

Within eight hours of the November 1, 2005 crime, Edmond Ovasapyan was arrested. His arrest was made despite the surviving victim ...

On February 25, 2009, a California federal jury awarded $1,310,000 to a man who spent eight months in jail facing a murder charge that was eventually dismissed.

Shortly after Christopher Shahnazari was shot in Glendale, California on November 1, 2005, he examined a photo-graphic lineup and said Edmond Ovasapyan, 28, ...

On January 5, 2005, a settlement was reached in a complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Sacramento County and various County law enforcement officials alleging Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment civil rights violations, as well as penal and civil code violations. The complaint was filed by attorneys Mark E. Merin and Jeffrey I. Schwarzchild on behalf of Catherine Avery following her wrongful arrest and detention on October 22, 2003.

Avery was arrested, booked, and subjected to a visual body cavity strip-search despite her protestations of not being the woman named or described in the arrest warrant. Sheriff's deputies and jail staff consistently ignored the obvious physical differences between Avery and the woman described in the warrant, Cathy Gilbert. Avery's §1983 claim sought damages for the alleged civil rights and state law violations and her emotional distress. Attorney's fees and costs were included in the $11,250 settlement. See: Avery v. Sacramento County, et al, Sacramento County Super. Ct., #01AS01732 (2005).

A Florida jury awarded a man $10,000 for being falsely arrested on a child molestation charge. Following the verdict, the trial court awarded the man an additional $100,000.

The plaintiff lived next to a 5-year-old girl. In 2005, the girl was playing with the plaintiff’s daughters. The child said the ...

Washington’s King County paid $5,500 to settle a claim that a probation officer was negligent in her duties, causing the claimant, Lolita Urie, to be improperly and illegally arrested. When Urie timely appeared for a probation appointment with King County Probation Officer Nancy Thompson on March 16, 2004, she was ...