Welch v. Wilson

Filing 14

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS as to Welch's claims of malicious prosecution and slander and NOT ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION as to Welch's claims of wrongful arrest and false accusations and ORDER REFERRING CASE to Honorable Erin L. Setser. Signed by Honorable Jimm Larry Hendren on February 20, 2013. Motions referred to Erin L. Setser.(tg)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
FAYETTEVILLE DIVISION
TYRONE WELCH

PLAINTIFF

v.

Civil No. 12-5135

DETECTIVE WILLIAMS

DEFENDANT
O R D E R

Now

on

this

20th

day

of

February,

2013,

come

on

for

consideration the Report And Recommendation Of The Magistrate
Judge ("R&R") (document #11), and plaintiff's Objections thereto
(documents

#12

and

#13),

and

the

Court,

being

well

and

sufficiently advised, finds and orders as follows:
1.

Plaintiff Tyrone Welch contends that defendant Detective

Williams violated his constitutional rights by:
(a)

unlawfully arresting him;

(b)

falsely

aggravated

accusing

assault,

him

unlawful

of

intimidating

discharge

of

a

a

firearm

witness,
from

a

vehicle, and conspiracy;
(c)

maliciously prosecuting him; and

(d)

slandering him.

The claim arises out of an incident on May 30, 2012, when
Welch had some kind of interaction with two men at a convenience
store in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

It appears that a weapon was

fired, but who fired at whom is disputed.
2.

The R&R issued on November 16, 2012.

Magistrate Judge

Erin L. Setser recommended that Welch's claims be denied because:
(a)

the Constitution does not guarantee that only guilty

people will be arrested;
(b)

any falsity of the accusations against Welch could be

addressed at his criminal trial;
(c)

there is no cause of action under § 1983 for malicious

prosecution; and
(d)

there is no cause of action under § 1983 for slander.

3.

Welch filed Objections on November 28, 2012, which go to

his guilt or innocence of the crimes with which he was charged.
On December 5, 2012, Welch supplemented his Objections with a
statement to the effect that the charges against him had been
dismissed on December 4, 2012.

Welch states that the evidence

proved he was innocent, and also "shows detective Williams falsly
[sic] accused me because of his own personal vendetta he has
toward me."
4.

The Court cannot, without more, give the dismissal of

the charges against Welch the broad interpretation he urges.
Welch does not support his claim that the charges have been
dismissed with any documentation, so it is impossible to determine
whether the charges were dismissed with prejudice.
Nor does the dismissal of the charges, for whatever reason
and with whatever finality, lead inevitably to the conclusion that
Welch was falsely accused because of a vendetta on the part of

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Williams. It could well be that Williams was honestly mistaken in
connection with Welch's arrest.
However, because the R&R -- as to Welch's claims of wrongful
arrest and false accusations -- was premised on Welch's apparent
opportunity to address those issues at his criminal trial, and
because it now appears the charges have been dismissed, the Court
will sustain Welch's Objections on those issues and remand the
case to the Magistrate Judge for further proceedings.
5.

Welch's Objections do not touch on the legal impediments

to his malicious prosecution and slander claims. Those Objections
will be overruled, and the R&R will be adopted with regard to
those claims.
IT

IS

THEREFORE

ORDERED

that

plaintiff's

Objections

(documents #12 and #13) are sustained as to his claims of wrongful
arrest and false accusations, and overruled as to his claims for
malicious prosecution and slander.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Report And Recommendation Of
The Magistrate Judge (document #11) is adopted as to Welch's
claims for

malicious prosecution and slander, and those claims

are dismissed with prejudice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Report And Recommendation Of
The Magistrate Judge (document #11) is not adopted as to Welch's
claims of wrongful arrest and false accusations, and the matter is
remanded to United States Magistrate Judge Erin L. Setser for
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further consideration in light of Welch's Objections.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s/ Jimm Larry Hendren
JIMM LARRY HENDREN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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