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
-2-
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
-3-
further consideration in light of Welch's Objections.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s/ Jimm Larry Hendren
JIMM LARRY HENDREN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
-4-
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