Adams v. Stuehmeier et al

Filing 3

MEMORANDUM. Signed by Judge J. Frederick Motz on 4/26/2017. (c/m 4/27/17)(kr2, Deputy Clerk)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT _ ..
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

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BRIAN ANTHONY ADAMS, #429796
Plaintiff,

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CIVIL ACTION NOYJF..M~1-i'-1-l15 .. Y

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OFFICER STUEHMEIER, #2361
DET. CALEB GARCIA, #2334
Defendants.

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MEMORANDUM

On April 2 I, 20 I 7, the Clerk received a 42 U.S.C.

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1983 complaint from Anthony Brian

Anthony Adams ("Adams"), who is housed in the Western Correctional Institution ("WCI") in
Cumberland, Maryland. The complaint challenges the "four comers" of a warrant and a criminal
complaint issued for Adams in September of 20 I3 on a count of armed carjacking.

He names as

defendants Officer Stuehmeier and Detective Garcia of the Montgomery County Division of the
Maryland-National
complaint.

Capital Park Police as defendants for issuing an arrest warrant and criminal

ECF No. I. He seeks $250,000.00 in damages. Because he appears indigent, Adams

motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis shall be granted.
Adams complains that the arrest warrant failed to show facts to support probable cause and
was not truthful. He further claims that the criminal complaint in regards to the armed carjacking
crime contained "fabricated"

information taken from the victims' identification.

Finally, he

seemingly alleges that the fingerprint expert's analysis of evidence found on the steering wheel of the
victim's vehicle was based on "inconclusive" prints and resulted in "hits" on several other people of
interest, who were not investigated.

ECF NO.1.

This Court is required under 28 U.S.C.

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1915A to screen prisoner complaints and dismiss

any claim that is frivolous, malicious or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In
making this determination, "(t]he district court need not look beyond the complaint's allegations .... It
must, however, hold the pro se complaint to less stringent standards than pleadings drafted by
attorneys and must read the complaint liberally." While v. White, 886 F.2d 721, 722-723 (4th Cir.
1989).
Insofar as Adams may be raising Fourth Amendment and other federal claims colorable under
42 U.S.C.

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1983, they are not yet cognizable under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994).

In

Heck, the Supreme Court ruled:
We hold that, in order to recover damages for alleged unconstitutional
conviction or imprisonment, or for other harm caused by actions whose
unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a g 1983 plaintiff
must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal,
expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized
to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court's
issuance ofa writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. g 2254. A claim for damages
bearing that relationship to a conviction or sentence that has not been so
invalidated is not cognizable under g 1983 .... But if the district court
determines that the plaintiffs action, even if successful, will not demonstrate
the invalidity of any outstanding criminal judgment against the plaintiff, the
action should be allowed to proceed in the absence of some other bar to the
suit.
Id.
The state court docket shows that Adams was convicted of armed cmjacking, armed robbery,
and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony or violent crime in the Circuit Court for
Montgomery County in 2014, and received a cumulative 20-year sentence. See Slale v. Adams, Case
No. 124074C (Circuit Court for Montgomery County (copy attached). The convictions have not
been overturned, invalidated or called into question on direct appeal by issuance of a writ of habeas

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corpus. Any request for monetary damages is premature.
For reasons stated above, this Court will dismiss the Complaint without prejudice, A separate
Order follows.

Date:

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1-?e''7'''''h
J .ltrederick Motz "
United States District Judge

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