Bell v. Drew et al
Filing
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MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Paul W. Grimm on 10/9/2015. (kns, Deputy Clerk)(c/m 10/13/15)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
Southern Division
KENT BELL, #D-76693,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
Civil Action No. PWG-15-2496
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ALAN C. DREW, Public Defender
NENUTZKA C. VILLAMAR, Appellate,
Public Defender
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Defendants.
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
Southern Division
KENT BELL, #D-76693,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
JOHN 1. MCCARTHY, State's Attorney for
Montgomery County, Maryland
AMANDA MICHALSKI, Assistant State's
Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland,
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Defendants.
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Civil Action No. PWG-15-2497
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff Kent Bell, presently held in confinement in Hackensack, New Jersey, filed two
lawsuits seeking money damages and claiming his civil rights were violated when he was
arrested and convicted in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland.
In Civil Action
No. PWG-15-2496
counsel.
(D. Md.) ("Case #1"), Bell names as defendants his trial and appellate
In Civil Action No. PWG-14-2497 (D. Md.) ("Case #2), Bell names two members of
the Montgomery
County Office of the State's Attorney.
In essence Bell claims he was
maliciously and wrongfully prosecuted and that his court-appointed attorneys did not provide
adequate representation. See Compl. #1, ECF No.1, Case #1; Compl. #2, ECF No.1, Case #2.
Examination of Maryland's electronic docket indicates that a Montgomery County jury
convicted Bell of child molestation and related offenses on March 5, 2013. Bell v. Maryland,
No. 121722C (Cir. Ct. Montgomery Cnty., filed Nov. 15,2012).1
He was sentenced on July 12,
2013, to an aggregate sentence of 49 years' incarceration and five years' probation, to be served
concurrently with his New Jersey sentence. Jd. His conviction and sentence was upheld by the
Maryland Court of Special Appeals in an unreported opinion. See Bell v. Maryland, No. 1150
(Md. Ct. Spec. App. January 21, 2015) (unreported); Compl. #1 3. His petition for certiorari
review by the Maryland Court of Appeals likewise was denied in an unreported opinion.
See
Bell v. Maryland, 113 A.3d 624 (table) (April 20, 2015).
Accompanying each complaint is Bell's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis,
ECF No.2, Case #1; ECF NO.2; ECF No.2, Case #2, which shall be granted. The cases shall be
consolidated for the purpose of initial review.
This court is obliged by 28 U.S.c. ~ 19l5A to screen prisoner complaints and dismiss
any complaint 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
The record for this case is available through the Maryland Judiciary Case Search
(http://casesearch.courts.state.md. us/ casesearchl).
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pleadings drafted by attorneys and must read the complaint liberally." White v. White, 886 F. 2d
721, 722-723 (4th Cir. 1989).
Liberal construction of the complaint does not save it from early dismissal without
prejudice because the complaint is not yet cognizable under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477
(1994).
The plaintiff in Heck, an Indiana state prisoner, sought compensatory
and money
damages and sued two state prosecutors and a state investigator who had participated in the
investigation leading to the plaintiffs conviction, alleging that the defendants had '''knowingly
destroyed' evidence 'which was exculpatory in nature'" and had also caused an unlawful voice
identification procedure to be used at trial.
Heck, 512 U.S. at 478-79.
The Supreme Court
concluded that the complaint had to be dismissed:
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 S 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 of a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C.
S 2254. A claim for damages bearing that relationship to a
conviction or sentence that has not been so invalidated is not
cognizable under S 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.
Heck, 512 U.S. at 486-87 (internal footnotes omitted).
overturned or otherwise invalidated.
Here, Bell's conviction has not been
His request for money damages is premature and will not
be considered at this time. A separate Order follows.
Dated: October 9,2015
lSI
Paul W. Grim
United States Dis rict Judge
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