Sharpe v. Best et al

Filing 320

ORDER - The emergency motion to stay [DE 307] is GRANTED. This action is hereby STAYED pending resolution of the interlocutory appeal. The trial set for the March 2025 term is TERMINATED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to remove this case from the Court� 39;s active docket during the pendency of the appeal. The parties shall jointly notify this Court within ten (10) days of the filing of the Fourth Circuit's mandate of the posture of the case and the issues which remain for adjudication. The m otion to certify the interlocutory appeals as frivolous [DE 299] is DENIED. The motions to continue the pretrial conference and trial [DE 293; DE 294; DE 297] and for private mediated settlement conference [DE 311] are DENIED AS MOOT. In light of the stay, the Court will not schedule a court-hosted settlement conference. The parties remain free mediate without Court intervention. Signed by District Judge Terrence W. Boyle on 3/6/2025. (Stouch, L.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
EASTERN DIVISION
CONSOLIDATED ACTION
MONTOYAE DONTAE SHARP,
Plaintiff,

)
)
)

DAVID RICKY BEST, et al. ,
Defendants.

)
)
)
)
)

MONTOYAE DONTAE SHARP,
Plaintiff,

)
)

V.

)
)
)
)

V.

No. 4:21-CV-185-BO 1

)

CAROLYN MELVIN,
Defendant.

No. 4:22-CV-88-BO

ORDER
By order entered February 11 , 2025, the Court granted in part and denied in part
defendants' motions for summary judgment and denied plaintiffs motion for summary judgment.
[DE 287]. The jury trial is currently set to commence during the Court' s March 2025 term. On
February 12, 2025 , plaintiff filed a request for court-hosted settlement conference. [DE 289]. On
February 13, 2025, defendants Carolyn Melvin, Ricky Best, and Jeffrey Shrock noticed
interlocutory appeals of the Court' s order on summary judgment. [DE 290; DE 291].
On February 14, 2025, defendants filed a corrected motion to continue the pretrial
conference and trial, which plaintiff opposed. [DE 297; DE 298]. Defendants also requested that
the Court schedule a court-hosted settlement conference after March 13, 2025. On February 18,

1

No. 4:21-CV-185-BO remains the lead case in which all documents shall be filed, pending further
order.

2025 , plaintiff filed a motion to certify the interlocutory appeals as frivolous, which defendant
Melvin has opposed. [DE 299; DE 306]. On February 27, 2025, defendants Best, Shrock, and the
City of Greenville filed an emergency motion to stay this case pending resolution of the
interlocutory appeal. [DE 307]. Plaintiff objects to the emergency motion. Id. A pretrial conference
was held before Magistrate Judge Numbers on February 28, 2025. On March 5, 2025 , plaintiff
filed a motion for private mediated settlement conference. [DE 311].
DISCUSSION
First, the motion to certify the interlocutory appeals as frivolous is denied. A frivolous
appeal is one in which there is no basis in law or fact, Nietzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325
(1989), or where it is "both meritless and substantively inappropriate." Eckert Int 'l, Inc. v. Gov 't
of Sovereign Democratic Republic of Fiji, 834 F. Supp. 167, 174 (E.D. Va. 1993). That the Court
has denied summary judgment on qualified immunity and public officer immunity based upon
disputed facts does not render the interlocutory appeals frivolous. Indeed, whether and to what
extent there is jurisdiction in the court of appeals to consider the denial of qualified immunity on
interlocutory appeal requires the court of appeals to engage in "careful[] review" of the district
court' s order. Howard v. Dowdy, No. 20-2114, 2021 WL 1529288, at *1 (4th Cir. Jan. 27, 2021)
(citing lko v. Shreve, 535 F.3d 225, 234 (4th Cir. 2008)). Defendants' interlocutory appeal is not
frivolous, and plaintiffs motion [DE 299] is denied.
Second, "the filing of a notice of appeal is an event of jurisdictional significance-it
confers jurisdiction on the court of appeals and divests the district court of its control over those
aspects of the case involved in the appeal." Griggs v. Provident Consumer Disc. Co., 459 U.S. 56,
58 (1982). Although issues remain for adjudication in this case which are not the subject of the
appeal, because the interlocutory appeal concerns qualified and public officer immunity, and the

2

assertion of immunity is not frivolous, a stay of the underlying proceedings in this Court is
appropriate. Apostol v. Gallion, 870 F.2d 1335, 1338 (7th Cir. 1989); see also Stewart v. Donges,
915 F.2d 572, 576 (10th Cir. 1990). The emergency motion to stay [DE 307] is therefore
GRANTED.
As this matter is now stayed, the motions to continue the pretrial conference and trial [DE
293; DE 294; DE 297] are denied as moot. The Court will not order private mediation during the
pendency of the stay, and the motion for private mediated settlement conference [DE 311] is also
denied as moot.
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, the emergency motion to stay [DE 307] is
GRANTED. This action is hereby STAYED pending resolution of the interlocutory appeal. The
trial set for the March 2025 term is TERMINATED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to remove this case
from the Court's active docket during the pendency of the appeal. The parties shall jointly notify
this Court within ten (10) days of the filing of the Fourth Circuit's mandate of the posture of the
case and the issues which remain for adjudication.
The motion to certify the interlocutory appeals as frivolous [DE 299] is DENIED. The
motions to continue the pretrial conference and trial [DE 293; DE 294; DE 297] and for private
mediated settlement conference [DE 311] are DENIED AS MOOT. In light of the stay, the Court
will not schedule a court-hosted settlement conference. The parties remain free mediate without
Court intervention.
SO ORDERED, this

V

day of March 2025.

~iip

T

NCEW.B0YLE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
3