Tang v. Niels et al
Filing
13
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER denying as moot 12 MOTION to Address the Court Regarding Plaintiff's Legal Status, denying as moot 10 MOTION Multiple Requests, dismissing without prejudice 1 Complaint. (Signed by Judge Sim Lake) Parties notified. (aboyd, 4)
United States District Court
Southern District of Texas
ENTERED
December 02, 2016
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
TOAN T. TANG,
Inmate #P00189427,
Plaintiff,
v.
SHERIFF TROY E. NEHLS, et al.,
Defendants.
§
§
§
§
§
§
§
§
§
David J. Bradley, Clerk
CIVIL ACTION NO. H-16-2820
§
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
The plaintiff, Toan T. Tang,
Fort Bend County Jail.
is currently in custody at the
Tang has filed a handwritten Prisoner Civil
Rights Complaint under 42 U.S. C.
§
1983 ("Complaint")
(Docket Entry
No. 1), alleging violations of his civil rights in connection with
state court criminal proceedings that have been lodged against him
in Fort Bend County.
Because Tang is incarcerated,
the court is
required to scrutinize the claims and dismiss the Complaint,
whole
or
in
part,
if
it
determines
that
the
Complaint
in
"is
frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief
may be granted" or "seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is
immune from such relief."
28 U.S. C.
§
1915A (b) .
After considering
all of the pleadings the court concludes that this case must be
dismissed for the reasons explained below.
I.
Background
Tang is presently in the custody of the Fort Bend County Jail
as
the
result
of
Fort Bend County. 1
criminal
charges
filed
against
him
in
Public records from Fort Bend County confirm
that Tang has been formally charged in the following felony and
misdemeanor cases:
motor vehicle);
Cause No. 16-DCR-073638 (unauthorized use of a
Cause No.
16-DCR-073639
(credit
or debit
card
abuse); Cause No. 16-187561 (burglary of a vehicle); Cause No. 16CCR-186570 (theft of property); Cause No. 16-CCR-186571 (criminal
mischief);
Cause No.
16-CCR-187572
(terroristic
threat);
Cause
No. 16-CCR-187573 (theft of property); and Cause No. 16-CCR-187793
(theft of property) .
Tang has filed this civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C.
against
the
following defendants
referenced criminal charges:
Nehls;
(2)
the
Fort
Bend
in connection with the
§
1983
above-
(1) Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy E.
County
Police
Commissioner's
Office;
(3) Roderick Glass, who is Tang's court-appointed defense counsel;
( 4)
Missouri City Police Officer Diaz;
( 5)
Missouri City Police
Officer Zimmerman; (6) Sheriff's Deputy Daisy Torres; (7) Sheriff's
Deputy Teresa Hargrove; and (8) Sheriff's Deputy Napps. 2
Tang alleges that there is a conspiracy to deprive him of due
process
in
the
above-referenced
criminal
proceedings
that
are
1
Complaint, Docket Entry No. 1, p. 3 (listing cause numbers).
2
Id. at 2.
-2-
pending against him in state court. 3
In support of this assertion
Tang alleges that Diaz,
Torres,
Zimmerman,
Hargrove,
and Napps
"made a fake case and charged, arraigned [him] , and set bond" on
June 10,
2016,
evidence,
no
"without an arrest incident,
[attorney]
police report,
any
present," and no "Examining Trial/Grand
jury probable cause hearing" or Miranda rights in violation of his
right to due process. 4
Tang requests $1.5 million in monetary
damages
relief
and
directing
injunctive
Fort
in
the
Bend County officials
form
to
of
provide
a
court
order
him with due
process as required by the Texas Constitution and the Texas Code of
Criminal Procedure. 5
II.
Tang clearly asks
Discussion
this
court
to
rule
on the validity of
criminal charges that are currently pending against him in state
court and to intervene in those proceedings.
Absent extraordinary
circumstances the doctrine of abstention announced in Younger v.
Harris,
91 S.
federal
court with a pending state criminal prosecution.
DeSpain v.
Ct.
746,
Johnston,
751
(1971),
731 F.2d 1171,
prohibits interference by a
1176
(5th Cir.
1984)
See
("The
Younger doctrine establishes a presumption that the federal courts
3
Id. at 3 .
4
Id. at 6.
5
Id. at 3
t
7.
-3-
should abstain in cases in which a state criminal proceeding is
pending."); see also Louisiana Debating and Literary Ass'n v. City
of New Orleans, 42 F.3d 1483, 1489 (5th Cir. 1995)
("[Abstention]
'is generally deemed appropriate [when] assumption of jurisdiction
by a federal court would interfere with pending state proceedings,
whether of a criminal, civil, or even administrative character.'")
(citation omitted) .
Tang has an adequate avenue for raising his
claims in state court, where he is represented by counsel.
pleadings
in
extraordinary
this
case
do
circumstances
intervention is warranted.
not
are
otherwise
present
or
The
demonstrate
that
federal
that
court
Under these circumstances the court
must abstain from exercising jurisdiction over Tang's claims.
Although
Younger
abstention
applies
only
to
claims
for
injunctive and declaratory relief, consideration by this court of
Tang's
claims
for
monetary
damages
would
also
implicate
validity of ongoing state court criminal proceedings.
Humphrey, 114 S. Ct. 2364, 2372 (1994)
the
See Heck v.
(holding that civil rights
claims are barred if success in the suit would necessarily imply
the invalidity of a conviction or present confinement).
It would
be premature to determine whether Tang's claims are barred by the
rule in Heck.
1995).
See Mackey v. Dickson, 47 F.3d 744, 746 (5th Cir.
Rather than stay this case pending the outcome of Tang's
criminal proceedings, the court will dismiss the Complaint without
prejudice
to
re-filing
his
claims
-4-
in
the
event
that
those
proceedings terminate in his favor.
Tang's pending motions, which
do not alter this determination, will be denied as moot. 6
III.
Conclusion and Order
Based on the foregoing, the court ORDERS as follows:
1.
The Prisoner Civil Rights Complaint filed by
Toan T. Tang (Docket Entry No. 1) is DISMISSED
without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.
2.
Tang's "Motion to Address the Court in Response to
the 10.20.16 Order by U.S.D.C. Judge Sim Lake
Entered on October 24, 2016" (Docket Entry No. 10)
and Tang's "Motion to Address the Court Regarding
Plaintiff's Legal Status" (Docket Entry No. 12) are
DENIED as moot.
The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Memorandum
Opinion and Order to the parties.
SIGNED at Houston, Texas, on this 1st day of December, 2016.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
6
Tang has filed a "motion to address the court," asking the
court to correct the spelling of the lead defendant's name, among
other things (Docket Entry No. 10).
The court has corrected the
name of the lead defendant, previously identified as Sheriff Troy
Niels, to Sheriff Troy E. Nehls. Therefore, Tang's request to
correct the lead defendant's name is moot.
Tang has also filed a
"[m)otion to address the court regarding [his] legal status," in
which Tang appears to claim that he is being held illegally without
valid legal charges (Docket Entry No. 12). To the extent that Tang
seeks release from unlawful confinement, this claim is actionable,
if at all, in a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
Because it is evident that Tang has not exhausted available state
court remedies with respect to his claim of unlawful confinement,
this allegation will not be addressed further.
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