Hamilton v. Mineral County, West Virginia
Filing
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MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER: The court hereby OVERRULES Plaintiff's objections and CONFIRMS and ACCEPTS the factual and legal analysis contained within the Proposed Findings and Recommendation. Accordingly, the court DENIES Plaintiff's Application to Proceed Without Prepayment of Fees; DENIES Plaintiff's MOTION for injunctive relief, DISMISSES Plaintiff's Complaint, and DIRECTS the Clerk to remove this matter from the court's docket. Signed by Senior Judge David A. Faber on 8/2/2017. (cc: Plaintiff, pro se; attys) (mk)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
AT BLUEFIELD
CHARLES K. HAMILTON,
Plaintiff,
v.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:16-10562
MINERAL COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
I.
Introduction
By Standing Order, this action was referred to United States
Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn for submission of proposed
findings and recommendation (“PF&R”).
Magistrate Judge Aboulhosn
submitted his proposed findings and recommendation on March 29,
2017.
In that Proposed Findings and Recommendation, the
magistrate judge recommended that this court deny plaintiff’s
application to proceed without prepayment of fees, deny
plaintiff’s motion for injunctive relief, dismiss plaintiff’s
complaint, and remove this matter from the court’s docket.
In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b), the
parties were allotted fourteen days, plus three mailing days, in
which to file any objections to Magistrate Judge Aboulhosn’s
Findings and Recommendation.
The failure of any party to file
such objections constitutes a waiver of such party's right to a
de novo review by this court.
Snyder v. Ridenour, 889 F.2d 1363
(4th Cir. 1989); Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (1985).
Moreover,
this court need not conduct a de novo review when a plaintiff
“makes general and conclusory objections that do not direct the
court to a specific error in the magistrate’s proposed findings
and recommendations.”
Cir. 1982).
Orpiano v. Johnson, 687 F.2d 44, 47 (4th
Plaintiff filed objections to the Proposed Findings
and Recommendation on April 13, 2017.
Because petitioner filed
his objections timely, this court has conducted a de novo review
of the record as to those objections.
See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)
(“A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of
those portions of the report or specified proposed findings and
recommendations to which objection is made.”).
II.
Background
On November 4, 2016, plaintiff filed the instant complaint,
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the Mineral County, West
Virginia. Specifically, Hamilton alleges that he was subjected to
malicious prosecution in the Circuit Court of Mineral County
because the former state’s attorney “James Courrier had no
evidence to prosecute” Hamilton.
ECF No. 4 at p.4.
Magistrate Judge Aboulhosn recommended dismissal of
plaintiff’s complaint for several reasons.
First, he noted that
plaintiff’s § 1983 claim is not cognizable pursuant to Heck v.
Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), because his criminal conviction
has not been invalidated.
Magistrate Judge Aboulhosn also
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recommended that Hamilton’s claims be dismissed on the basis of
prosecutorial immunity.
Rather than address these obstacles to suit, Hamilton’s
objections read: “The reason the Plaintiff pursued the issue at
hand is because a Judge told the Plaintiff there is no excuse for
the ignorance of the law, so the Plaintiff questions the Court
what is the excuse for malicious prosecution.”
ECF No. 11.
Hamilton’s objections do not direct the court to a specific error
in the magistrate’s proposed findings and recommendations and,
therefore, they are without merit.
Likewise, plaintiff’s motion
to allow plea hearing transcript (ECF No. 12) is GRANTED but it
does not alter the court’s analysis herein.
III.
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing, the court hereby OVERRULES
plaintiff’s objections and CONFIRMS and ACCEPTS the factual and
legal analysis contained within the Proposed Findings and
Recommendation.
Accordingly, the court DENIES plaintiff’s
application to proceed without prepayment of fees; DENIES
plaintiff’s motion for injunctive relief, DISMISSES plaintiff’s
complaint, and DIRECTS the Clerk to remove this matter from the
court’s docket.
The Clerk is further directed to forward a copy of this
Memorandum Opinion and Order to counsel of record and to
plaintiff pro se.
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IT IS SO ORDERED this 2nd day of August, 2017.
ENTER:
David A. Faber
Senior United States District Judge
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