U.S. 5th Circuit remands inmate’s sec. 1983 claims to evaluate whether prison disciplinary decision overlaps with excessive force claims
Gray v. White, 20-30218, (US 5th Cir – Nov. 17, 2021)
This is a §1983/excessive force case where the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part the trial court’s granting of the county’s summary judgment motion.
Timothy Gray is an inmate at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. Grey asserts Captain Wells and Major White attacked Gray in his cell without provocation, pulling him from his bunk and beating him. He was sprayed with a chemical agent and not allowed to wash it off. Grey asserts after he passed out he was put into a transport van, in restraints, and was beaten en route. The County asserts Wells approached Grey for a targeted search. Grey was intoxicated and had vomited on himself. When Grey refused orders designed to move him to the showers to clean up he was grabbed and then became violent. The prison disciplinary board found Gray guilty of various violations. When Grey sued the individual officers who allegedly beat him, the officers moved for summary judgment based on Heck v Humphry (holding a conviction precludes relitigating aspects overlapping in a civil suit). Further, the officers asserted Grey failed to exhaust his remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) and is therefore precluded from suit. The trial court granted the officer’s motion and Grey appealed.
Heck holds a prisoner may not “seek[] damages in a § 1983 suit” if “a judgment in favor of the plaintiff would necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence.” Heck applies to both the validity and the duration of the confinement. A ruling by a prison disciplinary board also triggers the preclusive effects of Heck. However, Heck is not “implicated by a prisoner’s challenge that threatens no consequence for his conviction or the duration of his sentence.” The court held the record was insufficient to determine whether, or which of, Gray’s claims are barred by Heck. The disciplinary reports list various factual findings but do not state which of these findings were necessary to his convictions. As a result, the defendants failed to meet their summary judgment burden. Next, Under PLRA Grey was required to file a proper complaint about events after the shower before bringing suit. Gray failed to exhaust his administrative remedies for the claims of excessive force after he was taken from the shower area.
If you would like to read this opinion click here. Panel consists of Smith, Stewart, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge Smith. Judge Willett concurred in judgement alone. Attorney for Appellee is Amber Mandina Babin, of New Orleans, Louisiana. Attorney for the Appellant is Donna Unkel Grodner, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
