Braun v. State of Minnesota

Background

Nathan Christopher Braun brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the State of Minnesota, Benton County, the judge who presided over his criminal case, attorneys involved in that case, the victim, and two trial witnesses. Braun alleged that he was innocent and that the defendants’ conduct resulted in his unconstitutional conviction. He sought monetary, declaratory, and injunctive relief.

Braun had been convicted in Minnesota state court of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to 91 months’ imprisonment. The opinion states that his conviction was affirmed on direct appeal and repeatedly upheld in later proceedings, including a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Braun was incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility–Stillwater when he filed this action.

Braun also applied to proceed without paying the filing fee and moved for appointment of counsel. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the action without prejudice, denying those motions, and requiring collection of filing-fee payments from Braun’s institutional account. Braun objected, so Judge Provinzino reviewed the recommendation independently.

Analysis

The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), which requires dismissal of an action filed without prepaying fees if the complaint is frivolous or fails to state a claim. The court also applied the rule from Heck v. Humphrey: a § 1983 plaintiff generally cannot recover damages for an allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment unless the conviction has been reversed, expunged, declared invalid, or called into question by a federal court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. The opinion states that this rule also applies to requests for declaratory or injunctive relief when success would necessarily show that the confinement or its duration is invalid.

Because Braun asked the court to determine that he was innocent and wrongfully convicted, the court concluded that success would necessarily demonstrate the invalidity of his confinement. The court found that Braun could not satisfy the favorable-termination requirement because his conviction had not been reversed, expunged, declared invalid, or called into question by a federal writ of habeas corpus. The court stated that Braun’s continued assertion of innocence was not enough.

Disposition

Judge Laura M. Provinzino adopted the Report and Recommendation in full. The complaint was dismissed without prejudice under § 1915(e)(2). Braun’s application to proceed without prepaying fees or costs and his motion for appointment of counsel were denied as moot.

The court directed the institution holding Braun to collect and send monthly payments toward the $350 filing fee. The order states that Braun must pay, and the institution must forward, 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to his institutional account whenever the account exceeds $10. The clerk was ordered to notify the institution of these payment obligations.