Wheeler v. DeYoung
- Andrew Krause
- 7:16-cv-08857
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Wheeler v. DeYoung, Judge Briccetti vacated the stay after Wheeler’s criminal case was dismissed and ordered defendants to answer.
Damon Wheeler and the named defendants, whose case was returned to the active docket and whose remaining claims were to proceed toward defendants’ answers.
What happened
Wheeler v. DeYoung concerns Damon Wheeler’s claims against police officers and the City of Middletown arising from two search warrants executed on April 26, 2014. Wheeler is representing himself and was allowed to proceed without paying court fees.
The court had previously stayed the case because it determined that Wheeler’s criminal conviction for obstructing governmental administration would bar his claims for unlawful search, false arrest, and malicious prosecution. The New York Court of Appeals later reversed the lower appellate ruling and dismissed the accusation in Wheeler’s criminal case.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti vacated the stay, returned the case to the active docket, and ordered defendants to answer the remaining claims by March 11, 2020. The court also denied Wheeler permission to appeal without paying court fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Wheeler v. DeYoung · No. 7:16-cv-08857
- Andrew Krause
- Feb. 26, 2020
Background
Damon Wheeler, who was proceeding without a lawyer and without paying court fees, brought claims under Section 1983, a federal civil-rights statute, against P.O. N. DeYoung, G. Neilson, Sgt. Magsamen, and the City of Middletown. The claims arose from the execution of two search warrants on April 26, 2014, and included unlawful search, false arrest, and malicious prosecution.
Prior proceedings
The court stated that, in a November 14, 2017 order, it had adopted Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith’s recommendation concerning defendants’ motion to dismiss. That order concluded that Wheeler’s criminal conviction for obstructing governmental administration, arising from his April 26, 2014 arrest, would bar his Section 1983 claims. The court therefore stayed the case while Wheeler’s criminal appeal was pending.
Defense counsel later informed the court that, on February 13, 2020, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Term and dismissed the accusatory instrument in Wheeler’s criminal case.
Ruling
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti vacated the stay and restored the case to the active docket. The court ordered defendants to answer Wheeler’s remaining Section 1983 claims for unlawful search, false arrest, and malicious prosecution by March 11, 2020. The court said it would schedule an initial conference by separate order.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying court fees. The order did not decide the merits of Wheeler’s remaining claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.