Grier v. Klem

• Decision Date: 12 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 06-3551.,06-3551.
• Parties: Emmitt GRIER, Jr., Appellant v. Superintendent Edward J. KLEM; Erie County District Attorney; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Office of the Prothonotary.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

591 F.3d 672

Emmitt GRIER, Jr., Appellant v. Superintendent Edward J. KLEM; Erie County District Attorney; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Office of the Prothonotary.

No. 06-3551.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued on December 16, 2009.

Filed January 12, 2010.

Anderson T. Bailey, Esq., Jones Day, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellant.

John D. Goetz, Esq., Jones Day, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellant.

Charles T. Kotuby Jr., Esq. (Argued), Jones Day, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.

Matthew J. McLaughlin, Esq. (Argued), Assistant Solicitor for Erie County, Erie, PA, for Erie District Attorney Appellee.

Before: FISHER, HARDIMAN, and VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant-Plaintiff Emmitt Grier, Jr. ("Grier") appeals from the District Court's decision granting Appellee-Defendants Erie County District Attorney's ("District Attorney") and Superintendent Edward Klem's motion to dismiss his § 1983 claim, determining it is barred by the Heck rule.¹ For the following reasons, this Court will vacate the District Court's order and remand for further proceedings.

I.

Grier was convicted of two counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, one count of burglary and three counts of unlawful restraint. He received a sentence of twenty-eight and-one-half to seventy-five years of imprisonment. The facts underlying these charges are as follows. On June 30, 1998, a perpetrator entered Ms. Loretta Hansbrew's ("Ms. Hansbrew") home while she was sleeping, taped her eyes and hands, and then raped her (the "June incident"). She never saw her assailant's face or recognized his muffled voice, but she noticed that he was African-American. Five months later, in November, Ms. Hansbrew was attacked again (the "November incident"). A perpetrator had hidden in her van. He demanded she pull over while she was driving. Then, he taped her eyes, bound her feet, and unsuccessfully attempted to rape her. Again, Ms. Hansbrew did not see his face.

On August 31, 1999, Grier visited Ms. Hansbrew's home to request water for his radiator. He knew Ms. Hansbrew because he was her daughter's fiancé. During the visit, Grier and Ms. Hansbrew had a sexual encounter (the "August incident"). Ms. Hansbrew reported the incident to the police, who took Grier into custody.

Grier waived his Miranda rights upon arrest. He offered to make a videotaped statement outside the presence of counsel. In it, he admitted to having had a sexual encounter with Ms. Hansbrew on August 31, 1999. A half-hour after the completion of the first interview, a detective initiated a second videotaped interview where he asked Grier about the June and November incidents. Grier confessed to both of those crimes as well.

Following both the June and August incidents, medical personnel used rape kits to gather biological evidence from Ms. Hansbrew. The rape kits were sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Laboratory to be compared to determine if the same perpetrator had committed both crimes. The kits were not analyzed, however, because Grier gave videotaped statements confessing to these crimes. Police testified that a state laboratory policy prevents the laboratory from analyzing DNA evidence in cases where the identity of the defendant is not in question due to a taped confession.

Grier later testified, and continues to contend, that he did not commit the June and November crimes. He claims he confessed to the crimes in error because he was extremely emotional and confused.

Grier's defense attorneys never moved to suppress the videotaped statements, and neither Grier nor the Commonwealth had the DNA tested. Grier was initially represented by public defender A.J. Adams ("Adams"). Despite Grier's requests, Adams did not move to suppress Grier's videotaped statements, concluding such a motion would be baseless. Due to a personality conflict, Adams was permitted to withdraw from Grier's case in April 2000.

Grier contends his subsequent attorney, James Pitonyak ("Pitonyak"), did not follow or convey his instructions to have DNA testing done on both rape kits. Pitonyak, however, claims that he and Grier discussed, but decided against, requesting DNA testing. The rape kits were never subjected to DNA testing and the jury convicted Grier primarily based on eyewitness testimony offered by the Commonwealth and Grier's videotaped statements.

Grier filed a timely motion for acquittal or a new trial maintaining his innocence and requesting DNA analysis, which was denied. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the denial, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Grier's petition for appeal.

Grier filed a pro se motion for postconviction collateral relief ("PCRA") in which he claimed ineffective assistance of counsel and that the prosecutor violated his constitutional rights by misrepresenting the facts in the case. He alleged his counsel was ineffective for failing to request DNA analysis and for not moving to suppress his videotaped statements. Grier filed a supplemental brief through appointed counsel, emphasizing that he was pursuing court-ordered DNA testing. After oral argument and an evidentiary hearing, Judge Domitrovich dismissed Grier's PCRA petition as "without merit." (App.A126.) The court determined that Grier was not entitled to postconviction DNA testing under Pennsylvania precedent that precludes postconviction access to DNA evidence when the conviction rests on voluntary confessions. See Commonwealth v. Godschalk, 451 Pa.Super. 425, 679 A.2d 1295, 1297 (1995).²

Grier alleges that he did not appeal the denial of his first PCRA due to a miscommunication with counsel. His appeal rights were reinstated after he informed the court of this miscommunication. Then, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the denial of his PCRA petition, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied his request for appeal.

On January 6, 2005, Grier filed this § 1983 claim alleging the District Attorney and Mr. Klem denied his procedural due process rights by refusing him access to the rape kits for DNA testing. The case was referred to a United States Magistrate Judge for recommendation. Grier moved for summary judgment, and Defendants moved to dismiss the action based on the failure to make out a cognizable § 1983 claim and on the principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel.³

The United States Magistrate Judge determined that Grier's allegation "necessarily implicates . . . his state court convictions." (App.A6.) She noted that under Heck v. Humphrey, a prisoner cannot bring a § 1983 claim if the success of that claim would undermine the prisoner's conviction or sentence, unless that conviction or sentence has already been called into question. 512 U.S. 477, 487, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994). The Magistrate Judge recommended that Grier's motion be dismissed "as an improper attempt to collaterally attack plaintiff's state court criminal conviction."⁴ (App.A5.) Based on the Magistrate Judge's recommendation, on June 29, 2006, the District Court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss and denied Grier's request for summary judgment.

Grier filed a timely appeal. This Court stayed his appeal pending the Supreme Court's decision in District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne, where the Supreme Court granted certiorari on, but did not decide, the question of whether an incarcerated plaintiff was barred from bringing a § 1983 claim to request access to evidence for postconviction DNA analysis. ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 2308, 2319, 174 L.Ed.2d 38 (2009).

II.

The District Court exercised subject matter jurisdiction over Grier's § 1983 claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and § 1343. This Court has appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. This Court exercises plenary review over a district court's grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. AT & T Corp. v. JMC Telecom, LLC, 470 F.3d 525, 530 (3d Cir.2006). We do not inquire whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail when considering a motion to dismiss, only whether the plaintiff is entitled to offer evidence to support his or her claims. Nami v. Fauver, 82 F.3d 63, 65 (3d Cir.1996).

III.

This case requires this Court to consider the boundary between two statutes that provide prisoners access to a federal forum to bring claims of unconstitutional treatment at the hands of state officials: the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the federal habeas corpus statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Section 1983 provides for a broad right of action, allowing recovery for anyone suffering from "the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution" by anyone acting under the color of state law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. By § 1983's terms, all habeas corpus actions could be brought as § 1983 claims; to prevent that, the Supreme Court determined that the two provisions must be read in harmony. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 500, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973). The Supreme Court created an "implicit exception" to § 1983's broad scope for actions that lie at the "core" of habeas corpus, id. at 487, 489, 93 S.Ct. 1827, which include any prisoner's claims that challenge the "validity of the fact or length of their confinement," id. at 490, 93 S.Ct. 1827.

In Heck v. Humphrey, the Supreme Court expanded the circumstances in which a prisoner is barred from bringing a § 1983 claim. 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994). It held a prisoner does not have a cognizable § 1983 claim, even if he or she does not seek relief from the fact or duration of confinement, for alleged unconstitutional conduct that would invalidate his or her underlying sentence or conviction unless that conviction has already been called into question. Id. at 486-87, 114 S.Ct. 2364. The Supreme Court thereby effectively barred prisoners from collaterally attacking their underlying convictions, directly or indirectly, through...