Knowlin v. Thompson and Michalek, 97-3463

• Decision Date: 30 November 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-3463,97-3463
• Citation: 207 F.3d 907
• Parties: (7th Cir. 2000) Lee KNOWLIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Pat THOMPSON and Ed Michalek, Defendants-Appellees
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 907

207 F.3d 907 (7th Cir. 2000)

Lee KNOWLIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Pat THOMPSON and Ed Michalek, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-3463

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Submitted November 30, 1999^*

Decided March 23, 2000

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. No. 96-C-5--Charles N. Clevert, Judge.

Before Harlington Wood, Jr., Flaum, and Evans, Circuit Judges.

Flaum, Circuit Judge.

Lee Knowlin, a Wisconsin prisoner proceeding pro se, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983 seeking compensatory and punitive damages against Arkansas law enforcement officers for alleged violations of the Arkansas Uniform Criminal Extradition Act ("UCEA"). The district court dismissed Knowlin's complaint without prejudice as barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

Background

In reviewing the district court's dismissal, we accept the allegations in the plaintiff's complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. See Hernandez v. Joliet Police Dep't, 197 F.3d 256, 262 (7th Cir. 1999). In February 1992, the State of Wisconsin released Knowlin on parole. After violating the conditions of his parole, Knowlin left Wisconsin. In February 1994, Knowlin was arrested in Sherwood, Arkansas, for traffic violations. Shortly after Knowlin's arrest in Arkansas, authorities there received a request from the State of Wisconsin to hold him pending a formal extradition request. Knowlin appeared before an Arkansas judge on a detainer warrant on February 15, 1994, and he informed the court that he would not waive formal extradition procedures. On February 28, 1994, the governor of Wisconsin submitted a request for Knowlin's extradition to the Arkansas governor. On March 10, 1994, the Arkansas governor issued a certificate of delivery, authorizing Knowlin's transfer to Wisconsin under the terms of the UCEA. Under the Arkansas UCEA, before Knowlin was surrendered to Wisconsin authorities, he was to be informed of the demand for his surrender, the charges against him, and his right to an attorney. See Ark. Code Ann. sec. 16-94-210. If Knowlin chose to test the legality of the proposed extradition, he was to be taken before a judge and allowed a reasonable amount of time to apply for a writ of habeas corpus, a proceeding in which the court could establish Knowlin's identity and verify the facial validity of the extradition papers. See id. Knowlin, following through with his election to oppose extradition, filed a pro se motion on March 14, 1994, requesting that his extradition proceedings be moved from the Sherwood Municipal Court to the Arkansas Circuit Court, where he could seek a habeas writ. On March 15, an Arkansas judge transferred Knowlin's pending extradition proceedings to the state's circuit court, but before a hearing could be held on his habeas application, the defendants, Sherwood law enforcement officers Pat Thompson and Ed Michalek,¹ delivered him to Wisconsin agents. After a parole revocation hearing, the State of Wisconsin revoked Knowlin's parole and imprisoned him. See Wisconsin ex rel. Knowlin v. Schwarz, No. 95-2504, 1996 WL 266005, at *1 (Wis. Ct. App. May 21, 1996).

Knowlin subsequently filed suit in the district court under sec. 1983 against Thompson and Michalek for surrendering him to Wisconsin authorities without first permitting him to pursue a habeas corpus action in an Arkansas court to contest his extradition. Knowlin alleged that his surrender prior to the disposition of his habeas corpus action violated his federal rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and the UCEA.

The defendants moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that Knowlin failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and, alternatively, that they were entitled to qualified immunity. Knowlin, citing our decision in McBride v. Soos, 594 F.2d 610, 613 (7th Cir. 1979) (holding that a complaint "which charges abuse of the extradition power by noncompliance with applicable law states a cause of action [under sec. 1983]"), argued that he indeed stated a proper claim. The district court rejected both proffered defenses. Instead, the court concluded sua sponte that Knowlin's claim was barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), and its progeny. Accordingly, the district court dismissed Knowlin's complaint without prejudice.

Discussion

In the district court, Knowlin asserted that, when the defendants delivered him to Wisconsin authorities while his Arkansas habeas corpus action remained pending, they violated his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and the UCEA. On appeal, Knowlin has abandoned his Fourteenth Amendment argument, and we therefore consider only Knowlin's allegation that the defendants violated the UCEA. We conclude, like the district court, that Knowlin's sec. 1983 claim is barred by Heck.

Heck involved a sec. 1983 claim arising out of alleged unlawful acts by state prosecutors and police officers that had led to the plaintiff's arrest, and ultimately his conviction. In analyzing whether Heck's claim was cognizable under sec. 1983, the Court analogized to the common-law cause of action for malicious prosecution, one element of which is the termination of the prior criminal proceeding in favor of the accused. The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of the suit, and it stated that if a "judgment in favor of the plaintiff would necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence . . . the [sec. 1983] complaint must be dismissed unless the plaintiff can demonstrate that the conviction or sentence has...