Charles Odom v. Kenan Kaizer, No. 11-1461 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Prisoner case - prisoner civil rights. Plaintiff's Section 1983 allegations that an officer knowingly gave false information in a warrant application were not barred under Heck v. Humphrey, as success on the claim would not necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence; nor was defendant entitled to absolute immunity on the claim; as a result, the district court erred in dismissing the complaint under Sec. 1915(g); case remanded for further proceedings.
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United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 11-1461 ___________ Charles Odom, Appellant, v. Kenan Kaizer, Appellee. * * * * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the * District of North Dakota. * * [UNPUBLISHED] * ___________ Submitted: April 11, 2011 Filed: May 26, 2011 ___________ Before BYE, ARNOLD, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. North Dakota inmate Charles Odom appeals the district court s preservice dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint. Following our de novo review, we conclude that Odom s allegations--that Bismarck Police Detective Kenan Kaizer knowingly gave false information while testifying in support of issuance of an arrest warrant--were sufficient to state a claim that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. See Reynolds v. Dormire, No. 10-1473, 2011 WL 561982, at *1 (8th Cir. Feb. 18, 2011) (standard of review; in reviewing district court s dismissal for failure to state claim, appellate court accepts as true all factual allegations contained in complaint and affords all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from those allegations); Bagby v. Brondhaver, 98 F.3d 1096, 1098 (8th Cir. 1996) (warrant based on affidavit containing deliberate falsehood or reckless disregard for truth violates Fourth Amendment; official who causes such deprivation is subject to § 1983 liability). The claim is not barred under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), because Odom s success on the claim would not necessarily imply the invalidity of his convictions or sentences, see id. at 486-87; and Kaizer is not entitled to absolute immunity, see Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 340-44 (1986) (denying absolute immunity to police officers who applied for arrest warrants; complaining witnesses were not shielded by absolute immunity at common law, and police officer applying for arrest warrant was not analogous to prosecutor seeking indictment). Accordingly, we reverse the district court s judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. ______________________________ -2-
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