ALLENTOWN – A federal judge has thrown out a motion from a Louisiana man seeking $1.5 million in damages from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, the Berks County Court of Common Pleas Clerk, the Bossier City, La. Police Department for allegedly violating his rights U.S. Constitution through incarcerating him based upon forged documents.
In a ruling reached July 17, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. denied Gregory William Moran’s million dollar-plus damages motion due to his previous charges not yet having been invalidated or expunged.
According to the instant litigation, Moran pled guilty to one count criminal mischief, property damage, on Feb. 13, 2015 in the Berks County Court of Common Pleas. Moran was sentenced to one year’s probation, a sentence later ended and revoked twice over the following 14 months.
On April 12, 2016, Moran’s probation was revoked and he was sentenced to no less than 48 days to no more than 18 months of confinement. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the trial court’s judgment on Feb. 8, 2017.
“In his amended complaint, Moran contends that on Feb. 24, 2016, he was at the Berks County Probation Office, where he was arrested by Probation Officer William Schults and his 18-month-old son was taken from him. Tasers ‘were drawn on [him] then [he] was taken to Berks County Prison,” Leeson said.
“Moran appears to suggest that he was arrested based upon a drug test performed on Feb. 22, 2016, which Probation Officer Schults said was positive for THC. Moran claims that he ‘had no levels of THC’ and ‘asked to take another test.’ He asserts that Probation Officer Schults ‘locked [him] up without merit or facts.”
Moran argued Berks County’s Clerk of Court Kim Santoro and Assistant District Attorneys John Adams and Mattew Thren “forged a document from the post office as if [he had] signed a document,” leading him to subsequently be “convicted of violations that had no facts just opinions.” Moreover, Moran stated Adams and Thren are immune, but “wanted the courts to be aware of [who is] involved.”
As relief, Moran requests $1.5 million to compensate him for having been wrongfully convicted, and Moran attached included documents that relate to his underlying criminal proceeding – including the allegedly forged document, which indicates that Berks County received delivery confirmation for unidentified documents related to Moran’s criminal case, that were sent to an address in Reading.
Through this, Moran appeared to suggest that the delivery confirmation with the alleged forgery shows “he was improperly found to have waived rights in the course of his criminal proceedings by virtue of having received documents in the mail.”
“As Moran’s convictions and sentence have not been reversed, expunged, or otherwise invalidated, any claims seeking damages for time spent incarcerated in connection with those convictions are not currently cognizable under Section 1983,” Leeson concluded.
“In other words, Moran cannot raise claims challenging the constitutionality of any aspect of the legal proceedings leading to his convictions, the convictions themselves, or the time spent incarcerated as long as his convictions remain intact. The dismissal is without prejudice to Moran’s right to pursue his claims in a new lawsuit if and when his convictions are invalidated. Moran’s ‘Motion for $1.5 Million Settlement’ is denied.”
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 5:18-cv-02291
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com