422 F.Supp.3d 986
D. Maryland2019Background
- On April 28, 2010, plainclothes, masked BPD officers boxed in and approached a car occupied by Umar Burley and Brent Matthews; the occupants fled, a high-speed chase ensued, and Burley’s car struck and killed a third party (Elbert Davis).
- Plaintiffs allege officers (including Wayne Jenkins, Ryan Guinn, Keith Gladstone, and others) planted ~32 grams of heroin in Burley’s vehicle, authored a false statement of probable cause, and caused federal and state prosecutions that led to guilty pleas and lengthy incarceration.
- Years later, a federal RICO investigation into the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) revealed widespread corruption; several officers pleaded guilty (including Jenkins) and admitted fabricating evidence; the federal and state convictions of Burley and Matthews were vacated (Dec. 2017 – Apr. 2018).
- Plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint (June–Dec. 2018) asserting § 1983 claims (fabrication of evidence/Brady, malicious prosecution, failure to intervene, conspiracy, supervisory liability, Monell) and related Maryland-law claims, and seeking damages and indemnification for a civil judgment against Burley.
- Defendants moved to dismiss mainly on statute-of-limitations grounds, sovereign-immunity/Monell grounds, and for failure to state claims; the court addressed accrual and pleading sufficiency at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accrual / statute of limitations for fabricated-evidence §1983 claims and related claims | Fabrication and related §1983 claims didn’t accrue until plaintiffs’ convictions were vacated (Dec. 2017); malicious-prosecution accrual at favorable termination | Claims accrued at time of stop/arrest (Apr. 28, 2010); thus filed after the 3‑year Maryland limitations period | Court adopted McDonough: fabricated-evidence claim accrues when criminal proceedings terminate favorably (vacatur Dec. 2017); malicious-prosecution timely; other §1983 claims not resolved on 12(b)(6) because accrual/inquiry-notice factual issues remain (motion denied as to most defendants) |
| Brady (failure to disclose) and applicability in guilty-plea context | Plaintiffs claim officers withheld exculpatory evidence (who planted the drugs) and that Brady-based due-process claim is viable despite guilty pleas | Defendants: claim is really fabrication of evidence (not Brady); Brady is a trial right and need not apply pre-plea; plaintiffs had the exculpatory facts earlier | Court treated the allegations principally as a fabrication-of-evidence due-process claim (McDonough‑accrual rule applies); Brady label is largely duplicative here and need not be separately pleaded; claim survives at pleading stage as a due-process/fabrication theory |
| Monell liability and BPD sovereign immunity / indemnification | Plaintiffs allege a longstanding BPD custom/policy (plainclothes units, deficient oversight) that caused constitutional violations | BPD: is a State agency (arm of the State), immune from suit for state-law claims and not subject to Monell liability; sovereign immunity bars indemnification claims | Court held §1983 claims may proceed against BPD at this stage (declined to dismiss Monell claim on jurisdictional sovereign‑immunity ground); state-law claims against BPD are subject to sovereign immunity; indemnification issues premature to resolve on motion |
| Supervisory liability and failure-to-intervene; §1985 conspiracy | Plaintiffs: supervisors (Willard, Knoerlein, Fries, Palmere) had actual/constructive knowledge of pervasive misconduct and were deliberately indifferent; Palmere also sued for failure to intervene; §1985 alleged conspiracy | Defendants: lack of personal involvement/specific knowledge; failure-to-intervene requires being a bystander with specific contemporaneous knowledge; §1985 requires class-based animus | Court denied dismissal of supervisory-liability claims (pleading sufficient to proceed); dismissed the failure-to-intervene claim against Palmere (insufficient to show he was a contemporaneous bystander); dismissed §1985 claims for failure to plead class‑based animus |
Key Cases Cited
- McDonough v. Smith, 139 S. Ct. 2149 (2019) (fabricated-evidence §1983 claim accrues when criminal proceedings terminate in favor of the accused)
- Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) (municipal liability under §1983 requires an unconstitutional policy or custom fairly attributable to the municipality)
- Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51 (2011) (limits municipal liability to the municipality’s own policies or deliberate indifference)
- Twombly v. Bell Atl. Corp., 550 U.S. 544 (2007) (pleading must state a claim plausible on its face)
- Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (no respondeat superior; supervisors liable only for their own unconstitutional conduct)
- Owens v. Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, 767 F.3d 379 (4th Cir.) (§1983 limitations analysis and related principles)
- Shaw v. Stroud, 13 F.3d 791 (4th Cir. 1994) (elements of supervisor liability under §1983)
- United States v. Fisher, 711 F.3d 460 (4th Cir. 2013) (egregious pre-plea law-enforcement misconduct may render a guilty plea involuntary)
- Ruiz v. United States, 536 U.S. 622 (2002) (prosecutor’s Brady obligation to disclose impeachment material does not necessarily extend to plea negotiations)
- Washington v. Wilmore, 407 F.3d 274 (4th Cir. 2005) (distinguishing fabricated-evidence claims from Brady)