Lewis v. United States of America, 1:12-cv-07242

Background

Regina Lewis was arrested July 26, 2012 on a federal criminal complaint signed by Deputy U.S. Marshal Eric Weiss alleging threats against a federal judge; a magistrate issued an arrest warrant and Lewis was later indicted and convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 115(a)(1)(B).
Lewis alleges Weiss entered her home at 4:30 a.m., damaged and stole electronic devices, hacked her computers, and lacked authority/warrant to arrest or search her home.
She raised these allegations during criminal proceedings, received psychiatric evaluation, and was transferred among detention facilities; she was ultimately sentenced to time served with supervised release and later served additional time for supervised-release violations; she is no longer incarcerated.
Lewis sued Weiss pro se in this Bivens action asserting Fourth Amendment claims (false arrest/false imprisonment, invalid warrant/illegal search and seizure) and Fifth Amendment claim (deprivation of property).
Weiss moved to dismiss. The Court applied the Heck bar to the Fourth Amendment false-arrest/imprisonment claims, rejected Lewis’s facial challenge to the warrant, and held that statutory post-deprivation remedies foreclose a Fifth Amendment due-process claim.
Result: motion to dismiss granted; Fifth Amendment claim dismissed with prejudice (futile to amend); Fourth Amendment claims dismissed without prejudice, but leave to refile if the underlying conviction is invalidated.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Lewis can pursue false arrest/false imprisonment under Bivens despite her conviction	Lewis contends arrest lacked probable cause and was unlawful	Weiss argues conviction is conclusive proof of probable cause and bars the Bivens claims under Heck	Dismissed: Heck bar applies; false arrest/imprisonment claims dismissed without prejudice while conviction stands
Whether the arrest warrant/affidavit was legally insufficient	Lewis asserts affidavit/warrant failed to identify victim, identify her as caller, and that Weiss lacked authority or personal knowledge	Weiss points to magistrate’s probable-cause finding and lawful authorization for marshals to execute federal warrants	Dismissed: allegations do not plausibly show warrant invalidity; magistrate could rely on hearsay; warrant authorized “United States Marshal or Any Other Authorized Officer”
Whether alleged seizure/destruction/theft of property states a Fifth Amendment due-process claim	Lewis alleges Weiss crushed/stole computers and other items during arrest	Weiss contends statutory post-deprivation remedies exist and preclude due-process claim	Dismissed with prejudice: meaningful post-deprivation remedies (e.g., 31 U.S.C. § 3724) make a Bivens due-process claim unavailable
Relief/pleading posture on dismissal and amendment	Lewis opposes dismissal and sought to preserve claims	Weiss seeks dismissal as frivolous and for failure to state a claim	Court grants dismissal; Fifth Amendment claim with prejudice, Fourth Amendment claims without prejudice pending possible invalidation of conviction

Key Cases Cited

Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (recognition of implied damages action against federal officers for constitutional violations)
Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (conviction bars civil claims that would imply invalidity of conviction)
Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (probable cause determinations may rest on hearsay; standard for attacking affidavit veracity)
Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517 (random/intentional deprivation of property by state actors does not violate due process where adequate postdeprivation remedies exist)
Stuto v. Fleishman, 164 F.3d 820 (postdeprivation remedies can preclude procedural due process Bivens claims)
Tavarez v. Reno, 54 F.3d 109 (Heck applies to Bivens actions)
Turkmen v. Hasty, 789 F.3d 218 (permitting Fourth Amendment challenges in Bivens context)