LOUISE W. FLALNAGAN, District Judge.
The matter comes before the court on the motion for summary judgment (DE #56) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 filed by defendants R.L. Foy ("Foy") and the Wake County Sheriff's Department ("Sheriff's Department"). Also before the court are plaintiff's motions for relief (DE #s 52, 53), which this court construes as motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff has not responded to defendants' motion, and defendants did not respond to plaintiff's motions. In this posture, these matters are ripe for adjudication. For the following reasons, the court grants defendants' motion for summary judgment, but denies plaintiff's motions for summary judgment.
On July 27, 2009, plaintiff, a then pretrial detainee, brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff alleged defendants unlawfully arrested him in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Plaintiff also alleged that defendants prevented him from registering as a sex offender.
On October 25, 2011, plaintiff filed two motions for summary judgment. On November 14, 2011, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that they did not violate plaintiff's constitutional rights and that the Sheriff's Department is not a proper party. Alternatively, defendants assert the defense of qualified immunity.
The facts seen in the light most favorable to plaintiff are as follows. In April 2008, a judge ordered plaintiff not to enter the Wake County Public Safety Center ("Public Safety Center") for one year. In June of 2009, plaintiff was placed on probation and ordered to register with the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry, located in the Public Safety Center. Plaintiff states that Foy interfered with his obligation to register as a sex offender when Foy prevented him from entering the Public Safety Center.
Foy, an employee of the Wake County Sheriff's Sex Offender Office, disputes plaintiff's version of the facts.
Summary judgment is appropriate when there exists no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a);
The court first addresses whether the Sheriff's Department is a proper party to this action. "State law dictates whether a [state] governmental agency has the capacity to be sued in federal court."
Foy asserts the defense of qualified immunity. Government officials are entitled to qualified immunity from civil damages so long as "their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known."
Plaintiff alleges that Foy, a Sheriff's Department deputy, interfered with his ability to register as a sex offender and accused him of trespassing. Foy disputes plaintiff's allegations. Instead, Foy asserts that, on June 8, 2009, he received notice that plaintiff was convicted of sexual battery, and was required to register at the Sheriff's Department as a sex offender. Foy found plaintiff on the steps of the Public Safety Center and escorted him into the building to register. Plaintiff was intoxicated and disruptive, so Foy instructed him to return the next day. Plaintiff did not return for several days, and subsequently was arrested on June 11, 2009, for failing to register.
Based upon the foregoing, the evidence in the record does not reflect that Foy interfered with plaintiff's ability to register as a sex offender, that he prevented him from entering the Public Safety Center, or that he arrested him for trespassing. Instead, it appears that Foy attempted to assist plaintiff in complying with his statutory requirement to register as a sex offender, and that plaintiff was not cooperative. Plaintiff has not presented any evidence to the contrary. Thus, there is no evidence that Foy violated plaintiff's constitutional rights by interfering with his ability to register as a sex offender, and he is entitled to qualified immunity.
To the extent plaintiff asserts that Foy falsely arrested him in violation of the Fourth Amendment, his claim is without merit. To establish a Fourth Amendment false arrest or malicious prosecution claim, the plaintiff must establish that probable cause did not exist for his arrest.
Finally, to the extent plaintiff challenges his convictions for sexual battery which triggered the sex-offender registration requirement, he may not do so in this action. In order to proceed with claims arising out of a state criminal proceeding, a plaintiff must show that his underlying convictions have been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal, or called into question by a federal court's issuance of a writ of habeas corpus.
Plaintiff make several allegations in his many random filings. On June 30, 2011, the court warned plaintiff that it would not consider his random allegations unless he filed a motion to amend his complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a). Plaintiff failed to subsequently move to amend his complaint. Because plaintiff has not moved this court to amend his complaint pursuant to Rule 15(a) to include any new claim, his random allegations are not properly before the court and are DISMISSED without prejudice.
For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion for summary judgment (DE #56) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's claims attacking his sexual battery convictions are DISMISSED without prejudice. Plaintiff's motions to be granted relief (DE #s 52 and 53) are DENIED. The new claims raised in plaintiff's random miscellaneous filings are DISMISSED without prejudice. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to close this case.
SO ORDERED.