Former inmate gets rare remand from 4th Circuit

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A former inmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center pulled off a rare judicial feat: He got a federal appellate panel to agree with him and send part of his civil-rights case back to U.S. District Court for reconsideration.

How unusual was Kevin W. Jackson’s partial victory at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals? While not quite as unlikely as a person getting struck by lightning (1 chance in 1,300), data from the federal court system indicates that Jackson had less than a 1 percent chance of receiving a second chance.

The case stems from Jackson’s May 2012 arrest on charges of assaulting his boyfriend, Stephan Schnell, according to court documents. The police report states Schnell was taken unconscious to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was found to have bleeding on the brain in addition to two black eyes. Schnell told police the couple got into an argument when he arrived home from work, according to the charging documents.

Jackson, in jail awaiting trial and without a lawyer, filed his federal lawsuit last October, alleging he was falsely arrested. Jackson alleged police illegally searched his home and took two cell phones as part of their investigation and failed to turn over to prosecutors an interview Schnell gave police, among other charges.

Judge Richard D. Bennett dismissed Jackson’s claim six days after it was filed, ruling he could not bring the suit under Heck v. Humphrey, a 1994 Supreme Court decision which requires that indictments, convictions or sentences be dismissed, reversed or expunged before a criminal defendant can file a federal civil rights suit.

“Judgment in his favor in this case is inextricably connected to his 2012 indictment and there is no evidence that the indictment has been invalidated,” Bennett wrote.

Jackson appealed the ruling less than two weeks later, again arguing that police violated his 4th Amendment rights by searching his home.

In an unpublished per curiam opinion filed last week, a three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit affirmed Bennett’s ruling that police had probable cause to arrest Jackson.

However, the panel allowed Jackson to pursue his Fourth Amendment violation claims because it was unclear whether the claim “is barred by Heck’s favorable termination rule.”

“Because this determination should be made in the first instance by the district court, we vacate and remand the district court’s dismissal of this claim,” the judges wrote, adding they had no opinion as to whether Jackson would prevail.

So how rare is the 4th Circuit’s opinion? For starters, Jackson had a less than 50 percent chance of his case even reaching the appellate court, according to data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Out of 1,975 U.S. prisoner petitions filed in lower courts for the year ending Sept. 30, 2013, the 4th Circuit agreed to hear approximately 43 percent.

During that same period, the 4th Circuit closed 762 prisoner petitions, of which 636 were terminations on the merits. Of those, 70 percent were cases dealing only with certificates of appealability.

Of the 183 remaining cases, the appellate court affirmed 161 times.

Number of remands: 2.

As for Jackson, he remained in jail until he pleaded guilty in February to first-degree assault, according to court records. He was sentenced to 22 years in jail with all but three-and-a-half years suspended but was granted probation after conviction, meaning he instead will serve three years of supervised probation.

By the numbers

4th Circuit prisoner petitions for the year ending Sept. 30, 2013

1,975: Filed in U.S. District Court

862: Accepted by the 4th Circuit

762: Appeals terminated by 4th Circuit

161: Decisions affirming U.S. District Court

10: Decisions reversing U.S. District Court

2: Cases remanded to U.S. District Court

Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts