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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 19-13554
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 3:19-cv-00010-CAR
JARVIS O'NEIL ADAMS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR,
State of Georgia,
OFFICE OF GREENE COUNTY SHERIFF,
OFFICER PAQUETTE,
Greene County Deputy Sheriff,
OFFICER JOHN DOE,
presumably McGammons, Greene County
Deputy Sheriff,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Georgia
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(June 12, 2020)
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Before WILSON, LAGOA, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jarvis O’Neil Adams, proceeding pro se, appeals the sua sponte dismissal
with prejudice of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action raising claims of an unlawful stop,
search, and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment and other rights. The
district court granted Adams’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis, but dismissed
his case with prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) because he failed to
state a claim upon which relief could be granted and because amending his
complaint would be futile under the Rooker-Feldman 1 doctrine. After careful
review of the appellant’s brief and the record, we affirm in part and vacate and
remand in part. 2
I.
We review de novo a district court’s sua sponte dismissal for failure to state
a claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). Mitchell v. Farcass,
112 F.3d
1483, 1490 (11th Cir. 1997). Section 1915(e) provides that an in forma pauperis
action shall be dismissed at any time if the court determines that it fails to state a
claim for which relief may be granted. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). To avoid dismissal for
failure to state a claim, the complaint must contain enough facts to “raise a right to
1
Rooker v. Fid. Tr. Co.,
263 U.S. 413 (1923); D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman,
460 U.S.
462 (1983).
2
To the extent that Adams appeals the dismissal of any of his other constitutional claims,
we have determined that such claims are conclusory and meritless, and we affirm their dismissal.
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relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,
550 U.S. 544, 555
(2007). And its claim for relief must be plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). We have stated that “conclusory allegations,
unwarranted deductions of facts or legal conclusions masquerading as facts will
not prevent dismissal.” Oxford Asset Mgmt., Ltd. v. Jaharis,
297 F.3d 1182, 1188
(11th Cir. 2002). Pro se pleadings are liberally construed and held to less
stringent standards than those drafted by lawyers but must still suggest some
factual basis for a claim. Jones v. Fla. Parole Comm’n,
787 F.3d 1105, 1107 (11th
Cir. 2015). And “[a] copy of a written instrument that is an exhibit to a pleading is
a part of the pleading for all purposes.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(c).
To prevail on a civil rights action under § 1983, “a plaintiff must show that
he or she was deprived of a federal right by a person acting under color of state
law.” Griffin v. City of Opa-Locka,
261 F.3d 1295, 1303 (11th Cir. 2001). The
Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and
seizures. Terry v. Ohio,
392 U.S. 1, 9 (1968).
“A warrantless arrest without probable cause violates the Fourth
Amendment and forms a basis for a section 1983 claim,” Ortega v. Christian,
85
F.3d 1521, 1525 (11th Cir. 1996), but there can be no claim for false arrest without
an arrest, Shaw v. City of Selma,
884 F.3d 1093, 1101 (11th Cir. 2018).
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A traffic stop is considered a seizure subject to the protections of the Fourth
Amendment. United States v. Purcell,
236 F.3d 1274, 1277 (11th Cir. 2001). A
decision to stop a vehicle is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment when an
officer has probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. Whren v.
United States,
517 U.S. 806, 810 (1996). Probable cause is a “reasonable ground
for belief of guilt, supported by less than prima facie proof but more than mere
suspicion.” United States v. $242,484.00,
389 F.3d 1149, 1160 (11th Cir. 2004).
This standard is met when an officer personally observes a traffic infraction.
See United States v. Harris,
526 F.3d 1334, 1337–38 (11th Cir. 2008) (per curiam).
A warrantless search of an automobile is constitutional if (1) the automobile
is readily mobile and (2) there is probable cause to believe that it contains
contraband or evidence of a crime. United States v. Lanzon,
639 F.3d 1293, 1299–
1300 (11th Cir. 2011). The first prong is satisfied if the car is operational. United
States v. Watts,
329 F.3d 1282, 1286 (11th Cir. 2003) (per curiam). As for the
second prong, probable cause to search a vehicle “exists when under the totality of
the circumstances, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime
will be found in the vehicle.” United States v. Lindsey,
482 F.3d 1285, 1293 (11th
Cir. 2007). This standard is met when an officer detects the smell of marijuana.
United States v. Lueck,
678 F.2d 895, 903 (11th Cir. 1982), abrogation on other
grounds recognized by United States v. Phillips,
812 F.2d 1355 (11th Cir. 1987)
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(per curiam). In addition to searching the vehicle, officers conducting a traffic stop
may “take such steps as are reasonably necessary to protect their personal safety,”
including conducting a protective search of the driver.
Purcell, 236 F.3d at 1277
(alteration accepted).
A warrantless seizure of personal property in plain view is permissible under
the Fourth Amendment where officers have probable cause to believe that the
property is contraband. See United States v. Smith,
459 F.3d 1276, 1290 (11th Cir.
2006). The government can establish probable cause for the seizure of property by
showing that the property was related to “some illegal drug transaction.”
$242,484.00, 389 F.3d at 1160. In considering the evidence that funds were
related to a drug transaction, we employ “a common sense view to the realities of
normal life applied to the totality of the circumstances.”
Id. The sheer quantity of
cash, although a significant fact, is not sufficient on its own to establish probable
cause to believe money was related to a drug transaction.
Id. at 1161.
The district court did not err by dismissing Adams’s claims for unlawful
arrest and unlawful stop. First, he was not arrested, and second, he alleged, and
did not dispute, that the officers stopped him based on a traffic violation—failing
to use his turn signal. See O.C.G.A. § 40-6-123(b) (“A signal of intention to turn
right or left or change lanes when required shall be given continuously for a time
sufficient to alert the driver of a vehicle proceeding from the rear in the same
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direction or a driver of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.”). The
district court also did not err by dismissing Adams’s claim for unlawful search of
his vehicle as he alleged the officers stated that they searched his car because they
smelled marijuana, which established probable cause for the search.
But the district court did err by dismissing Adams’s claim for unlawful
seizure of his personal property during the stop because it did not specifically
address whether there was probable cause for the seizure. In other words, the
district court made no determination about whether the alleged facts supported that
the officers had probable cause to believe the seized money was contraband—e.g.,
related to a drug transaction. As this determination requires a fact-specific inquiry
governed by the totality of the circumstances, we will remand to the district court
to address in the first instance whether Adams stated a claim for unlawful seizure
under § 1983.
II.
“We review a district court’s decision to deny leave to amend for an abuse
of discretion,” Woldeab v. Dekalb Cty. Bd. of Educ.,
885 F.3d 1289, 1291 (11th
Cir. 2018), but we review de novo the underlying legal conclusion that amendment
to the complaint would be futile, Corsello v. Lincare, Inc.,
428 F.3d 1008, 1012
(11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam). We review de novo a district court’s determination
that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over a plaintiff’s claims due to the
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Rooker-Feldman doctrine. See Goodman ex rel. Goodman v. Sipos,
259 F.3d 1327,
1331 (11th Cir. 2001).
Generally, the district court abuses its discretion if it does not provide a pro
se plaintiff at least one opportunity to amend his complaint before dismissing it
with prejudice, unless doing so would be futile because a more carefully crafted
complaint would still not be able to state a claim. See
Woldeab, 885 F.3d at 1291–
92. Under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, federal district courts and courts of
appeals lack subject matter jurisdiction “over certain matters related to previous
state court litigation.”
Goodman, 259 F.3d at 1332. The Rooker-Feldman doctrine
“extends not only to constitutional claims presented or adjudicated by a state court,
but also to [federal] claims that are ‘inextricably intertwined’ with a state court
judgment.” Siegel v. LePore,
234 F.3d 1163, 1172 (11th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (per
curiam). “A federal claim is inextricably intertwined with a state court judgment if
the federal claim succeeds only to the extent that the state court wrongly decided
the issues before it.”
Id. (internal quotation mark omitted).
The Supreme Court has clarified that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine is
confined to cases that are “brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries
caused by state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings
commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those judgments.”
Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp.,
544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005)
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(emphasis added). Rooker and Feldman do not support the idea that properly
invoked concurrent jurisdiction vanishes when a state court reaches judgment on
the same question while the case is still under review in federal court.
Id. at 292.
“Disposition of the federal action, once the state-court adjudication is complete,
would be governed by preclusion law.”
Id. at 293. Thus, “the relevant inquiry [for
applying the Rooker-Feldman doctrine] is whether the state court proceedings have
ended” before the federal action was filed. Nicholson v. Shafe,
558 F.3d 1266,
1277 (11th Cir. 2009); see Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach,
713 F.3d 1066, 1072
(11th Cir. 2013) (noting Rooker-Feldman doctrine would only apply if state court
proceedings ended before commencement of the plaintiff’s federal case).
And under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c)(1), “[a]n amendment to a
pleading relates back to the date of the original pleading when . . . the amendment
asserts a claim or defense that arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence
set out—or attempted to be set out—in the original pleading.”
Here, the district court erred by concluding that amendment would be futile
because it would be barred from review under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. As
the district court noted, the state civil forfeiture proceeding had not concluded
when Adams filed his initial complaint. Because any amended complaint based on
the same facts could relate back to the date of the filing of the initial complaint, the
Rooker-Feldman doctrine would not apply to Adams’s amended complaint.
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III.
For the reasons stated above, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of
Adams’s claims for unlawful stop and search. We vacate the dismissal of Adams’s
unlawful seizure claim and remand to the district court for proceedings consistent
with this opinion.
AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART.
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