Opinion
Civil No. 7:20-cv-00062-GFVT
05-08-2020
DANIEL EDWARD MEADE, Plaintiff, v. BRIAN MORRIS, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER
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Plaintiff Daniel Edward Meade has filed a pro se civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. [R. 1] Meade's Complaint alleges mistreatment by thirteen staff members of the Pike County Detention Center in Pineville, Kentucky, where he is presently confined. Meade has also filed a one-page handwritten motion to proceed in forma pauperis. [R. 3] Meade did not submit a certified statement of his inmate account as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2).
Meade's complaint alleges, in its entirety, that:
All defendants conspired and carried out tortuous acts at the orders of Brian Morris. They infected plaintiff's home and his person with parasitic insects. Plaintiff is also being tortured with electrical shock.[R. 1 at 7 (cleaned up)] Meade seeks $5 million in damages for humiliation, emotional harm, and unidentified physical injury. Id.
The Court must review Meade's complaint because he is a prisoner suing public officials for relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court will dismiss Meade's Complaint because his allegations are "unsubstantial, frivolous, or otherwise devoid of merit." Apple v. Glenn, 183 F.3d 477, 479 (6th Cir. 1999) (holding that a district court may, upon its own motion, dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction any complaint whose allegations "are totally implausible, attenuated, unsubstantial, frivolous, devoid of merit, or no longer open to discussion."). The Court finds Meade's allegations that the Defendants are attacking him with "parasitic insects" and "electrical shock" to be fanciful, warranting dismissal of the Complaint.
This conclusion is based primarily upon Meade's Complaint. However, allegations of erratic behavior by Meade have also been made in his state criminal proceedings. Meade is a pretrial detainee facing criminal charges in the District Court of Pike County, Kentucky. On February 11, 2020, Meade was arrested at the Pikeville Medical Center, where the arresting officer asserted that Meade was intoxicated and openly masturbating in his hospital room; began screaming incoherently; and resisted the officer. Meade was charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. Two weeks later, Meade was arrested outside of a Walmart after reporting that he had been sprayed with an unknown chemical. A review of surveillance video showed that Meade had not been sprayed with anything, but the arresting officer noted that Meade smelled strongly of marijuana. Meade was arrested for filing a false report, public intoxication, and for an outstanding warrant for violating the terms of his parole. See https://kcoj.kycourts.net/CourtNet/Search/CaseAtAGlance?county=098&court=1&division=DI&caseNumber=20-M-00173&caseTypeCode=MI&client_id=0; and https://kcoj.kycourts.net/CourtNet/Search/CaseAtAGlance?county=098&court=1&division=DI&caseNumber=20-M-00241&caseTypeCode=MI&client_id=0 (visited May 7, 2020).
Accordingly, it is ORDERED as follows:
1. Plaintiff Daniel Meade's Complaint [R. 1], is DISMISSED.
2. All pending motions are DENIED as moot.
3. This action is STRICKEN from the Court's docket.
4. A corresponding Judgment shall be entered this date.
This 8th day of May, 2020.
/s/
Gregory F. Van Tatenhove
United States District Judge