IN THE
COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS
OF MARYLAND
_________________________________
No. 01570
September Term, 2011
_________________________________
JAMES ARMSTEAD
Appellant
vs.
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT ET AL
Appellee
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County
(Hon. J. Michael Wachs)
__________________________________
Appellant’s Brief and Record Extract
James Armstead
Appellant
IN THE
COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS
OF MARYLAND
_________________________________
No. 01570
September Term, 2011
_________________________________
JAMES ARMSTEAD
Appellant
vs.
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT ET AL
Appellee
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County
(Hon. J. Michael Wachs)
__________________________________
Appellant’s Brief and Record Extract
James Armstead
Appellant
STATEMENT OF FACTS
On August 9, 2010, my wife, Krystal Armstead, called Matta Karimu to ask her if she could come over her house to pick up the son that Matta told me was mine. My wife and I drove over to Matta’s house in Pioneer City, a community located in Severn, Maryland. My wife stood in the door, facing Matta. I was standing behind my wife. The little boy was heading down the steps at that time. Matta told her son to tell me that he didn’t want to come over my house. The small child stood in the door, smiling at my wife, showing him the sticker tattoo that he had on his arm. I told the little boy to go get his clothes so he could come over my house to spend the night. Excited to see us, he made his way upstairs to go get his clothes. Matta was upset, telling us that he wasn’t going with us. She tried to slam the door on my wife, almost hitting my wife’s 4-month pregnant stomach, and I caught the door before it could hit her. The next thing we here is Matta screaming, telling her oldest son to call the police because she said that I had hit her in the head with the door!
That day of August 9th, 2010, Matta Karimu filed a protective order against me, (district case number 0702SP03030452010). On August 17, 2010, Officer Hardesty, of the Western District Anne Arundel County Police Department, issued a summons for Assault and Burglary (district case number 4A00230332/ Circuit case number 2K11000290/ tracking number 10100601609133). On September 13, 2011, I, James Armstead, appealed the Protective Order (district case number 0702SP03030452010) to circuit court (circuit court case 02-C-10-155649). The case was denied in court on October 12, 2010 before Judge Paul Harris.
On December 21, 2010, Matta Karimu called the police and told them that I came by her house and threatened her. Officer Hardesty applied for a warrant for my arrest for "violation of protective order" (District Court case 2A227530). Since he was the police that placed the assault and burglary chares on me, he should have known that the protective order was denied. Matta Karimu showed him the old protective order from September 13 and Officer Hardesty issued the warrant based on that. He claims that he called the sheriff’s department and they told him that the protective order was still active which is a lie. That same day that Matta Karimu called the police on me, my wife called her. When my wife called Matta’s phone, Officer Hardesty answered the phone. He stated that the paperwork that she SHOWED him said that the protective order was active. When my wife called the sheriff’s department, the dispatcher told her that the protective order contained two pages on his computer screen; that at the bottom of the first page, the case number was showing appealed and the next page showed that the protective order was denied in Circuit Court. I don't care who the police department wants to blame, these charges were placed on me and there was a warrant placed out on me due to someone else's mistake and someone else’s false statements to the police department.
On December 23, my wife and I went over to Matta Karimu's house for another attempt at trying to see the child. She wouldn't come to the door and stated she was calling the police. So I called the police, too. Officers J.C. Tepper (badge #1810) and M.T Allinger (badge # 1672) showed up to Matta Karimu's address. She showed them the same paperwork that she showed to Officer Hardesty. Like a police officer is supposed to do, Officer Allinger called the sheriff’s office right in front of my wife and I, and found out that there was in fact no active protective order showing in the system but that there was in fact a warrant out for me for my arrest for violation of a protective order. He told me that Officer Hardesty did in fact issue out the warrant for violation of protective order.
The protective order case (District Case number 0702SP03030452010/ Circuit Court case 02-C-10-155649) was thrown out in circuit court on October 12th because the judge (JUDGE HARRIS) realized she was lying and changing her story too many times. Yet and still, Matta Karimu used the temporary protective order to have a warrant placed out against me in December 21, 2010. How could a warrant for “Violation of protective order” be placed on me when there WAS NO ACTIVE protective order in the system?! How could a commissioner (COMMISSIONER SNOW) even sign that warrant when he or she could see for his or herself that the case had been appealed and dismissed by Judge Harris in circuit court?
I even contacted the office of Internal Affairs. All they did was give me the run around. Detective McFarlin contacted me and I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise. I tried to explain my situation and how Matta Karimu lied to the police officer, showing him old, denied, false information to have a warrant issued out on me. He told me Detective Peterson would contact me. At the time, I didn’t have a steady phone number because my family and I were (and still are) suffering financially. He used that as an excuse not to get in contact with me. He claimed he spoke with Matta Karimu and he believed her when he asked her about showing Officer Hardesty the protective order that she believed to be still current. Detective Peterson was very rude and sarcastic with me, not even caring about my situation or the fact that this woman is ruining my reputation, my character, and my life. He seemed as though he was just concerned with taking up for her and for Officer Hardesty. So, I spoke with Captain Flemming who showed the same disregard to my life. Till this day, I have to contact them about the case. They have yet to call me back about the case. Last I heard, they were waiting to hear back from the State’s attorney about how to place false statement charges on Matta Karimu. They keep giving me the run around. If you can’t go to the Internal Affairs Department for help, who can you go to?
The Internal Affairs Unit/ Western District Police Department kept making excuses for Officer Hardesty, telling me that Officer Hardesty says that it's the sheriff department's fault for leaving the protective order showing up active in the system. Then some dispatchers at the sheriff’s office tell me that the protective order is showing denied and others said that it was showing up as active, and that it's the district court who is at fault. And then the district court is telling me that in order to file a false statement charge against Matta Karimu, I have to get the commissioner to approve it. When I went to the commissioner, he told me that I have to go the state's attorney. When I went to the state's attorney, the supervisor told me that I had to go to the police station to get the officer to file charges. I keep getting the run around. Matta Karimu claims that she doesn't remember going to court and the judge denying her petition for a protective order. And the internal affairs went off of what she said; they actually believed her when she said that she didn't remember, as if they couldn't investigate any further and get the tape recording of what happened in court that day.
Circuit Court Case number 02K11000290 was thrown out in court June 15th, 2011 because Matta Karimu’s credibility is questionable. When asked why she used an old protective that had been appealed and dismissed in court (due to Judge Robert Harris believing that she was a liar who couldn’t keep her story straight), she claimed she forgot. How could someone “forget” they went to court and their case was denied? How could she even have the audacity to use a dismissed protective order and gave it to Officer Hardesty to have a warrant (case 2A00227530) issued out against me! If my wife and I would have never taken it upon ourselves to go down to the Circuit Court in Annapolis on December 27th, 2010, I would have been falsely arrested for a crime that I didn’t commit and Matta Karimu would have gotten away with malicious prosecution and lying to a police officer.
I should have been allowed to press criminal charges against Matta Karimu for using false information to have a warrant issued against me. No commissioner should have signed that warrant. After looking in the system and seeing that the protective order had been appealed, he should have seen that the result of the appealed case was that it was denied in court. How could someone make that kind of mistake? That mistake is on my record and I should not have to be the one to pay to have it removed when it should not have been placed on my record in the first place. The State of Maryland is letting people ruin my life and reputation. The state is letting the Anne Arundel County Housing Commission bar me out of all Anne Arundel County Housing properties based on false accusations.
The State claims immunity from lawsuit yet the State has the right to allow a person to repeatedly place charges on a person and either drop them in court, not show up to court, lie under oath, lie to police officers, and show false documents to the police department. There are too many mistakes that have been allowed on my record. There are too many false statements that have been allowed as evidence to have me barred out of communities and jobs. I can’t even get a job because even though all of those cases have either been dismissed, denied, or nolle prosique, they still remain on my record for all potential employers to see.
It is because of all parties of this case that I have suffered being maliciously prosecuted, have suffered substantial loss of wages, have suffered emotional distress, and have sustained defamatory judgment. So, on June 16, 2011, I mailed intent to sue letters to all parties involved in the cases that Matta Karimu initiated against me. On June 20, 2011, I filed a complaint with case information sheet and attachments with the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County in Annapolis, Maryland (E*). On August 11, 2011, the State of Maryland filed a motion to dismiss which was granted by Judge J. Michael Wachs on September 21, 2011 without even a chance of my case getting the chance to be heard in court in its entirety (E *). The order stated that: “Upon Consideration of the State of Maryland’s motion to dismiss and the lack of opposition thereto, it is this 15th day of September, 2011 ordered : 1) that the defendant’s motion is GRANTED; and 2) that plaintiff’s claims against the State of Maryland are DISMISSED.” (E20 Docket 74)
On September 26th, 2011, I filed an appeal AND a motion for reconsideration(E *). The motion for reconsideration was completely ignored. Rather on August 11, 2011, the attorney for Officer Hardesty and the Internal Affairs Unit filed a motion to dismiss which was granted by Judge J. Michael Wachs on February 1st, 2012. The order stated that: “Upon Consideration of the motion to dismiss filed by Defendants, Anne Arundel County Maryland and Jonathan F. Hardesty, and any opposition thereto, it is this 1st day of February, 2012, hereby ORDERED that the motion be, and is GRANTED and all claims against Anne Arundel County Maryland, Jonathan F. Hardesty are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE .” (E22, Docket 122-124)
On October 10th, 2011, the attorney for the Officer of the State’s Attorney and the Officer of the Attorney General filed a motion to dismiss which was granted by Judge J. Michael Wachs on January 31st, 2012. (E21-22. Docket 121) The order stated that: “Upon Consideration of the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee and Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gangsler, together with the response filed thereto, it is this 27th day of January, 2012, hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED; and further ORDERED that the matter is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee and Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gangsler. IT IS SO ORDERED.”
The decisions of the judge and the motions written by attorneys are of course written in a way that could convince anyone who is not familiar with the case that the decisions made are just decisions. All the language and writing in the motions and decisions are words that are needed to dismiss the case. Judges are overloaded with case loads that they dismiss cases that they might not dismiss if the weren’t given time constraints. They don’t have enough time to research and overlook every piece of supporting documentation. It seems as though complaints of innocent people (such as myself) are just more work that the judge has to deal with. If a case is dismissed immediately, that’s less work that he or she has to deal with. But what about innocent people who are being maliciously prosecuted year after year by the same person who only presses false charges because they have been allowed to do so time after time again?
An unjustified criminal charge or false complaint is extremely devastating to a person who has time after time proved his innocence. Even after all of the criminal charges have been dismissed/ nolle prosequi in court, there is still a stigma attached to my reputation. All the jail time served and criminal activity revealed on my record have lead to extremely significant losses both economic and non-economic. I have been turned down from countless job opportunities because of my so-called record (E9-E10)
ARGUMENT
I. The Circuit Court erred when it dismissed the entire case based off
of only one of the six parties in this case.
At the date Honorable Judge J. Michael Wachs decided to dismiss the
entire case, the other parties requests for dismissal had not been submitted nor
granted. Why was the whole case—of 6 separate parties/ defendants—dismissed
just because ONE party (which happened to be the State of Maryland) filed a
motion for dismissal?
I did as Maryland Rule of Civil Procedure instructed. I mailed notice of suit
to each party of the case within the required time frame. I mailed a copy of my
intent to sue to Nancy K. Koop, Treasurer of the State of Maryland Treasurer’s
Office located at the Goldstein Treasury Building on 80 Calvert Street, in
Annapolis, Maryland at 21401. She even mailed a response.
According to Maryland Rule of Civil Procedure, a state can be sued if
they consent to the suit. Second, congress can make a state subject to money
damages if the state violates civil rights of individuals. And third, the federal
government and the states waive their immunity in certain cases. Citizens
can in fact sue states as individuals. The 2 out of the 6 parties involved in this case
are individuals. And 1out of 6 of these parties is a police department, which has
no so-called “immunity from law suits.
II. The Circuit Court failed to review the serious allegations presented in this case.
The first thing that a plaintiff has to so in a case like this is to prove
that the damaging statement made by the defendant to a third party was
false. A plaintiff has to also prove that the statement was shared or made
public. It also has to be proven that the statements made were referring to
the plaintiff. It also must be proven that the statements caused damage,
harm, ridicule, contempt, hatred, or injury in or to the plaintiff's occupation
or reputation. Proof and evidence must also be present that show that the
statements or actions made were in malice and that these actions/
statements have caused you actual harm. I have proven all of the above
repeatedly.
Chapter 5 of The Maryland and Tort Law Handbook Third Edition, 2000,
by Richard J. Gilbert and Paul T. Gilbert supports my claim for malicious use
of process, also referred to as malicious prosecution:
§§ 5.0 Malicious Use of Process
Malicious Use of Process is the institution of a civil proceeding, without probably cause and with malice, for the purpose of causing some injury or inconvenience to the defendant. It is the civil equivalent of malicious criminal prosecution. Many text writers treat malicious use of process and malicious prosecution as one and the same, using either term to express the tort, irrespective of whether it arose from civil or criminal acts.
§§ 5.1 Elements of Action of Malicious Use of Process
The requisite elements necessary to an action for malicious use of process are:
1. the institution of civil proceedings by the defendant against the plaintiff;
2. without probable cause;
3. with malice;
4. termination of the proceeding in favor of the plaintiff; and
5. that damages were inflicted on the plaintiff by arrest, imprisonment, seizure of property, or other special injury, which would not necessarily result in all suits prosecuted to recover for a like cause of action. Siegman v. Equitable Trust Co., 267 Md. 309, 317, 297, A.2d 758, 762 (1972)
§§ 5.4. Elements of Abuse of Process.
To sustain an action of abuse of process the plaintiff must show that:
1. the defendant willfully used process for an illegal purpose;
2. to satisfy the defendant's ulterior motive; and
3. the plaintiff was damaged by the defendant's perverted use of process.
The rule also states that:
“Maryland follows the English rule that an action for malicious use of process will not lie if there has been no arrest of the person, no seizure of his/her property, and no special injury sustained by him or her which would not ordinarily be suffered by others in all suits prosecuted for like causes of action… In 1972, the State's highest court declared that malicious use of process cases "are view with disfavor in law and are to be carefully guarded against." Siegman v. Equitable Trust Co., 267 Md. 309, 317, 297, A.2d 758, 762 (1972)”
The warrant was issued because of the false statement and
false documentation shown from Matta Karimu, and because of the negligence of the Anne Arundel County Police Department (including Officer Hardesty and the Internal Affairs Unit) and the District Court of Anne Arundel County (including Commissioner Snow and the Office of the State’s Attorney). If it had of not been for the police officers who informed me of my warrant on December 23 (when I took it upon myself to call the police), I would have never known about the warrant and I would have in fact been falsely arrested for a crime that I never committed. The police department and Matta Karimu should be held liable for “restricting my freedom of movement.” I had a warrant out for my arrest for a week before I took the courage and initiative to go to Annapolis to have the record cleared.
The fact that it was nolle prosiqued because it was “issued in error” doesn’t take away from the fact that it was MY doing that got the warrant recalled and no credit should be given to the District Court just because they recalled it. Somewhere in the system, employees of the Court System are not keeping their records in sync. A case that has been appealed should show up as appealed and dismissed in BOTH court systems and not one or the other. The Police Department would have had no confusion as to whether or not a protective order was in fact denied if the circuit court would have informed district court that the case was appealed and dismissed/ denied. Regardless, Matta Karimu knew that the case had been denied and dismissed in court because SHE WAS THERE. Yet, she maliciously lied to the police officer for her own cruel intentions by showing outdated/ denied paperwork.
Chapter 6 of The Maryland and Tort Law Handbook Third Edition, 2000,
by Richard J. Gilbert and Paul T. Gilbert supports my claim for defamation of character and loss of wages:
§§ 6.0 Defamation
A defamatory statement is one that exposes the person about whom it is made to "public scorn, hatred, contempt or ridicule" and is thus injurious to his/ her reputation. Thompson v. Upton, 218 Md. 433, 437, 146 A 2.d 880, 883 (1958).
A defamation, simply stated, is a false imputation upon the character or reputation of another. Of course, it must be communicated to a third person. Gambrill v. Schooley, 93 Md. 48, 48 A 730 (1901).
§§ 6.1 Elements of Defamation
In order for an action for defamation to lie, the following must be present:
1. An unprivileged publication of false and defamatory matter.
2. spoken of or about the plaintiff, (Embrey v. Holly, 48 Md. App. 571, 579-80, 429 A 2d 251, 258-59 (1981)
3. communicated to a third party
Whenever the words spoken are not actionable per se..., "special damages" have to be proven. That proof must be introduced by inducement, colloquium, and innuendo.
The inducement is the statement of facts out of which the suit arises which explains the meaning of the defamatory words. The colloquim is the assertion that the spoken or written words concen the plaintiff or his/her business, trade or profession. The innuendo explains the defamtory words in the light of the other circumstances of the case. Its sole funcion is to explain, not to change the structure of the words.
§§ 6.4 Defamation Per Se
There are clases of words which when uttered, if false, are actionable per se. Those classes are:
1. Words that charge a person with having committed a criminal offense of an infamous nature that is punishable by imprisonment.
III. The Circuit Court, after dismissing an entire case based off of one of
the six parties in this case, erred when it decided to then dismiss the claims against the Internal Affairs Unit, Officer Hardesty, the Office of Attorney General, and the Office of the State’s Attorney.
I spent $145 to file my case, over $50 sending certified copies to all parties, and my case was closed/ denied without even giving me the change to state my opinion in the court? No one even took into consideration my side of the story, but since the state wants to dismiss the complaint against them, then the WHOLE case is thrown out? The court is telling me that I can’t sue Matta Karimu for defamation of character, loss of wages, slander, and malicious prosecution when she has placed over 14 charges on my record for the past 6 years of my life? She has ruined my reputation for finding a job, and I don’t have the right to sue her because the STATE wants to dismiss my whole case?
The Internal Affairs Unit, who is supposed to help it’s citizens when they feel that the justice system or citizens have falsely accused them of a crime, yet I cannot sue them because the STATE wants to dismiss my case?
Officer Hardesty used an old protective order that Matta Karimu showed to him, that had been thrown out in court by Judge Harris 3 months prior to the incident, to place a warrant out of me, yet I cannot sue him for malicious prosecution because the State wants to throw my whole case out?
The state is allowing a woman to place over 14 false charges on my record. It should be against the law for the system to repeatedly let someone place charges on a person and either drop them in court, not show up to court, lie under oath, lie to police officers, and show false documents to the police department. There are too many mistakes that have been allowed on my record. There are too many false statements that have been allowed as evidence to have me barred out of communities and jobs. I can’t even get a job because even though all of those cases have either been dismissed, denied, or nolle prosique, they still remain on my record for all potential employers to see.
IV. The Circuit Court erred when it agreed with the State’s statement that “the plaintiff failed to state any claims against the state.”
The State of Maryland claims that I have no grounds to sue them based on the information provided? How is that so? The State allows people to repeatedly place false charges/ accusations against a person, ruining that person’s record so that that person cannot obtain employment. The State even allowed Commissioner Snow to issue out a warrant for Violation of Protective Order when there was NO active protective order in the system. How could the state allow its citizens to maliciously harm others, but prevent a person from suing that person?
V. The Circuit Court erred when it failed to rule on appellant’s motion
for reconsideration.
Why was my motion for reconsideration not honored? I filed the
appropriate paperwork to the court and all parties in a timely manner. I realize
that judges have a heavy caseload. They tend to spend more time on cases that
draw attention to the media. My case deserved a chance to be heard and court and
not dismissed just because the State of Maryland has a lawyer who knows are of
the correct verbiage needed to have a case dismiss. I am pretty sure that the judge
did not read over my case in its entirety. I am pretty sure that my case was glanced
over because of the so-called background that I have. If anyone would have taken
the time to review my back ground, the only cases that I have where I have been
found guilty are traffic offenses.
VI. The Circuit Court, despite of so-called rules of “immunity”, erred when it failed to take into consideration the appellant’s allegations against the State of Maryland, the Internal Affairs Unit of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, Officer Hardesty, the Office of Attorney General, the Office of the State’s Attorney, and Matta Karimu (who is in fact NOT a State employee).
In my own research of case McDonald v. Lakewood County Club, 461 P2d 437 (Colo. 1969), I have found that prosecuting attorneys generally and usually aren’t or cannot be held accountable for malicious prosecution. But this is not a usual case. The case involves a court system that is not in sync with one another. While one court system has you showing up as guilty, the other court has your case showing up as appealed and NOT guilty. This leaves the door wide open for the police department to keep warrants open and active, therefore resulting in false arrested. If you let these people get away with this crime, people everywhere will be using old/ denied/ outdated protective orders to have ex-boyfriends/ husbands/lovers/what-have-you thrown into jail. And my lawsuit will be the LEAST of your worries.
Because of the negligence of the parties involved in this case, I have suffered injury to my personal and professional reputation, humiliation and mental distress, and financial loses. The statements made against me were defamatory and false. These statements were made to a third party which happened to result in a falsely issued warrant. It doesn’t matter who the court system or police department wants to blame, the warrant was issued because of a court system that doesn’t update it’s system and that allows it’s citizens to falsely accuse another person without any recourse.
Conclusion
I, James Armstead, the Appellant respectfully request that this case be reversed and remanded to the Circuit Court for further proceedings. This entire case should not have been dismissed based out of only one of the defendants' motion to dismiss. My case deserves to be heard in either the Circuit Court or the Court of Appeals. The State, it's employees, and it's citizens are ruining the lives of innocent people and no one should get away with that without criminal or civil penalties imposed.
Respectfully submitted,
James A. Armstead
