UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SHREVEPORT DIVISION

CHINKESHA TAYLOR CIVIL ACTION NO. 23-cv-1461

VERSUS JUDGE S. MAURICE HICKS, JR.

ROBBIE GILBERT ET AL MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY

MEMORANDUM ORDER Chinkesha Taylor (“Plaintiff”) filed this civil rights action against Bossier City law enforcement officers in connection with her arrest for disturbing the peace and resisting an officer. She asserts federal and state law claims for unlawful arrest, First Amendment violation, battery, and the like. Plaintiff filed her complaint in October 2023, and Defendants responded in December 2023 with a Motion to Stay (Doc. 8) that is before the court. Defendants represent that criminal charges against Plaintiff, which arise from the same events on which her claims are based, are set for trial in February 2024 in Bossier City Court. Defendants ask that the court exercise its discretion to stay this action based on the principles of Heck v. Humphrey,

(1994) and Wallace v. Kato,

(2007). The Wallace decision states that if a plaintiff files a claim, before she has been convicted, related to rulings that will likely be made in a pending criminal prosecution, it is within the power of the district court to stay the civil action until the criminal case has ended. If the plaintiff is ultimately convicted, and the civil suit would impugn that conviction, Heck may require dismissal. Otherwise, the civil action may proceed absent some other bar to suit. The motion to stay was noticed for briefing, and counsel for Plaintiff has advised the court that she will not offer formal opposition. Based on the showing made in the motion and the principles set forth in Heck and Wallace, the court finds that the best exercise of its discretion is to stay this civil action pending a resolution of the related criminal charges. Accordingly, Defendants’ Motion to Stay (Doc. 8) is granted and this civil action is stayed pending further order of the court. Plaintiff or any other party may file a motion to lift the stay if the criminal charges are resolved in Plaintiff's favor or such relief may be otherwise warranted. THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 24th day of January, 2024. PNY

U.S. Magistrate Judge

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