United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 15, 2004
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III
_____________________ Clerk
No. 03-30487
_____________________
ALBERT RONNIE BURRELL;
MICHAEL RAY GRAHAM, JR.,
Plaintiffs - Appellees,
versus
TOMMY ADKINS; ET AL.,
Defendants,
TOMMY ADKINS; DAN J. GRADY, III;
ROBERT LEVY,
Defendants - Appellants.
__________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Louisiana
USDC No. 01-CV-2679
_________________________________________________________________
Before JOLLY, JONES, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Albert Ronnie Burrell and Michael Ray Graham, Jr. (the
“Plaintiffs”) were prosecuted for and convicted of murder in
Louisiana state court, and each spent over 13 years on death row.
All charges were eventually dismissed for lack of credible
evidence, and the Plaintiffs sued various parish and state
officials for violating their civil rights. Former Union Parish
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
district attorney Tommy Adkins (sued in his individual and official
capacities), former assistant district attorney Dan J. Grady, III
(sued solely in his individual capacity), and current district
attorney Robert Levy (sued in his official capacity, as successor
in liability) (the “Defendants”) moved to dismiss for lack of
jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. The district court
dismissed the individual capacity claims against the Defendants
(except as to one incident involving Grady) but not the official
capacity claims. The Defendants appealed.
For the reasons stated by the district court, we AFFIRM the
denial of the motion to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims against the
Defendants in their official capacities. For essentially the
reasons stated by the magistrate judge, however, we REVERSE the
denial of the motion to dismiss the one remaining claim against
Grady in his individual capacity. Finally, we decline to address
the sufficiency of the Monell pleading, Monell v. Dept. of Soc.
Svcs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978), but REMAND for further proceedings not
inconsistent with this decision.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.