Jerry Lee Johnson v. Wayne F. McElveen Sheriff, in His Official Capacity

Jerry Lee Johnson, a Louisiana state prisoner, appeals the dismissal 1 of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint in which he seeks injunctive relief and damages. The claims for equitable relief based on contentions of ineffective assistance and state trial court deficiencies must be pursued initially in ha-beas corpus proceedings. 2 Claims for money damages based on such allegations implicate the holding of Heck v. Humphrey 3 and must be viewed thereunder.

We write today primarily to clarify the effect of a dismissal of a civil rights claim under the holding of Heck. When a claim comes within the…