The court denied Brenton Lawrence Frank’s appeal of the Magistrate Judge’s denial of Motion for Essential Medical Testing pursuant to his Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights for the following reasons. First, since Frank’s motion for COVID-19 testing is a challenge to the conditions of his confinement, the court found that the proper procedure to redress his grievances is to file a civil suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In response, Frank argued that his motion fell into narrow exceptions, but the court disagreed, holding that the exception argument was not raised to the Magistrate Judge in the original motion, thereby providing no grounds for this court to find the Magistrate Judge’s holding clearly erroneous (Fed. R. Crim. P. 59(a)). Second, even entertaining Frank’s arguments, this court still agreed with the Magistrate Judge’s Order, mainly because (1) Frank’s request for medical testing should be addressed in a civil proceeding; (2) Frank does not assert an inability to confer with his attorney telephonically or by video to prepare for trial; (3) Frank has never alleged that he is suffering any symptoms of COVID-19.
United States v. Frank, No. 2:19-cr-170, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112984 (M.D. Fla. June 26, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
6/26/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Improved Conditions, Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Florida
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Pretrial Detention [jail]
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
2:19-cr-170-SPC
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
M.D. Fla.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
Charlotte County Jail
Legal Authority
Eighth Amendment - Deliberate Indifference, Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Other, Section 1983, Fed. R. Crim. P. 59(a)
Case Status
Decision Made
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
No
Charges
Possessing child pornography
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Yes
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.