Terrell Taylor v. Joshua Pipik

── Terrell Taylor v. Joshua Pipik ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: April 21, 2026 Category: General NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 25-1282 ___________ TERRELL TAYLOR, Appellant v. JOSHUA PIPIK, Parole Agent; DAVID FINERTY, McKees Rocks Police Officer; EBONY MARCELLE-RUDOLPH, Supervisor of North-Shore Parole Office; MICHELLE CONTIS, Liaison for Parole State Supervised Probation ____________________________________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-00146) District Judge: Honorable Cathy Bissoon ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) April 13, 2026 Before: BIBAS, CHUNG, and BOVE, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: April 21, 2026) _________ OPINION * _________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent.  Terrell Taylor appeals pro se from the District Court’s order dismissing his civil suit as barred by the favorable termination rule of Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486- 87 (1994). We will affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings. I. Taylor was convicted of state drug offenses in 2018 and sentenced by the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County to two-to-four years’ imprisonment and five years’ probation. He was released on state supervision in 2020. 1 On November 10, 2022, probation officers arrested him and searched his home based upon a tip from McKees Rocks Police Officer David Finnerty that he was involved in criminal activity. Although the search did not reveal any contraband, Taylor was confined at the Allegheny County Jail. The Commonwealth did not formally charge him with any new offenses following his arrest. Taylor had a Gagnon I preliminary hearing on December 8, 2022, after which he claims that the hearing officer recommended that he be released to a work release program pending a Gagnon II revocation hearing. 2 He was not released. The Common 1 It is unclear from the record whether Taylor was paroled or released on probation, or which form of supervision he was under during the events giving rise to his lawsuit. The two are “indistinguishable for constitutional purposes,” United States v. Quailes, 126 F.4th 215, 222 n.9 (3d Cir. 2025), and Taylor avers that he was arrested for violating his probation, so we will use that designation for ease of discussion. 2 Probationers facing revocation are entitled to preliminary and final revocation hearings. See Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 786 (1973) (citing Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 487-88 (1972)). If a probationer is taken into custody, hearings “must be tendered within a reasonable time” thereafter. Morrissey, 408 U.S. at 488. 2 Pleas docket reflects that a second hearing was scheduled for March 16, 2023, but it does not appear that one was held or that Taylor’s probation ever was revoked. On December 19, 2023, a grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania indicted Taylor on federal gun and drug charges. See United States v. Taylor, No. 2:23- cr-00277, Doc. 1 at 1-4 (W.D. Pa.) (charging, inter alia, possession of a firearm by a felon on o