Burns v. Trombly
| Decision Date | 07 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 9:05-cv-1204 (GLS/GHL). |
| Citation | 624 F.Supp.2d 185 |
| Parties | Trevor BURNS, Plaintiff, v. Sgt. W. TROMBLY, Correctional Officer; Upstate C.F.; S. Brown, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; T. Quinn, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; M. Lavigne, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; J. Colby, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; C. Crossman, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; Sgt. John Doe I, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; Sgt. John Doe II, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; Lt. John Doe I, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; Lt. John Doe II, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; J. McGraw, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; E. Russell, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; B. Clark, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; G. Waterson, Registered Nurse, Upstate C.F.; J. Cheseboro, Registered Nurse, Upstate C.F.; Captain D. Uhler, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; Donald Wood, Correctional Officer, Upstate C.F.; and Robert K. Woods, Superintendent, Upstate C.F., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York |
Trevor Burns, Attica Correctional Facility, Attica, NY, pro se.
Hon. Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General for the State of New York, Maria Moran, Assistant Attorney General, of Counsel, Albany, NY, for Defendants.
The above-captioned matter comes to this court following a Report-Recommendation by Magistrate Judge George H. Lowe, duly filed March 21, 2008. Following ten days from the service thereof, the Clerk has sent the file, including any and all objections filed by the parties herein.
No objections having been filed, and the court having reviewed the Magistrate Judge's Report-Recommendation for clear error, it is hereby
ORDERED, that the Report-Recommendation of Magistrate Judge George H. Lowe filed March 21, 2008 is ACCEPTED in its entirety for the reasons state therein, and it is further
ORDERED, that Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. No. 58) is GRANTED, and that Plaintiff's claims against the four "John Doe" defendants are dismissed without prejudice, and it is further
ORDERED, that Plaintiff's official-capacity claims, and his Fourteenth Amendment claims, against the remaining defendants are dismissed with prejudice, and it is further
ORDERED, that Plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claims against Defendants Quinn, Clark, Uhler and Robert Woods in their individual capacities are dismissed with prejudice.
REPORT-RECOMMENDATION
This pro se prisoner civil rights action, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, has been referred to the undersigned for Report and Recommendation by the Honorable Gary L. Sharpe, United States District Judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Local Rule 72.3(c) of the Local Rules of Practice for this Court. Generally, in this action, Trevor Burns ("Plaintiff"), an inmate at Attica Correctional Facility, alleges that, when he was incarcerated at Upstate Correctional Facility during October 2004, eighteen employees of the New York State Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS") violated his constitutional rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments when (1) they used excessive force during an attempt to move Plaintiff to a different prison cell, and (2) they were deliberately indifferent to Plaintiff's serious medical needs arising from that use of excessive force. (See generally Dkt. No. 1.)
Currently pending before the Court is Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment, which seeks the dismissal of the following claims: (1) Plaintiff's claims against the four "John Doe" Defendants; (2) Plaintiffs claims against the remaining fourteen Defendants in their official capacities; (3) Plaintiff's Fourteenth Amendment claims against the remaining fourteen Defendants; and (4) Plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claims against Defendants Quinn, Clark, Uhler and Robert Woods in their individual capacities. (Dkt. No. 58.)1 For the reasons set forth below, I recommend that Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment be granted.
Liberally construed, Plaintiff's Complaint (Dkt. No. 1) alleges as follows.
On or about October 14, 2004, Defendant Trombly ordered Defendants Brown and Donald Wood to move Plaintiff from "10 ... C Company 25 Cell to 10 ... B Company 5 Cell by any means of force." (Dkt. No. 1, ¶ 6[4] [Plf.'s Compl.].) Defendants Brown and Donald Wood applied full restraints to Plaintiff. (Id. at ¶ 6[5].) Once the restraints had been secured, Defendants Brown and Donald Wood carried Plaintiff from one cell to the next-Defendant Donald Wood with a retention strap in one hand and Plaintiff's shirt in the other, and Defendant Brown with Plaintiff's shirt in one hand and Plaintiff's handcuffed wrists in the other. (Id. at ¶ 6[6].) Once they reached 10 B Company 5 Cell, Defendant Trombly became "extremely angry," and he and Defendant Quinn ordered Defendants Lavigne and Colby to dress in "riot gear [and] to use force on [Plaintiff]." (Id. at ¶¶ 6[7], 6[9].)
At that point, Plaintiff alleges the following uses of excessive force occurred on or about October 14, 2004:
1. Defendant Lavigne attempted to "bang [Plaintiff's] head against the wall," and Defendants Brown, Lavigne and Donald Wood together succeeded in "forcefully bang[ing] [Plaintiff's] head against the wall with tremendous force." (Id. at ¶¶ 6[10]-6[11].)
2. Defendants Brown, Lavigne, Colby, Crossman and Donald Wood "pulled [Plaintiff] from the wall and forcefully slamed [sic] [Plaintiff] to the floor ... face first [,] with [Defendant] Colby grabbing [Plaintiff's] head [and] slaming [sic] it down to the ground with tremendous force." (Id. at ¶ 6[12].)
3. Defendant Colby choked Plaintiff by placing his knee on Plaintiff's head and grabbing his neck. (Id. at ¶ 6[13].)
4. Defendants Brown, Lavigne, Crossman and Donald Wood "all forcefully pressed on top of [Plaintiff] causing [Plaintiff] to gasph [sic] for air and fall unconscious." (Id. at ¶ 6[13].)
5. Defendant Brown tightened Plaintiff's handcuffs "beyond full capacity," causing Plaintiff to "scream in pain and his hands to swell like boxing gloves." (Id. at ¶ 6[14].)
6. Upon Defendant Trombly's orders, Defendants Colby, Crossman, Lavigne, Brown and Donald Wood picked up Plaintiff and threw him into his new cell, which caused Plaintiff to hit his head on the side of his bed. (Id. at ¶ 6[15].)
7. Defendant Trombly ordered Defendants Crossman and Donald Wood to tie Plaintiff's arms and legs with a sheet and "push him under the bed." (Id. at ¶ 6[16].)
8. Plaintiff lost consciousness while Defendants Sgt. John Doe 1, Sgt. John Doe 2, Lt. John Doe 1, and Lt. John Doe 2 watched him from the cell door. (Id. at ¶ 6[17].)
9. Defendants Lavigne, McGraw, Crossman, Russell, and Trombly took Plaintiff to the hospital, and as they were taking him back after he had been medically cleared, Plaintiff "felt numerous blows about the head, back, ribs and [felt a] final blow from a blunt object to the back of the head knocking [Plaintiff] unconscious again." (Id. at ¶¶ 6[18]-6[21].)
10. Upon Defendant Trombly's orders, Defendants Lavigne, Crossman, Colby, and Brown threw him into his cell face first while both his arms and legs were restrained. (Id. at ¶ 6[24].)
11. Defendant Brown slammed Plaintiff's head into the ground. (Id. at ¶ 6[25].)
12. Defendant Trombly again ordered Defendant Donald Wood to tie Plaintiff's hands and feet with sheets and push him under the bed. (Id. at ¶ 6[26].)
13. While Defendant Burns tied Plaintiff's hands and feet with sheets, Defendants Lavigne and Brown "applied tremendous presure [sic]" to Plaintiff's back and shoulders, "causing [him] to scream in pain." (Id. at ¶ 6[27].)
After the actions outlined above took place, Plaintiff states he suffered "abrasions on both wrist [sic], ankles, face, and back, swelling about the cheeks eye's [sic], two massive knots on the back and side of the head, [and] sharp shocking pain in the back and head with a little blood from the mouth and nose." (Id. ¶ 6[29].) He states that he fell unconscious at approximately 11:00 a.m., drifting in and out of consciousness. (Id. at ¶¶ 6[30]-6[31].) At about that time, Defendant Clark took photographs of Plaintiff's injuries, and ignored his plea for medical assistance. (Id. at ¶ 6[31].)
At or about 1:30 p.m., Plaintiff became unconscious again, and Defendant Waterson arrived at his cell for emergency sick call at or about 2:30 p.m. (Id. at ¶¶ 6[32]-6[33].) After explaining his symptoms and the nature of his injuries to Defendant Waterson, Plaintiff was informed by Defendant Waterson that "his condition [was] not an emergency" and "your [sic] a big guy you can handle it." (Id. at ¶¶ 6[34]-6[36].) On or about October 15, 2004, Plaintiff again requested emergency sick call after falling unconscious in his cell. (Id. at ¶¶ 6[37]-6[38].) After showing Defendant Cheseboro his injuries, Defendant Cheseboro refused to treat Plaintiff, stating that there was no emergency condition and that Plaintiff was abusing the sick call system. (Id. at ¶¶ 6[40]-6[42].)
On or about October 18, 2004, Plaintiff sent Defendant Robert Woods a letter requesting an investigation of the above outlined events. (Id. at ¶ 6[43].) On or about October 21, 2004, Plaintiff received a letter from Defendant Uhler, stating that upon investigation, all staff members were found to have acted appropriately. (Id. at ¶¶ 6[45]-6[46].)
In their motion, Defendants argue that the majority of claims asserted in Plaintiff's Complaint should be dismissed for four reasons. (Dkt. No. 58, Part 3, at 3-9 [Defs.' Mem. of Law].) First, Defendants argue that Plaintiff's claims against the four "John Doe" Defendants should be dismissed because those four Defendants have not yet been named by Plaintiff, or served with process,...
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