Suarez v. Camden County Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, Civil Action No. 95-3830(JEI).

• Decision Date: 11 July 1997
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 95-3830(JEI).
• Citation: 972 F.Supp. 269
• Parties: Jorge SUAREZ, Plaintiff, v. CAMDEN COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS, Warden William C. Strang, Jr., Steven M. Petrillo, Captain M. Wright, Dr. William Young, Camden County Department of Corrections, John Does 1-6, Jane Does 1-5 and Richard Roes 1-5, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

Page 269

972 F.Supp. 269

Jorge SUAREZ, Plaintiff, v. CAMDEN COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS, Warden William C. Strang, Jr., Steven M. Petrillo, Captain M. Wright, Dr. William Young, Camden County Department of Corrections, John Does 1-6, Jane Does 1-5 and Richard Roes 1-5, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 95-3830(JEI).

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

July 11, 1997.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jorge Suarez, New Jersey State Prison, Trenton, NJ, pro se.

Higgins, Slachetka & Long, P.A. by John A. Mercer, Laurel Springs, NJ, for Camden County Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, William Strang, Steven Petrillo, M. Wright, Camden County Department of Corrections.

Paarz, Master, Koernig, Crammer, O'Brien & Bishop by Beth A. Burton, Pleasantville, NJ, for William Young.

IRENAS, District Judge:

Pro se plaintiff Jorge Suarez brings this § 1983 action to recover compensatory and punitive damages for inadequate medical care he allegedly received while incarcerated at Camden County Correctional Facility ("CCCF"). Defendant William Young, M.D. ("Dr.Young") and plaintiff filed cross-motions for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56. Because the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, has issued a final judgment on plaintiff's constitutional and state claims against Dr. Young, the doctrine of collateral estoppel (issue preclusion) bars these claims against him. Liability may not be imputed to the two municipal defendants under a respondeat superior theory and the record does not reveal the type of deliberate indifference by any defendant necessary to support an Eighth Amendment claim against them. Accordingly, summary judgment will be granted on all claims in favor of all defendants.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff alleges that on August 13, 1993, while he was incarcerated and awaiting trial at CCCF, he sought and was denied medical care for nausea, vomiting, dizziness, constipation, thirst and weight loss. Compl. ¶ 18. On August 17, 1993, plaintiff, appeared before Superior Court Judge James J. Cianci on homicide charges. When he complained of illness Judge Cianci ordered a medical examination. See Pl.Ex. D. Dr. Young, the jail physician, performed the examination and reported to the judge on August 18, 1993, that plaintiff had "no abdominal tenderness, normal bowel sounds and no evidence of distress." See id.

On August 18, 1993, plaintiff returned to court and asserted once more that he felt ill. The judge then entered an "Order for Hospital Evaluation" directing that plaintiff be taken to the hospital for a complete "diagnostic work up consistent with [plaintiff's] history and symptomology." See Pl.Ex. E. On the same day plaintiff was transported to West Jersey Hospital where he was diagnosed with late-onset diabetes and hospitalized for eight days. See Pl.Ex. E, F.

On August 8, 1995, plaintiff sued Dr. Young, the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Camden County Department of Corrections, the CCCF warden, a corrections officer and a Camden County Freeholder in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, alleging violations of his Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights and medical malpractice. See Def. Ex. E at 1. On the same day plaintiff instituted an action against the same defendants in this Court alleging the same constitutional violations. See Compl. ¶ 1.

On December 6, 1996, the Court denied plaintiff's motion to consolidate state and federal claims. On December 20, 1996, Superior Court Judge John B. Mariano granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Young and dismissed plaintiff's complaint with prejudice.¹ Defendant filed the instant motion for summary judgment on June 17, 1997. On June 24, 1997, plaintiff filed a cross-motion for summary judgment.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), a court may grant summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." The non-moving party may not simply rest on its pleadings to oppose a summary judgment motion but must affirmatively come forward with admissible evidence establishing a genuine issue of fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the Court must construe the facts and inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Pollock v. American Tel. & Tel. Long Lines, 794 F.2d 860. 864 (3d Cir.1986). The role of the court is not "to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The substantive law governing the dispute will determine which facts are material, and only disputes over those facts "that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. A genuine issue for trial does not exist "unless the party opposing the motion can adduce evidence which, when considered in light of that party's burden of proof at trial, could be the basis for a jury finding in that party's favor." J.E. Mamiye & Sons, Inc. v. Fidelity Bank, 813 F.2d 610, 618 (3d Cir.1987)(Becker, J., concurring).

B. Liability of Dr. Young

On the same day plaintiff filed the instant suit, he filed a complaint in state court. The state court granted Dr. Young's motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff's complaint in its entirety.² Pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata, plaintiff's claims against Dr. Young are barred.

The Supreme Court has recognized that "res judicata. ... relieves[s] the parties of the cost and vexation of multiple lawsuits, conserve[s] judicial resources, and, by preventing inconsistent decisions, encourage[s] reliance on adjudication." Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 153-54, 99 S.Ct. 970, 973-74, 59 L.Ed.2d 210 (1979). The Supreme Court has "noted with implicit approval the view of other federal courts that res judicata principles fully apply to civil rights suits brought under [§ 1983]." Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 96, 101 S.Ct. 411, 416, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980).

"[A] federal court applying preclusion principles is bound by the Full Faith and Credit statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, and must give a prior state judgment the same effect as would the adjudicating state." Gregory v. Chehi, 843 F.2d 111, 116 (3d Cir.1988)(footnote omitted).³ The result is the same in § 1983 suits brought in federal courts. See id. at 117. "When determining the judgment preclusion effect of a judgment rendered by a state court, we are referred to the law of the rendering state." Harris v. Pernsley, 755 F.2d 338, 342 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 965, 106 S.Ct. 331, 88 L.Ed.2d 314 (1985); see also Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 81, 104 S.Ct. 892, 896, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984); Allen, 449 U.S. at 95-96, 101 S.Ct. at 415-16.

Judge Louis H. Pollak recently noted that: The term "res judicata" has both a broad and a narrow meaning. Narrowly, ... it refers only to claim preclusion.... However, the preferred usage of the term encompasses both claim and issue preclusion.

Venuto v. Witco Corp., 117 F.3d 754 (3d Cir.1997).

In this case we are concerned with collateral estoppel⁴ which is a branch of the broader law of res judicata that bars relitigation of any issue actually determined in a prior action between the parties. It is a somewhat narrower concept than claim preclusion which is normally associated with the term res judicata. See Allesandra v. Gross, 187 N.J.Super. 96, 103-104, 453 A.2d 904, 907-908. The requirements for applying issue preclusion are set forth in Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 27:

When an issue of fact or law is actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment, and the determination is essential to the judgment, the determination is conclusive in a subsequent action between the parties, whether on the same or a different claim.

In determining whether a judgment is final for the purposes of allowing an appeal as of right, it is generally required that the trial court have resolved all issues as to all parties. See Cobbledick v. United States, 309 U.S. 323, 324, 60 S.Ct. 540, 540-41, 84 L.Ed. 783 (1940)("Finality as a condition of review is an historic characteristic of federal appellate procedure."); Beckwith Mach. Co. v. Travelers Indem. Co., 815 F.2d 286, 291 (3d Cir.1987)(emphasizing that "appeals may be taken only from orders that are final in that they have disposed of all parties and of all issues"). As a general rule this type of finality is required of any judgment which is later used as a basis for claim preclusion in a subsequent law suit. See Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 13 cmt. b.

However, for purposes of issue preclusion or collateral estoppel a court determination in the first action can be accepted as final if the issue to be deemed resolved has been fully and fairly litigated and the court has made clear that the particular issue has been completely resolved. See Hills Dev. Co. v. Township of Bernards, 103 N.J. 1, 510 A.2d 621, 652 (1986)("In this regard, we note that general principles of law have long held that res judicata is applicable only when a final judgment is rendered, and the doctrine of collateral estoppel applies whenever an action is `sufficiently firm to be accorded conclusive effect.'") (citation omitted); In re Brown, 951 F.2d 564, 569 (3d Cir.1991)("Unlike claim preclusion, the effectiveness of issue preclusion, sometimes called collateral estoppel, does not require the entry of a judgment, final in the sense of being appealable."); East/West Venture v. Fort Lee, 286 N.J.Super. 311, 669 A.2d 260, 271 (App.Div. 19...