Amirah Sultaana, Administrator of the Estate of Hakeem Sultaana, Deceased v. Mansfield Warden Tim McConahay, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedOctober 24, 2025
Docket1:23-cv-01791
StatusUnknown

This text of Amirah Sultaana, Administrator of the Estate of Hakeem Sultaana, Deceased v. Mansfield Warden Tim McConahay, et al. (Amirah Sultaana, Administrator of the Estate of Hakeem Sultaana, Deceased v. Mansfield Warden Tim McConahay, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amirah Sultaana, Administrator of the Estate of Hakeem Sultaana, Deceased v. Mansfield Warden Tim McConahay, et al., (N.D. Ohio 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION

AMIRAH SULTAANA, ) Case No. 1:23-cv-01791 ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ) ESTATE OF HAKEEM ) Judge J. Philip Calabrese SULTAANA, DECEASED, ) ) Magistrate Judge Reuben J. Sheperd Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) MANSFIELD WARDEN TIM ) MCCONAHAY, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) )

OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiff Hakeem Sultaana, an Ohio prisoner incarcerated at the Ross Correctional Institution, filed this action without a lawyer against twelve Defendants, including prison staff, employees of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The complaint alleged violations of Mr. Sultaana’s federal civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for incidents that allegedly occurred during his incarceration at the Mansfield Correctional Institution. After more than a year of litigation, Mr. Sultaana passed away. Pursuant to Rule 25(a)(1), Amirah Sultaana, Mr. Sultaana’s mother and the administrator of his estate, was substituted as the proper party. On September 30, 2025, the Court granted Defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed Plaintiff’s claims without prejudice. (ECF No. 72.) On October 14, 2025, Plaintiff filed four motions for leave to file various supplemental briefs, exhibits, and affidavits, as well a motion to vacate, amend, or reconsider the judgment. (ECF No. 77; ECF No. 78; ECF No. 79; ECF No. 80.) On October 20, 2025, Plaintiff filed six additional motions for leave to file supplemental briefs, exhibits,

affidavits, preserve estate rights, and vacate or amend the judgment, among other things. (ECF No. 81; ECF No. 82; ECF No. 83; ECF No. 84; ECF No. 85; ECF No. 86.) Across all of these filings, Plaintiff makes similar or identical arguments with a common request asking to litigate this matter further after its dismissal. Therefore, the Court liberally construes all of these filings as a motion for reconsideration pursuant to Rule 59 and Rule 60 and addresses these filings in this ruling.

Further, the Court notes that the combined page count of all 10 of these motions and their attachments with overlapping and repetitive arguments is roughly 440 pages. The Court is within its rights to strike filings that do not adhere to the page limitations and other procedural requirements of the Local Rules of its Civil Standing Order. For that reason, the Court advises Ms. Sultaana that, if she persists in making frivolous filings, the Court will restrict her ability to file papers in the Northern District of Ohio.

ANALYSIS Generally, the reasons for altering or amending a judgment under Rule 59 or obtaining relief from a judgment under Rule 60 delineate the circumstances under which a court will grant reconsideration. Justifying reconsideration requires a moving party to: (1) demonstrate an intervening change in the controlling law; (2) establish that new evidence is available; or (3) prove that a clear error occurred or reconsideration is necessary to prevent manifest injustice. See Louisville/Jefferson Cnty. Metro. Gov’t v. Hotels.com, L.P., 590 F.3d 381, 389 (6th Cir. 2009). A district court retains the discretion to entertain such a motion. Rodriguez v. Tennessee

Laborers Health & Welfare Fund, 89 F. App’x 949, 959 n.7 (6th Cir. 2004). Further, a district court does not abuse its discretion in denying a motion for reconsideration when it is premised on evidence or arguments available to the party at the time of the original judgment. Emmons v. McLaughlin, 874 F.2d 351, 358 (6th Cir. 1989). After all, such motions are aimed at reconsideration, not initial consideration. Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians v. Engler, 146 F.3d 367, 374 (6th Cir. 1998)

(citing FDIC v. World Univ. Inc., 978 F.2d 10, 16 (1st Cir.1992)). Plaintiff does not argue that there was an intervening change in the controlling law. Therefore, the Court liberally construes Plaintiff’s arguments as either an argument (1) to establish that new evidence is available, (2) that clear error occurred or (3) that reconsideration is necessary to prevent a manifest injustice. Louisville/Jefferson Cnty. Metro. Gov’t, 590 F.3d at 389. I. New Evidence

Plaintiff seeks to introduce supplemental affidavits that she argues “further establish genuine disputes of material fact.” (ECF No. 77, PageID #1236.) She characterizes these affidavits as providing evidence of “unlawful classification and diversion from Level 2 placement,” “retaliatory assaults,” and “tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.” (Id., PageID #1237.) In her attached exhibit, Plaintiff claims that, “[s]ince the prior ruling, Plaintiff has obtained new documentary evidence . . . showing that material facts were withheld and misrepresented to this Court.” (ECF No. 77-1, PageID #1245–46.) But this filing does not provide any documentary evidence. (See generally id.) Instead, it includes conclusory allegations that Defendants and others suppressed facts and falsified

records, constituting “fraud, misrepresentation, and misconduct.” (Id., PageID #1246.) Also, Plaintiff includes recitations of various rules of the Ohio Administrative Code and ODRC rules. (Id., PageID #1247–63.) But Plaintiff does not provide a single piece of new documentary evidence in this filing, just bare assertions. Plaintiff attaches a 77-page brief and accompanying record from a civil complaint between Mr. Sultaana and an inmate at Mansfield Correctional Center

regarding the alleged assault on September 15, 2021. (ECF No. 78-1.) These documents include similar allegations that Mr. Sultaana previously made regarding the alleged assault in this case. (Id., PageID #1274–1283.) However, this is an action solely against the inmate who allegedly assaulted Mr. Sultaana. (Id.) Nothing in these 77 pages contains any new information that is material to the Court’s determination that Mr. Sultaana failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. (ECF No. 72, PageID #1184.) Instead, these pages contain efforts by Amirah

Sultaana to request records (ECF No. 78-1, PageID #1291–93), investigative materials regarding the inmate who allegedly assaulted Mr. Sultaana (id., PageID #1294–95, #1303–11 & #1323–24), affidavits regarding details about the alleged assault from an inmate and about Mr. Sultaana’s death from Amirah Sultaana (id., PageID #1299–1301 & #1345), the same kite that Mr. Sultaana included with his complaint in this case (id., PageID #1302), and medical records regarding the alleged assault (id., PageID #1312–22). In any event, based on the filing dates of these documents, this information was available to Plaintiff before the Court dismissed this action. (See generally id.)

Plaintiff claims that “coroner correspondence, withheld hospital records, and witness affidavits—surfaced only after dismissal.” (ECF No. 80, PageID #1386.) Also, she alleges that “exhibits demonstrating previously unavailable evidence of staff misconduct, falsified reports, and medical irregularities preceding Hakeem Sultaana’s death” constitute “newly discovered material facts” that “materially alters the factual landscape of the case.” (Id., PageID #1392.) Again, looking past Plaintiff’s

summaries of these documents, none goes to the core procedural issue of Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co.
339 U.S. 306 (Supreme Court, 1950)
Estelle v. Gamble
429 U.S. 97 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Bounds v. Smith
430 U.S. 817 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Liteky v. United States
510 U.S. 540 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Lewis v. Casey
518 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Maples v. Thomas
132 S. Ct. 912 (Supreme Court, 2012)
John Demjanjuk v. Joseph Petrovsky
10 F.3d 338 (Sixth Circuit, 1994)
Surles v. Andison
678 F.3d 452 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
Farmer v. Brennan
511 U.S. 825 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Jose Rodriguez v. Honigman Miller Schwartz &Cohn
465 F. App'x 504 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
Ross v. Blake
578 U.S. 632 (Supreme Court, 2016)
Rodriguez v. Tennessee Laborers Health & Welfare Fund
89 F. App'x 949 (Sixth Circuit, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Amirah Sultaana, Administrator of the Estate of Hakeem Sultaana, Deceased v. Mansfield Warden Tim McConahay, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amirah-sultaana-administrator-of-the-estate-of-hakeem-sultaana-deceased-ohnd-2025.