Bookman v. Shubzda

945 F. Supp. 999, 1996 WL 652858
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedNovember 21, 1996
Docket3:95-cv-01825
StatusPublished
Cited by91 cases

This text of 945 F. Supp. 999 (Bookman v. Shubzda) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bookman v. Shubzda, 945 F. Supp. 999, 1996 WL 652858 (N.D. Tex. 1996).

Opinion

FITZWATER, District Judge:

This pro se lawsuit filed by a prisoner who was permitted to proceed informa pauperis presents questions concerning the use of Spears 1 materials in deciding a motion for summary judgment, and the court’s obligation to search the record for genuine issues of material fact.

I

Plaintiff Angela Lashone Bookman (“Bookman”) alleges that, six Dallas Police Department (“DPD”) officers used excessive force and otherwise violated her constitutional rights during the execution of a narcotics search and arrest warrant at the apartment of her fiancé, Leon Travis Hurd (“Hurd”). 2 Bookman brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To the extent she alleges violations of the United States Constitution, it is maintained as a § 1983 action. Her assertion that the officers violated the Texas Constitution alleges a pendent state-law claim. 3

In response to written questions from the magistrate judge posed during the in forma pauperis screening process, Bookman maintains that the officers entered the apartment *1002 illegally because they did not identify themselves as police officers. She also contends that during the course of executing the warrant and arresting her and her fiancé, defendants used excessive force by firing automatic weapons. She complains that defendant Corporal Eddie Fuller (“Corporal Fuller”) dragged her across concrete, although she was pregnant, and that defendant Officer Doug Thigpen (“Officer Thigpen”) pushed her behind a couch. She avers that she did not resist defendants’ attempt to detain her. Bookman also asserts that because of defendants’ use of force, she suffered a gash in her side, holes in her foot, bruised knees, and a cut hand. She contends defendants denied her medical care and did not read her rights to her and ensure that she understood them. In particular, she alleges that each officer violated her rights by failing to identify himself as a police officer.

Read liberally, Bookman’s complaint appears to state the following constitutional claims: (1) violation of her constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force in the course of an arrest; (2) unreasonable search; (3) denial of reasonable medical care; and (4) denial of the right to be warned according to the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and to have these rights explained to her.

Defendants Dallas police officers Sergeant James J. Shubzda (“Sgt. Shubzda”), Officer John Morris (“Officer Morris”), 4 Officer Ron Brown (“Officer Brown”), Corporal Fuller, Officer David Potts (“Officer Potts”), and Officer Thigpen move for summary judgment. They contend they are entitled to summary judgment because Bookman cannot establish that her constitutional rights were violated, and because they are entitled to qualified immunity. Bookman has not responded to the motion.

II

Before reaching the merits of defendants’ motion, the court addresses a threshold procedural question.

A

As noted, Bookman has not responded to defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Under the usual jurisprudence, her failure to respond does not permit the court to enter a “default” summary judgment. The court would be permitted, however, to accept defendants’ evidence as undisputed. Tutton v. Garland Indep. Sch. Dist., 733 F.Supp. 1113, 1117 (N.D.Tex.1990) (Fitzwater, J.). A summary judgment nonmovant who does not respond to the motion is relegated to her unsworn pleadings, which do not constitute summary judgment evidence. See, e.g., Solo Serve Corp. v. Westowne Assocs., 929 F.2d 160, 165 (5th Cir.1991).

This case presents a different twist. Bookman sought leave to proceed in forma pauperis. This required the court to determine that her lawsuit was not frivolous within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d). 5 In evaluating whether she should be permitted to proceed in forma pauperis, the magistrate judge submitted a questionnaire for the purpose, among others, of enabling her to set out in greater detail the grounds for her claims. The question presented is whether her responses to these questions, which she made under the penalties of perjury, see 28 U.S.C. § 1746, and which are included in the court file in this case, are proper summary judgment evidence. If so, the court must decide whether it is required to consider them despite Bookman’s failure to respond to defendants’ summary judgment motion.

In Albritton v. Pittman, Civil Action No. 3:91-CV-1709-D, 1995 WL 907893 (N.D.Tex. Apr. 7, 1995) (Fitzwater, J.), and McGriff v. King, Civil Action No. 3:93-CV-1386-D, 1995 WL 907892 (N.D.Tex. Apr. 28,1995) (Fitzwater, J.), both in forma pauperis cases in which prisoner-plaintiffs failed to respond to summary judgment motions, the court assumed that Spears materials were competent *1003 summary judgment evidence. As the court explained in Albritton,

The purpose of a Spears hearing is to determine whether a prisoner alleging a constitutional deprivation should be permitted to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d). Spears, 766 F.2d at 181-82. The evidentiary hearing is “in the nature of a motion for more definite statement.” Id. The court ascertains at this procedural stage whether the complaint is adequate to permit the prisoner to litigate his claims pursuant to § 1915(d). Id. at 182. The prisoner’s testimony at the hearing is a more elaborate form of response to questionnaires that courts submit to prisoners so that they may set out in greater detail the bases for their claims. Id. at 181 (questionnaire answers “elaborate on the allegations contained in their complaints under Fed.R.CivJP. 15(a), and do not constitute an independent pleading”). It would appear that the Spears testimony is more akin to a pleading than to the summary judgment evidence contemplated by Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e).

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Bluebook (online)
945 F. Supp. 999, 1996 WL 652858, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bookman-v-shubzda-txnd-1996.