BOYKINS v. GRAY

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedJune 5, 2025
Docket1:23-cv-00568
StatusUnknown

This text of BOYKINS v. GRAY (BOYKINS v. GRAY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BOYKINS v. GRAY, (S.D. Ind. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

DE'ADRIAN BOYKINS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 1:23-cv-00568-JMS-TAB v. ) ) L. GRAY and C. TYLER, ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER

Plaintiff De'Adrian Boykins is an inmate currently incarcerated at Pendleton Correctional Facility ("PCF"). He filed this lawsuit against Defendants L. Gray and C. Tyler, both Correctional Officers at PCF, alleging violations of his Eighth Amendment rights.1 Four motions are ripe for the Court's consideration: (1) Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, [Filing No. 37]; (2) Mr. Boykins' Motion for Surreply, [Filing No. 47]; (3) Defendants' Motion to Strike Mr. Boykin's Motion for Surreply, [Filing No. 48]; and (4) Mr. Boykins' Motion Requesting Denial of Motion to Strike, [Filing No. 49]. I. MOTION FOR SURREPLY, MOTION TO STRIKE, AND MOTION REQUESTING DENIAL OF MOTION TO STRIKE

The Court first addresses Mr. Boykins' Motion for Surreply, [Filing No. 47], Defendants' Motion to Strike Mr. Boykins' Motion for Surreply, [Filing No. 48], and Mr. Boykins' Motion Requesting Denial of Motion to Strike, [Filing No. 49], because their adjudication impacts the arguments considered in connection with the pending Motion for Summary Judgment.

1 These are the claims which the Court found should proceed after the Court screened Mr. Boykins' Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), (c). [Filing No. 1; Filing No. 7.] A. Background In support of their Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendants argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity on all of Mr. Boykins' claims. [Filing No. 40 at 11-12.] In his response in opposition, Mr. Boykins does not address Defendants' qualified immunity argument. [See Filing

No. 43.] In reply, Defendants reiterate their arguments in support of summary judgment. [Filing No. 45.] Thereafter, Mr. Boykins filed his Motion for Surreply, addressing Defendants' qualified immunity argument and arguing that they are not entitled to qualified immunity. [Filing No. 47.] Defendants subsequently filed their Motion to Strike, arguing that Mr. Boykins' Motion for Surreply should be denied because there are no grounds supporting a surreply. [Filing No. 48.] Defendants assert that they did not cite to new evidence or object to the admissibility of evidence in their reply. [Filing No. 48.] In response, Mr. Boykins filed his Motion Requesting Denial of Defendants' Motion to Strike Surreply, arguing that Defendants' reply included "'new evidence' of qualified immunity," therefore permitting his surreply. [Filing No. 49.] Defendants reiterate in reply that Mr. Boykins' surreply should be stricken as they "never cited any new evidence in their

reply [in support of their summary judgment motion] or objected to the admissibility of any evidence cited by [Mr. Boykins'] in his response." [Filing No. 50 at 1.] They highlight that they "initially raised and addressed their qualified immunity argument in their [summary judgment motion]," and did not rely on any additional evidence or argument in reply. [Filing No. 50 at 1-2.] B. Discussion The Court's Local Rules allow a summary judgment sur-reply only in limited circumstances—if the movant cites new evidence in the reply or objects to the admissibility of the evidence cited in the response. Local Rule 56-1(d); see Lady Di's, Inc. v. Enhanced Servs. Billing, Inc., 2010 WL 1258052, at *8 (S.D. Ind. Mar. 25, 2010) (explaining that the "purpose for having a motion, response and reply is to give the movant the final opportunity to be heard and to rebut the non-movant's response, thereby persuading the court that the movant is entitled to the relief requested by the motion") (cleaned up). Here, Defendants initially raised their qualified immunity argument in their initial brief in

support of the Motion for Summary Judgment and did not include any new evidence in their reply nor object to the admissibility of evidence that Mr. Boykins cited to in his response. [See Filing No. 40; Filing No. 45.] Rather, Defendants addressed the arguments that Mr. Boykins made in response and reiterated their arguments in support of their motion, including as to qualified immunity. Accordingly, there were no appropriate grounds for Mr. Boykins to file a surreply, and the Court, in its discretion, DENIES Mr. Boykins' Motion for Surreply, [Filing No. 47], and does not consider the arguments therein.2 As a result, Defendants' Motion to Strike, [Filing No. 48], and Mr. Boykins' Motion Requesting Denial of Motion to Strike, [Filing No. 49], are DENIED AS MOOT. II. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT A. Standard of Review A motion for summary judgment asks the Court to find that a trial is unnecessary because there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and, instead, the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). When reviewing a motion for summary judgment,

the Court views the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, including giving that party the benefit of conflicting evidence, and draws all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. Ziccarelli v. Dart, 35 F.4th 1079, 1083 (7th Cir. 2022); Khungar v. Access Cmty. Health

2 As discussed below, even if the Court were to consider the arguments, they do not change the outcome of its decision. Network, 985 F.3d 565, 572-73 (7th Cir. 2021); Darst v. Interstate Brands Corp., 512 F.3d 903, 907 (7th Cir. 2008). It cannot weigh evidence or make credibility determinations on summary judgment because those tasks are left to the fact-finder. Miller v. Gonzalez, 761 F.3d 822, 827 (7th Cir. 2014). A court only has to consider the materials cited by the parties, see Fed. R. Civ. P.

56(c)(3); it need not "scour the record" for evidence that might be relevant. Grant v. Trs. of Ind. Univ., 870 F.3d 562, 573-74 (7th Cir. 2017) (cleaned up). "Taking the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party does not mean that the facts must come only from the nonmoving party. Sometimes the facts taken in the light most favorable to the non-moving party come from the party moving for summary judgment or from other sources." Gupta v. Melloh, 19 F.4th 990, 997 (7th Cir. 2021). A party seeking summary judgment must inform the district court of the basis for its motion and identify the record evidence it contends demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). "Summary judgment is not a time to be coy: conclusory statements not grounded in specific facts are not enough." Daugherty

v. Page, 906 F.3d 606, 611 (7th Cir. 2018) (cleaned up). Rather, at the summary judgment stage, "[t]he parties are required to put their evidentiary cards on the table." Sommerfield v. City of Chicago, 863 F.3d 645, 649 (7th Cir. 2017).

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BOYKINS v. GRAY, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boykins-v-gray-insd-2025.