Candace Bishop v. United States

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 23-1225 ___________________________

Candace Bishop, Personal Representative for the Estate of Charles Edward Bishop, Jr.

Plaintiff - Appellant

Charles Edward Bishop, Jr., Estate Plaintiff

Plaintiff

v.

United States of America

Defendant - Appellee ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of South Dakota - Central ____________

Submitted: October 4, 2023 Filed: October 10, 2023 [Unpublished] ____________

Before BENTON, KELLY, and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM. Candace Bishop, acting as personal representative of the estate of Charles Edward Bishop, Jr., appeals the district court’s 1 adverse grant of summary judgment in her Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) action. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.

Upon de novo review, this court concludes that summary judgment was properly granted, as the evidence in the record was insufficient to support Bishop’s negligence claim. See Wood v. Wooten, 986 F.3d 1079, 1080 (8th Cir. 2021) (de novo review of grant of summary judgment); Sorace v. United States, 788 F.3d 758, 763 (8th Cir. 2015) (in FTCA claim, applicable law is law of the place where act or omission occurred; analogue for FTCA claim under South Dakota state law is a negligence claim, which requires proof of duty, breach of that duty, proximate and factual causation, and actual injury) (citation and quotation marks omitted); Davidson & Assocs. v. Jung, 422 F.3d 630, 638 (8th Cir. 2005) (to defeat summary judgment “[a] plaintiff may not merely point to unsupported self-serving allegations, but must substantiate allegations with sufficient probative evidence that would permit a finding in the plaintiff’s favor”). To the extent Bishop intended to raise any other issues on appeal, we find no basis for reversal.

The judgment is affirmed. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________

1 The Honorable Roberto Lange, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. -2-