Cooper v. Montgomery County

199 F. Supp. 3d 1189, 2016 WL 4154715, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103693
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedAugust 5, 2016
DocketCase No. 3:13-cv-272
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 199 F. Supp. 3d 1189 (Cooper v. Montgomery County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cooper v. Montgomery County, 199 F. Supp. 3d 1189, 2016 WL 4154715, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103693 (S.D. Ohio 2016).

Opinion

DECISION AND ENTRY ADOPTING UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS (DOC. # 93); OVERRULING PLAINTIFF’S OBJECTIONS THERETO (DOC. # 96); SUSTAINING IN PART AND OVERRULING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS OF DEFENDANTS MONTGOMERY COUNTY AND DEFENDANTS SGT. CURTIS LA-RAVTE, OFFICER STACY FRISK, OFFICER THOMAS CONNOR, AND SGT. JAY VITALI (DOC. # 84); DISMISSING WITH PREJUDICE ALL CLAIMS AGAINST DEFENDANTS SGT. CURTIS LARAVIE, OFFICER STACY FRISK, OFFICER THOMAS CONNOR, AND SGT. JAY VITALI; DIRECTING PLAINTIFF TO SHOW CAUSE IN WRITING, WITHIN 10 DAYS, WHY CLAIMS AGAINST OFFICER STEVEN LEOPOLD AND JOHN DOE OF SUMMIT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SHOULD NOT BE DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR FAILURE TO OBTAIN TIMELY SERVICE OF PROCESS

WALTER H. RICE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff, David 0. Cooper, alleges that his constitutional rights were violated when he was a pretrial detainee at the Montgomery County Jail. In addition to seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, he asserts a claim of assault and battery. The Second Amended Complaint, Doc. # 74, asserts claims against the following defen[1191]*1191dants: Montgomery County, Ohio; John ■Doe of Summit Behavioral Health; Dr. Anthony Whitaker; Captain Chuck Crosby; Major Daryl Wilson; Sergeant Curtis Laravie; Officer Stacey Frisk; Officer Thomas Connor; Officer Steven Leopold; and Sergeant Jay Vitali. All claims against Dr. Whitaker were voluntarily dismissed on May 24, 2016. Doc. # 92.

On July 7, 2016, United States Magistrate Judge Michael J. Newman issued a Report and Recommendations, Doc. # 93, recommending that the Court sustain in part and overrule in part the Motion to Dismiss of Defendants Montgomery County and Defendants Sgt, Curtis Laravie, Officer Stacey Frisk, Officer Thomas Con-nor, and Sgt. Jay Vitali, Doc. # 84. He found that Plaintiff had stated a viable claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendant Montgomery County. Montgomery County has not objected to this finding.

Magistrate Judge Newman also found that Plaintiffs claims against Defendants Laravie, Frisk, Connor and Vitali were all time-barred. The events giving rise to this lawsuit occurred in 2012. Neither the original Complaint, Doc. # 1, nor the Amended Complaint, Doc. #27, identified these defendants by name. They were simply listed as John Doe defendants. It was not until Plaintiff filed the Second Amended Complaint, Doc. # 74, on August 17, 2015, that he substituted Laravie, Frisk, Connor and Vitali for the John Doe defendants. This is well beyond the two-year statute of limitations for the § 1983 claims, and the ^one-year statute of limitations applicable to the assault and battery claim. See Browning v. Pendleton 869 F.2d 989, 990 (6th Cir. 1989); Ohio Rev. Code § 2305,111(B).

Because Plaintiff has filed Objections to this portion of the Report and Recommendations, Doc. # 96, the Court must make a de novo review, and may accept, reject or modify the recommended disposition. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).

The parties agree that the relevant issue is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c)(1)(C). Rule 15(c) states as follows:

(1) When an Amendment Relates Back. An amendment to a pleading relates back to the date of the original pleading when:
(A) the law that provides the applicable statute of limitations allows relation back;
(B) the amendment asserts a claim or defense that arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set out—or attempted to be set out-in the original pleading; or .
(C) the amendment changes the party or the naming of the party against whom a claim is asserted, if Rule 15(c)(1)(B) is satisfied and if, within the period provided by Rule 4(m) for serving the summons and complaint, the party to be brought in by amendment:
(i) received such notice of the action that it will not be prejudiced in defending on the merits; and
(ii) knew or should have known that the action would have been brought against it, but for a mistake concerning the proper party’s identity.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e).

As Magistrate Judge Newman noted, the Sixth Circuit has held that “a mistake concerning the proper party’s identity,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c)(l)(C)(ii), means “[a]n error, misconception, or misunderstanding; an erroneous belief.” Brown v. [1192]*1192Cuyahoga Cty., 517 Fed.Appx. 431, 434 (6th Cir. 2013) (quoting Krupski v. Costa Crociere S.p.A., 560 U.S. 538, 548, 130 S.Ct. 2485, 177 L.Ed.2d 48 (2010)). A “mistake” does not result from a plaintiffs failure to exercise due diligence to learn the true identity of John Doe defendants within the applicable statute of limitations period. See Brown, 517 Fed.Appx. at 433-34 (“absence of knowledge is not a mistake as required by Rule 15(c)(l)(C)(ii)”); Smith v. Akron, 476 Fed.Appx. 67, 69 (6th Cir. 2012) (holding that substituting previously unknown defendants for John Doe defendants does not satisfy the “mistaken identity requirement of Rule 15(c)).

Plaintiff does not deny that this is a correct statement of the law. He argues, however, that given the circumstances presented here, the Court should find that the Second Amended Complaint relates back to the original Complaint, and should decide the claims on their merits. He explains that, in the original Complaint, Doc. # 1, and the Amended Complaint, Doc. # 27, he identified the parties involved as best as he could by then1 shifts and their names, and explained the nature of the John Doe defendants’ participation in the events giving rise to this suit. He maintains, therefore, that they knew or should have known that they would be defendants in this action, and will suffer no prejudice if he is permitted to proceed.

This, however, is not enough. Plaintiff must also show that he made a “mistake concerning the proper party’s identity.” Smith, 476 Fed.Appx. at 69. As in Smith, he “did not make a mistake about the identity of the parties he intended to sue; he did not know who they were and apparently did not find out within the two-year limitations period. The relation-back protections of Rule 15(c) were not designed to correct that kind of problem.” Id. (emphasis in original). See also Wiggins v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 641 Fed.Appx. 545, 549 (6th Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
199 F. Supp. 3d 1189, 2016 WL 4154715, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cooper-v-montgomery-county-ohsd-2016.