Ebeyer v. Rodriguez

909 F. Supp. 2d 1049, 2012 WL 5829422, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163956
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedNovember 15, 2012
DocketNo. 1:08-cv-01109-JMS-DKL
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 909 F. Supp. 2d 1049 (Ebeyer v. Rodriguez) 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
Ebeyer v. Rodriguez, 909 F. Supp. 2d 1049, 2012 WL 5829422, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163956 (S.D. Ind. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

JANE MAGNUS-STINSON, District Judge.

Presently pending before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, [dkt. 78], which the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part for the reasons that follow.

I.

Standard op Review

A motion for summary judgment asks that the Court find that a trial based on the uncontroverted and admissible evidence is unnecessary because, as a matter of law, it would conclude in the moving party’s favor. See Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56. To survive a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must set forth specific, admissible evidence showing that [1052]*1052there is a material issue for trial. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(e); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

As the current version Rule 56 makes clear, whether a party asserts that a fact is undisputed or genuinely disputed, the party must support the asserted fact by citing to particular parts of the record, including depositions, documents, or affidavits. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(c)(1)(A). A party can also support a fact by showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute or that the adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(c)(1)(B). Affidavits or declarations must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant is competent to testify on matters stated. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(c)(4). Failure to properly support a fact in opposition to a movant’s factual assertion can result in the movant’s fact being considered undisputed, and potentially the grant of summary judgment. Fed; R. Civ. Pro. 56(e).

The Court need only consider the cited materials, Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(c)(3), and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has “repeatedly assured the district courts that they are not required to scour every inch of the record for evidence that is potentially relevant to the summary judgment motion before them,” Johnson v. Cambridge Indus., 325 F.3d 892, 898 (7th Cir.2003). Furthermore, reliance on the pleadings or conclusory statements backed by inadmissible evidence is insufficient to create an issue of material fact on summary judgment. Id. at 901.

The key inquiry, then, is whether admissible evidence exists to support a plaintiffs claims or a defendant’s affirmative defenses, not the weight or credibility of that evidence, both of which are assessments reserved to the trier of fact. See Schacht v. Wis. Dep’t of Corrections, 175 F.3d 497, 504 (7th Cir.1999). And when evaluating this inquiry, the Court must give the non-moving party the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the evidence submitted and resolve “any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue for trial ... against the moving party.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 330, 106 S.Ct. 2548. A movant should not argue any fact to support its motion that is contested by admissible evidence.

II.

Background

The facts supported by admissible evidence and viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving parties, Plaintiffs Theodore Ebeyer and Britnee Ebeyer, though not objectively established as true, are as follows: On August 16, 2006, seventeen-year-old Britnee was approached by Defendant Greenwood Police Department (“GPD” )Officer Joseph Rodriguez and two other officers as she sat in a vehicle with a friend, Ryan Huffman. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 6; dkt. 79 at 3.] During that stop, drugs and alcohol were found on Mr. Huffman, and he was arrested. [Dkt. 79 at 3.] Britnee was not arrested, but Officer Rodriguez informed her he had ample evidence to arrest her but that he would not do so if she agreed to accompany him for a ride. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 9.] Britnee agreed to go on a ride in Officer Rodriguez’s unmarked police vehicle. [Id.]

Officer Rodriguez, drove Britnee around for approximately three hours. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 10.] During the ride, Officer Rodriguez told Britnee about her father Theodore Ebeyer’s illegal drug activities. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 11.] Specifically, he said that Mr. Ebeyer was a known drug dealer and that he and other members of his family used various family businesses as “fronts” for illegal activities. [Id.] Officer Rodriguez also told Britnee that he and certain GPD officers were out to “get” her father [1053]*1053for critical statements he caused to be published regarding the GPD. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 12.] Officer Rodriguez told Britnee the plan was to “set up [her] father and trick him into thinking we were buying drugs for Ryan Huffman.” [Dkt. 89-1 at 10.] Britnee agreed to work for Officer Rodriguez in a secret and undercover capacity to help the GPD to conduct a sting against Mr. Ebeyer. [See dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 14; dkt. 79 at 4.] At or near the end of the ride, Officer Rodriguez parked his unmarked police vehicle in an isolated part of the GPD parking lot. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 15.] In the parking lot “[Officer Rodriguez] engaged ... [Britnee] in an unwelcomed, uninvited, unwanted sex act ... ” [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 17.] Officer Rodriguez pulled his penis out of his pants, put his gun in his lap, and told Britnee that he “wanted [her] to touch his gun.” [Dkt. 89-1 at 8.] He then made her put her mouth on his penis, and as she did that, he lifted her skirt, rubbed her back, and put his hands down her pants. [M] The incident lasted at least ten minutes, after which Officer Rodriguez put his penis back in his pants and drove Britnee home from the GPD parking lot. [Id., dkt. 79 at 5; 21-1 at ¶ 17.]1 As he drove, Britnee cried, and Officer Rodriguez told her that she “needed to stop crying and if [she] ever opened [her] mouth, that he would fuck [her] over ..., and he had so much dirt on [her] that he would make sure [she] would never see the light of day.” [Dkt. 89-1 at 8-9.] Officer Rodriguez did not drive Britnee directly to her home, but instead drove “like he didn’t know where he was going.” [Id. at 8.]

At the Ebeyer home, Officer Rodriguez engaged Mr. Ebeyer in a conversation regarding Britnee’s agreement to do undercover work, where Officer Rodriguez assured him that Britnee “was not in any trouble” but that the GPD would need her to cooperate in a drug investigation against her friend, Ryan Huffman. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 20.] After Officer Rodriguez left, Britnee told her father that he threatened to arrest her if she did not help him to set up her friend, Ryan Huffman, on a heroin transaction. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶ 21.]

On August 17, 2006 Britnee received a phone call from law enforcement explaining when and where she would be receiving the drugs in order to set up her friend. [Dkt. 21-1 ¶ 22.] Britnee told her father about the call. [/&] Before the drug pick up and without Theodore Ebeyer present, Britnee was outfitted with a wire. [Dkt. 79 at 8.] Mr. Ebeyer drove Britnee to the pickup site. [Dkt. 21 at ¶22.] Britnee completed the cocaine purchase under constant police visual and video surveillance. [Dkt. 79 at 8.] After leaving the pickup site, Mr. Ebeyer was pulled over by Defendant Richard Kelly. [Dkt. 21-1 at ¶25.] During the stop, Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
909 F. Supp. 2d 1049, 2012 WL 5829422, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163956, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ebeyer-v-rodriguez-insd-2012.