Hunt v. Elkhart County Sheriff

95 F. Supp. 2d 930, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6394, 2000 WL 572890
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedApril 3, 2000
Docket2:98-cv-00423
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 95 F. Supp. 2d 930 (Hunt v. Elkhart County Sheriff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hunt v. Elkhart County Sheriff, 95 F. Supp. 2d 930, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6394, 2000 WL 572890 (N.D. Ind. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

MILLER, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on: (1) the motion of plaintiffs Reverend Lord M. Hunt and Faith Temple Ministries, Inc. for partial summary judgment as to the liability of the state-action defendants; (2) the motion for summary judgment of defendants Sheriff of Elkhart County, John Does one and two, Corporal Jeremy Bigler, Corporal Richard Matteson, Officer J.W. Howard, and one or more jail commanders; (3) the motion of plaintiffs Reverend Lord M. Hunt and Faith Temple Ministries, Inc. for partial summary judgment as to the liability of Dr. David L. Cripe; (4) the motion for summary judgment of defendant Dr. Cripe; (5) the motion of Reverend Lord M. Hunt and Faith Temple Ministries, Inc. to qualify Joseph Molnar as an expert; (6) the motion of Reverend Lord M. Hunt and Faith Temple Ministries, Inc. to qualify Richard Zimmerman as an expert; (7) defendants’ motion to bar the expert testimony of Richard Zimmerman and Joseph Molnar; and (8) plaintiffs’ motion for relief from scheduling order as to trial date and preparation.

I.

A lease agreement between tenant Rena Brooks, her co-signor Lord M. Hunt, and landlord David Cripe became the subject *932 of a small claims proceeding filed on May 13, 1991 in Elkhart Superior Court No. 4 (Cause No. 20E02-9105-SC-00466). As part of those proceedings and after judgment was entered for Dr. Cripe, a body attachment for Rev. Hunt was issued on August 24, 1992 for contempt, and bond was set at $365.00. On December 4, 1995, Dr. Cripe signed an acknowledgment stating that a $265.00 check received from Christine Hunt constituted payment in full for prior debt. Dr. Cripe provided no notice of the acknowledgment to the Superior Court, so the body attachment was not vacated.

Rev. Hunt was stopped for speeding in Tipton County on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend 1996. He was taken into custody on the body attachment and was transported to the Tipton County Jail. The Tipton County Sheriffs Department contacted the Elkhart County Sheriffs De 1 partment and was told not to release Rev. Hunt. The Elkhart County Sheriffs Department asked that Rev. Hunt be held in Tipton County until Monday (Labor Day), when the Elkhart Department would send personnel to pick him up.

During the course of the weekend, several people tried to pay the cash bond set for the body attachment, but the Elkhart County Sheriffs Department refused to accept the payment until Rev. Hunt was transported to Elkhart County. On Labor Day Monday, Rev. Hunt was transported to Elkhart County, the $365.00 bond was posted, and Rev. Hunt was released. Rev. Hunt’s total period of confinement lasted about fifty hours, from about 3:00 p.m. on Saturday until just before 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Elkhart Superior Court No. 4 ordered the underlying action “released and satisfied” on September 4,1996.

II.

A motion for summary judgment should be granted when’there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, “a trial court must view the record and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” To defeat a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party cannot rest on the mere allegations or denials contained in his pleadings, but “must present sufficient evidence to show the existence of each element of its case on which it will bear the burden at trial.” However, neither presenting a scintilla of evidence, nor the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties or some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts, is sufficient to oppose a motion for summary judgment. The party must supply evidence sufficient to allow a jury to render a verdict in his favor.

Robin v. Espo Engineering Corp., 200 F.3d 1081, 1087-88 (7th Cir.2000).

A.

Several matters can be disposed of with relative ease before turning to the challenging issue posed by Rev. Hunt’s experience. Rev. Hunt is not the only plaintiff in this suit; he is joined in that capacity by Faith Ministries, Inc., the organization for which Rev. Hunt ordinarily preached on Sundays. Faith Ministries’ claim arises from its having been deprived of its preacher on the Sunday morning of Rev. Hunt’s incarceration. Rev. Hunt and Faith Ministries sue a number of defendants. They sue the Elkhart County Sheriffs Office, Elkhart County Sheriff Corporals Jeremy Bigler and Richard Matteson, and Dr. Cripe.

A review of the plaintiffs’ memoranda on the cross-motions concerning Dr. Cripe discloses no federal claim against Dr. Cripe. See Sanders v. Village of Dixmoor, Illinois, 178 F.3d 869, 870 (7th Cir.1999) (summary judgment opponent must inform court of theories). The plaintiffs offer no argument that Dr. Cripe had any duty under federal law to release his. small claims judgment, or to assure that the *933 body attachment was vacated once he had been paid. The complaint sought to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 for a conspiracy to deprive Rev. Hunt (and, apparently, Faith Ministries) of federal constitutional rights, but the plaintiffs’ summary judgment memoranda concede that no claim under § 1985 can be supported on this record. Indeed, undisputed evidence in the summary judgment record indicates that upon learning on the Labor Day weekend that Rev. Hunt was in police custody, Dr. Cripe phoned the Elkhart County Sheriffs Department to request Rev. Hunt’s release. Like other callers that weekend, Dr. Cripe was unsuccessful.

The plaintiffs vigorously assert that Dr. Cripe had a duty under Indiana law to file with the court a release of the judgment. The plaintiffs cite a statute to that effect, Ind. Code § 32 — 8—1—1(b), and also seem to argue that a similar duty exists under Indiana common law, though they cite no case law that directly supports that proposition. The plaintiffs dispute the defendants’ contention that the statutory scheme provides an exclusive remedy— specifically, a penalty of $500.00, Ind. Code § 32-8-1-2 — for a failure to file a release. No reported Indiana case addresses the exclusivity of the statutory remedy for breach of the statutory duty to file a release of judgment with the court that entered the judgment, and no reported Indiana case addresses the existence of any common law remedy for failure to file a release of judgment.

Rev. Hunt and Dr. Cripe appear to be, and are not alleged to be anything other than, Indiana citizens. Faith Ministries is identified as an Indiana corporation, though the amended complaint does not allege its principal place of business. Federal courts ordinarily do not have the power to hear cases between Indiana citizens based on Indiana law.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Johnson v. Herman
132 F. Supp. 2d 1130 (N.D. Indiana, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
95 F. Supp. 2d 930, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6394, 2000 WL 572890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunt-v-elkhart-county-sheriff-innd-2000.