Keyland Dunning v. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety et al.

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedOctober 22, 2025
Docket1:25-cv-01104
StatusUnknown

This text of Keyland Dunning v. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety et al. (Keyland Dunning v. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keyland Dunning v. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety et al., (W.D. Mich. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION ______

KEYLAND DUNNING,

Plaintiff, Case No. 1:25-cv-1104

v. Honorable Paul L. Maloney

KALAMAZOO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY et al.,

Defendants. ____________________________/ OPINION This is a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The initial complaint (ECF No. 1) was filed by twenty detainees at the Kalamazoo County Jail in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In an order (ECF No. 4) entered on September 15, 2025, the Court directed that the claims of each Plaintiff be severed into separate actions and that each Plaintiff file an amended complaint in his respective action. The above-captioned action is the result of that severance. The Court received Plaintiff’s amended complaint (ECF No. 6) on October 9, 2025. The Court has granted Plaintiff leave to proceed in forma pauperis in a separate order. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) (PLRA), the Court is required to dismiss any prisoner action brought under federal law if the complaint is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2), 1915A; 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(c). The Court must read Plaintiff’s pro se amended complaint indulgently, see Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972), and accept Plaintiff’s allegations as true, unless they are clearly irrational or wholly incredible. Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992). Applying these standards, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff’s amended complaint as duplicative and, therefore, malicious. Discussion Factual Allegations Plaintiff is presently detained at the Kalamazoo County Jail, which is where the events about which he complains occurred. Plaintiff sues the following entities and individuals in their

official capacities: the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety; the Kalamazoo Defenders; Officers Dan Boglitsch, Travis Cutler, and Unknown Baldwin; Prosecuting Attorney Jeffery Getting; attorneys Scott Wagenaar and M. Zoe Hutchins; and MLive Media Group and its employee, Brad Devereaux. (Am. Compl., ECF No. 6, PageID.36–37.) Plaintiff also sues notary Tyler Caldwell in his personal capacity. (Id., PageID.36.) As noted above, this action was initiated when twenty detainees at the Kalamazoo County Jail filed a complaint against the jail itself and the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department. (Compl., ECF No. 1.) Detainee Ray Evans was the lead plaintiff. That complaint set forth the following allegations: From my proof of incarceration form I was held on May 16, 2023—May 17, 2023[;] June 26, 2024—July 8, 2024[;] August 20, 2024—September 18, 2024[;] October 5, 2024—October 7, 2024[;] October 20, 2024—October 22, 2024[;] January 17, 2025—March 21, 2025[;] May 23, 2025[,] to the day now August 16, 2025[,] with no outside fresh air or sunlight. (Id., PageID.3.) Although the allegations were tailored to Evans, he styled the complaint as a “class action lawsuit[] on Kalamazoo County Jail for no fresh air.” (Id., PageID.4.) Nineteen other detainees, including Plaintiff, signed on to be a part of the “class action.” (Id.) However, when the Court severed each Plaintiff’s claims into separate lawsuits, each Plaintiff was directed to file an amended complaint. Plaintiff’s amended complaint does not solely focus on the lack of fresh air and sunlight at the Kalamazoo County Jail. In his amended complaint, Plaintiff alleges that on February 19, 2025, he was arrested by Defendants Cutler and Baldwin at the Mt. Zion Church in Kalamazoo. (Am. Compl., ECF No. 6, PageID.39.) Plaintiff was taken outside, where he was searched by Defendant Boglitsch and non-party Officer Emily Malcolm. (Id.) Plaintiff contends that they took his

prescription eyeglasses, $270.00 in cash, a paper with phone numbers, and other property from his person. (Id.) According to Plaintiff, none of this property was described “as items/property to be seized when arrested [on the] warrant from Judge Hemingway.” (Id.) Plaintiff also claims that none of these items “were put in [his] property at the jail[, nor] was [the] money put on [his] books.” (Id.) Plaintiff was interrogated by non-parties Detectives Day and Seiser. (Id.) Plaintiff “[did not] deny being the suspect of the alleged crime and gave a detailed statement.” (Id.) Plaintiff was represented by an attorney from the Kalamazoo Defenders at his arraignment on February 20, 2025. (Id.) That attorney told Plaintiff that “someone would contact [him] from [their] office before [the] probable cause” conference scheduled for March 4, 2025. (Id.)

According to Plaintiff, Kalamazoo Defenders scheduled “poly conference[s]” for February 26 and 27, 2025, “but no one came to either one.” (Id.) Plaintiff appeared for his probable cause hearing on March 4, 2025, at which time non- party attorney Jaime Nelson told Plaintiff that neither she nor anyone else from the Kalamazoo Defenders could represent Plaintiff because of a conflict of interest. (Id.) Plaintiff claims that he was forced to proceed pro se and that the probable cause hearing was adjourned despite his objection. (Id.) On March 19, 2025, Plaintiff was denied access to the courtroom and forced to sit in a holding tank during the probable cause hearing. (Id.) On March 26, 2025, Plaintiff’s preliminary hearing was conducted. (Id.) Plaintiff claims that the MLive Media Group was there, despite not having Plaintiff’s consent, and the hearing was open to the public. (Id.) Plaintiff “asked counsel to have the courtroom closed[; counsel] refused.” (Id.) Plaintiff was bound over on the charges. (Id.) Defendant Hutchins represented Plaintiff in one criminal case; Defendant Wagenaar represented Plaintiff on other criminal cases. (Id.) Plaintiff’s pretrial conference was scheduled for

April of 2025, but it was adjourned pending a competency/criminal responsibility hearing. (Id.) Defendants Hutchins and Wagenaar told Plaintiff that “all court dates would be on stay until competency/[criminal responsibility] came back.” (Id.) Plaintiff was taken to Ann Arbor for psychiatric evaluations at the end of May of 2025. (Id.) Plaintiff filed numerous motions requesting the return of his property and asked counsel to file similar motions as well. (Id.) Plaintiff’s property was not returned to him. (Id.) On June 25, 2025, Defendant Hutchins “filed some kind of petition, it was titled a petition for [Plaintiff’s] eyeglasses.” (Id., PageID.41.) Plaintiff believes it was “actually for less liability/bankruptcy.” (Id.) A hearing on the petition was scheduled for July 9, 2025. (Id.) Plaintiff was brought to court despite

being told previously that all court proceedings were on stay pending his competency determination. (Id.) Before leaving the jail, Defendant Caldwell “refused to notarize [an] affidavit for [Plaintiff’s] defense.” (Id.) Plaintiff claims that he stayed in the holding area for approximately three hours and never saw counsel or a judge. (Id.) Plaintiff was taken to court again for another hearing on July 10, 2025, despite not having received notice of the hearing. (Id.) When he arrived at the courthouse, Plaintiff tried to give Defendant Hutchins “a notarized complaint, affidavit of defense [that the] notary refused to notarize, and proof of [his] incarceration.” (Id.) Defendant Hutchins refused to give them to the judge and refused to get Plaintiff copies.

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Bluebook (online)
Keyland Dunning v. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keyland-dunning-v-kalamazoo-department-of-public-safety-et-al-miwd-2025.