Medberry v. McCallister

937 So. 2d 808, 2006 WL 2658513
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 18, 2006
Docket1D06-0026
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 937 So. 2d 808 (Medberry v. McCallister) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medberry v. McCallister, 937 So. 2d 808, 2006 WL 2658513 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

937 So.2d 808 (2006)

Daniel C. MEDBERRY, Appellant,
v.
C/O McCALLISTER, et al., Appellee.

No. 1D06-0026.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

September 18, 2006.

Daniel C. Medberry, pro se, for Appellant.

William M. Woodyard, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

*809 BROWNING, J.

Daniel C. Medberry, a Florida prison inmate, appeals the trial court's order dismissing his amended complaint. Medberry brought a tort action in Leon County Circuit Court against Officers McCallister and Gabrielli (Appellees), individually, who both reside in Union County and are corrections officers at the Union Correctional Institution, where Medberry is incarcerated. Having carefully reviewed the record, we conclude that the trial court erred as a matter of law in dismissing the amended complaint for failure to satisfy a purported statutory notice of claim requirement; erred again in finding the allegations to be legally insufficient to state a cause of action against Appellees pursuant to section 768.28, Florida Statutes (2003); and abused its discretion in denying the motion to transfer the case to the Union County Circuit Court.

The record establishes that from September 15, 2003, forward, Medberry filed a series of requests for an administrative remedy or appeal alleging that his gain-time credit records were inaccurate and that he was being inappropriately denied opportunities to work that would have afforded him additional gain-time credits. On October 6, 2003, Medberry filed an informal complaint with the warden alleging that at 1:10 p.m. on October 4, 2003, Appellees had awakened him to work, had given him cleaning utensils and supplies to clean the showers, had used verbally abusive language in directing him to perform this chore, and, in an act of reprisal, had locked him in the shower for a half-hour or more and said this would teach him not to file any more grievances while on close management status.

On October 8, 2003, Medberry filed an emergency complaint to the central office alleging 1) that during the midnight shift on that same date, Appellees had escorted him from the shower area in the "O Dorm" to a holding cell; 2) that Appellees had forcibly pushed him into the holding cell and punched him in the face, ribs, and chest numerous times, resulting in his physical injuries and soreness; 3) that he had not been allowed to seek medical treatment; and 4) that he feared another assault would occur and he needed protection. Medberry denied having broken any prison rule or having resisted or threatened Appellees in any manner. He alleged the attack was motivated by his protest of adverse work assignments and conditions. Medberry alleged that inmate witnesses had observed the incident. When the morning shift began on that same date, Medberry filed an inmate sick-call *810 request for treatment by a doctor. On October 29, 2003, Medberry filed a formal appeal to the warden alleging that his informal grievance had not been handled properly. On November 7, 2003, the institution responded that the allegations of the October 4, 2003, assault had been referred to Lt. Tricocci, the Southeast Unit Supervisor, who indicated he had interviewed all staff members who were assigned to the first shift in the "O Dorm" on the date in question, and that nothing supported Medberry's claim of abuse. On November 12, 2003, Medberry filed a formal appeal to the central office alleging an improper investigation at the institutional level. He indicated that a review of the prison wing videotape of the first shift on the date of the alleged assault would support his version of the events. All requested relief was denied at the institutional level.

On February 18, 2004, Medberry filed his pro se original complaint in Leon County Circuit Court alleging that Appellees had performed "negligent malfeasance" "in bad faith with malicious intent or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety and property," as "agents and/or employees of the Florida Department of Corrections." Medberry alleged that Appellees' actions "under color of state law" as corrections officers violated his rights to liberty and to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. In support of his complaint, Medberry set out the history of his 2003 administrative appeals at the institutional level. He alleged facts indicating that on October 6, 2003, he had reported the October 4 shower lock-in incident involving Appellees; and that on October 8, 2003, he had reported the physical assault by Appellees in the holding cell. The pleading alleged essentially the same facts reported in his earlier administrative appeal relating to the assault. Medberry sought a jury trial, a declaratory judgment that his constitutional and state-law rights had been violated, compensatory damages in the amount of $75,000.00, punitive damages in the amount of $75,000.00, and costs. Appended to the original complaint were copies of Medberry's administrative appeals and the institutional responses denying relief.

On June 2, 2004, Appellees, who were represented by counsel, moved to dismiss the original complaint on several grounds. First, Appellees argued that the Leon County Circuit Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over them based on the doctrines of sovereign immunity, qualified immunity, and/or the Eleventh Amendment. Second, Appellees contended that the complaint failed to state a cause of action against them because it did not allege that Medberry had complied with the notice provisions of section 768.28(6)(a), Florida Statutes (2003), which, according to Appellees, is a condition precedent to instituting a cause of action against them. See Commercial Carrier Corp. v. Indian River County, 371 So.2d 1010 (Fla.1979); Hutchins v. Mills, 363 So.2d 818 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978) (concluding that trial court correctly dismissed claim against State of Florida and Game & Fresh Water Commission where plaintiff failed to plead compliance with statutory notice of claim provision). Third, Appellees asserted that the complaint failed to state ultimate facts to remove Medberry from section 768.28(9)(a), Florida Statutes (2003), and thereby allow him to sue Appellees in the Florida courts. Fourth, the motion to dismiss argued that the acts forming the basis of Medberry's complaint are quasi-judicial, so as to render Appellees immune from suit pursuant to Andrews v. Florida Parole Commission, 768 So.2d 1257 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (concluding that Appellee acted within scope of its quasi-judicial duties in placing *811 inmate on conditional release, had jurisdiction over him and the terms of conditional release, and thus enjoyed judicial immunity from liability for false imprisonment, despite miscalculating date of release from supervision, resulting in additional 11 months' incarceration). Fifth, Appellees argued that the allegations of willfully and intentionally assaulting Medberry and depriving him of his right to liberty failed to present ultimate facts to state a cause of action against Appellees for assault, false imprisonment, and/or unlawful detention. Sixth, citing "official records of the Clerk of the Court," Appellees characterized Medberry as "a vexatious litigant" who had failed to post a bond. Appellees sought a reasonable attorney's fee and costs pursuant to section 57.105, Florida Statutes (2003).

Before the trial court ruled on the motion to dismiss the original complaint, Medberry filed a July 19, 2004, pro se

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
937 So. 2d 808, 2006 WL 2658513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medberry-v-mccallister-fladistctapp-2006.