MOORE v. SMITH

District Court, M.D. Georgia·Decided July 18, 2024·No. 5:21-cv-00032·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION

DAVID TIMOTHY MOORE, Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:21-cv-00032-TES-CHW v. Warden AIMEE SMITH, Defendant.

ORDER

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(a), Plaintiff David Timothy Moore, a state prisoner, filed an Objection [Doc. 65] to the United States Magistrate Judge’s ruling on his Motion for Sanctions against the defense attorneys in this case.1 See [Doc. 62]; [Doc. 47]. In that Motion, Plaintiff argued that the defense attorneys, “at the very least,” made “possible misrepresentations in pleadings filed in this Court.” [Doc. 47, p. 2]; see [Doc. 12-2, ¶¶ 15, 17]; [Doc. 17-2, p. 1].

1 Ordinarily, a plaintiff has 14 days (plus three if “service is made by mail under Rule 5(b)(2)(C)”) to object to a magistrate judge’s determination. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a); Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(d). Here, the Order to which Plaintiff is objecting was issued on May 15, 2024, so the deadline would have been June 3, 2024. See id.; [Doc. 59]; Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a) (explaining how to compute deadlines). Although Plaintiff’s Objection was filed with the Court on July 5, 2024, he signed and dated the Objection on the deadline— June 3, 2024. See [Doc. 65, p. 20]. “[A] pro se prisoner’s court filing is deemed filed on the date it is delivered to prison authorities for mailing.” Williams v. McNeil, 557 F.3d 1287, 1290 n. 2 (11th Cir. 2009). “Absent evidence to the contrary, [courts] assume that a prisoner delivered a filing to prison authorities on the date that he signed it.” Jeffries v. United States, 748 F.3d 1310, 1314 (11th Cir.2014). Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Objection is timely. To provide some background, Defendant used Dooly State Prison Grievance Coordinator Tracey Jackson’s Declaration in support of its Motion to Dismiss for failure

to exhaust administrative remedies. See [Doc. 12]; [Doc. 12-2]. The Declaration stated that Jackson had reviewed Plaintiff’s grievance history and that her review revealed that the grievance was “not categorized as an Emergency Grievance by the offender, nor was

[it] determined to be an Emergency Grievance by the Duty Officer.” [Doc. 12-2, ¶¶ 15, 17]. In Response, Plaintiff filed a paper copy of the grievance at issue, which showed— in apparent contrast to the statements in the Declaration—that, at the top of it, he had

hand-written “Emergency Grievance.” [Doc. 17-2, p. 1]. To be sure, Jackson’s Declaration never explicitly claimed that she reviewed the paper copy of Plaintiff’s grievance. See [Doc. 12-2, ¶¶ 15, 17]. Rather, she claimed that her review of his grievance history showed that the grievance was not considered an

emergency grievance by Plaintiff or by the duty officer. See [id.]. Moreover, along with her Declaration, Jackson attached an electronic copy that only included the body of the text of Plaintiff’s grievance, as well as an electronic list of the numerous grievances he

had filed at the various prisons at which he had been housed. See [id.]; [id. at pp. 25–28]. Without conducting an evidentiary hearing, the magistrate judge recommended that this Court grant Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, finding that that the disputed grievance was an original grievance, not an emergency grievance, and “question[ing]

the authenticity of the ‘emergency’ label on Plaintiff’s grievance.” [Doc. 18, pp. 6–7]; [Doc. 62, p. 2]. After this Court adopted the recommendation, Plaintiff appealed. [Doc. 25]; [Doc. 29]. The Eleventh Circuit ultimately vacated the Court’s order and remanded

the case for a hearing to determine whether Plaintiff had labeled the grievance as an emergency grievance. [Doc. 38, p. 17]. Subsequently, the original defense attorney, Michael Strickland, was terminated and replaced by counsel from the Attorney

General’s Office, Ryan Marks. See [Doc. 39]. Ahead of the hearing, the magistrate judge ordered Defendant to supplement her Motion to Dismiss with the hand-written version of Plaintiff’s grievance. [Doc. 42, p. 2].

She did so, and simultaneously withdrew her exhaustion defense. [Doc. 44, p. 1]; [Doc. 44-1]. At the hearing on November 14, 2023, Plaintiff moved for sanctions, arguing that “we are dealing with fraud and perjury.” [Doc. 47, p. 2]. Ultimately, however, the magistrate judge denied his request, finding that sanctions were not warranted under

Rule 11 because “[t]he circumstances of this case . . . are more indicative of negligence than bad faith or intentional deception.”2 [Doc. 62, p. 5]; see [Doc. 49]. And that brings us up to speed. Now before the Court is Plaintiff’s Objection to the magistrate judge’s

order. [Doc. 65].

2 At the hearing, Jackson admitted that her statement in her Declaration that the grievance “was not categorized as an Emergency Grievance by the offender” was not true, but she maintained that the Declaration made that statement because she reviewed the electronic version of the grievance only and did not review the physical copy until after she had new counsel representing her, after the Eleventh Circuit had remanded the case. See Hearing Audio at 10:20, Moore v. Smith, No. 5:21-cv-00032-TES-CHW (M.D. Ga. Nov. 14, 2023); see also [Doc. 39]. The magistrate judge determined that she “should have” asked prison officials to produce the paper copy but that her failure to do so was no more than negligence. [Doc. 65, p. 5]. Because the magistrate judge’s ruling did not dispose of a claim or defense of any party, it is a nondispositive order. See [Doc. 59]; Smith v. Sch. Bd. Orange Cnty., 487 F.3d

1361, 1365 (11th Cir. 2007) (per curiam). For a district court to modify or set aside a magistrate judge’s nondispositive ruling under Rule 72, the objecting party must establish that the magistrate judge’s order or any conclusion to which he objects or

seeks reconsideration of is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); see also Merritt v. Int’l Bhd. Boilermakers, 649 F.2d 1013, 1016–17 (5th Cir. June 1981);3 Williams v. Wright, No. CV 309-055, 2009 WL 4891825, at *1 (S.D.

Ga. Dec. 16, 2009) (“A district court reviewing a magistrate judge’s decision on a nondispositive issue ‘must consider . . . objections and modify or set aside any part of the order that is clearly erroneous or is contrary to law.’”) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a)). “Clear error is a highly deferential standard of review.” Holton v. City Thomasville

Sch. Dist., 425 F.3d 1325, 1350 (11th Cir. 2005). “[A] finding is ‘clearly erroneous’ when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Id.

(citations omitted); see also Weeks v. Samsung Heavy Indus. Co., 126 F.3d 926, 943 (7th Cir.

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