Ryan Monahan v. Ryan Summers, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 19, 2026
Docket2:24-cv-11310
StatusUnknown

This text of Ryan Monahan v. Ryan Summers, et al. (Ryan Monahan v. Ryan Summers, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan Monahan v. Ryan Summers, et al., (E.D. Mich. 2026).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

RYAN MONAHAN,

Plaintiff, Case No. 24-cv-11310

v. HON. MARK A. GOLDSMITH

RYAN SUMMERS, et al.,

Defendants. __________________________/

OPINION & ORDER DENYING IN PART AND GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Dkt. 37) Before the Court is Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. See Mot. (Dkt. 37).1 Plaintiff Ryan Monahan brought this action against Defendants alleging excessive force and failure to intervene in violation of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Second Am. Compl. (Dkt. 46). Defendants bring this motion for summary judgment as to all the counts against them.2 For the reasons that follow, the Court denies the motion in part as to Counts I and II and grants the motion in part as to Count III. I. BACKGROUND

1 The Defendants are Ryan Summers, Jordan Geyer, Richard Rackley, Kevin Bilbia, Nicholas Cherry, Brian Kress, Michael Bramlett, and Joshua Raczka. Second Am. Compl. (Dkt. 46). All Defendants were at all relevant times deputies at the Oakland County Jail. Id. ¶¶ 6–13.

2 Because oral argument will not aid the Court’s decisional process, the motion will be decided based on the parties’ briefing. See E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(f)(2); Fed. R. Civ. P. 78(b). In addition to the motion, the briefing also includes Monahan’s response (incorrectly titled “reply”) (Dkt. 41); Defendants’ reply (Dkt. 43); Defendants’ supplemental brief (Dkt. 47); and Monahan’s supplemental brief (Dkt. 49). Defendants’ motion and Monahan’s response include exhibit clips from the jail’s security footage. See 9/18/25 Text-Only Notice; 9/19/25 Text-Only Notice. The Court refers to two of these clips in this opinion as the “Uncuff Video” and “Booking Detox R6 Video.” These clips can be accessed via the Clerk’s Office. The following facts are not in dispute. On September 19, 2022, Monahan was arrested after being stopped for a traffic violation when law enforcement discovered he had multiple outstanding warrants. Booking Card and Arrest Slip at PageID.376 (Dkt. 37-9); Monahan Dep. at PageID.813 (Dkt. 41-3). After being arraigned on video, he was taken to the Oakland County Jail. Booking Card and Arrest Slip at PageID.378. Upon arriving at the jail, he was placed into a

holding cell, which the parties refer to as the “uncuff” area. See Uncuff Video. The parties’ accounts diverge as to what happened next and video captures some, but not all, of the events. Defendants contend that while in the uncuff area, Monahan began making “nonstop,” “disruptive,” and “disrespectful” comments towards staff. Statement of Material Facts (SOMF) ¶ 3 (Dkt. 37); Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.294–297 (Dkt. 37-2); Summers Dep. at PageID.307–308 (Dkt. 37-3); Geyer Dep. at PageID.349 (Dkt. 37-4). Defendants state that Monahan was told to stop yelling and making disrespectful comments, but he continued to do so. Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.294–295. Because he was being disruptive, Defendants decided to relocate Monahan to maintain “order and safety” in the jail. SOMF ¶7; Rackley Dep. at

PageID.491 (Dkt. 37-16); Geyer Dep. at PageID.348, 350; Summers Dep. at PageID.304–305. When Defendants approached the uncuff area to retrieve Monahan, Geyer told Monahan, who had his arms tucked inside his shirt, to put his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and exit the cell, at least twice. Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.295–296; Geyer Dep. at PageID.340. Monahan did not comply with these commands. Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.295–296. Because he did not comply, Rackley grabbed Monahan from inside the uncuff cell. Id. at PageID.296. They walked with Monahan in a “transport” position—Monahan was bent over at the waist and had deputies on all sides of him—to a new cell that the parties call “R6.” Monahan Dep. at PageID.825–826 (Dkt. 41-3); Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.295–296. Rackley held Monahan’s left arm, Summers held Monahan’s right arm, and Geyer had Monahan’s head. Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.295; Summers Dep. at PageID.313; Rackley Dep. at PageID.478. They were accompanied by Cherry, Bramlett, Raczka, and Bilbia. Bramlett Dep. at PageID.401 (Dkt. 37-12); Cherry Dep. at PageID.443 (Dkt. 37-14); Kress Dep. at PageID.455–457 (Dkt. 37- 15); Raczka Dep. at PageID.553 (Dkt. 37-18).

According to Defendants, when Rackley grabbed Monahan from the uncuff cell, he immediately began resisting. Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.295–297. They reported that Monahan attempted to “rip” his arms free from their grips, buckle his legs, and step on deputies’ feet. Id.; Summers Dep. at PageID.312–313; Rackley Dep. at PageID.487–488. As they were about to enter R6, Geyer stated that Monahan bit him on the finger. Geyer Dep. at PageID.352. Summers and Rackley heard Geyer say, “don’t bite me.” Summers Dep. at PageID.306; Rackley Dep. at PageID.479. In response to Monahan’s bite, Geyer hit Monahan in the face one time with a “closed-fist strike.” Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.296; Summers Dep. at PageID.324, 328– 329.

Because Monahan had been arraigned on a misdemeanor, he needed to change into a jail uniform. Strip Search Policy § 1.3 at PageID.392 (Dkt. 37-11); Summers Dep. at PageID.316; Geyer Dep. at PageID.355; Bramlett Dep. at PageID.405–406; Kress Dep. at PageID.459; Rackley Dep. at PageID.490. Usually, a prisoner can change himself but because Monahan was resisting, the Defendants decided that they would remove his clothing for him, which is allowed by policy. Summers Dep. at PageID.317; Geyer Dep. at PageID.356; Strip Search Policy § 2.7(c) at PageID.394. Once they reached R6, Monahan was ordered to lay down in a prone position. Prisoner Incident Rpt. at PageID.297. He did not comply so Geyer, Rackley, and Summers lowered him to the ground into a prone position. Id. at PageID.296–297. Bilbia secured Monahan’s legs so that Monahan did not hurt himself, Bilbia, or anyone else in the room. Bilbia Dep. at PageID.420. Defendants stated that while on the ground, Monahan continued resisting. Summers Dep. at PageID.315; Geyer Dep. at PageID.360. Geyer stated that Monahan kept “attempting to lift his head up” and “go back and forth” with it. Geyer Dep. at PageID.345, 360. Geyer stated that in

his experience, movements like this indicate the individual is going to spit. Id. at PageID.345. Geyer testified that he did not push Monahan’s head into the floor but that he was trying to “keep it from coming up.” Id. at PageID.346, 360. Defendants state that the floor of R6 has a rough texture and because of Monahan’s resistance, he scraped his face on the floor. SOMF ¶ 20, 24; Summers Dep. at PageID.330. Besides Geyer’s one “closed-fist strike,” no other Defendant hit or kicked Monahan. Summers Dep. at PageID.323–324; Bramlett Dep. at PageID.409; Bilbia Dep. at PageID.424–425; Rackley Dep. at PageID.483. Monahan has a different version of events. Monahan states that he only made one disrespectful comment, stating “hey, tubby, what’s the holdup?” Monahan Dep. at PageID.822–

823. He contends that when Defendants came to take him out of the uncuff cell, they only stated, “hey gray shirt” and that he was not commanded to get up and walk towards them before he was taken out of the cell. Id. at PageID.823–824. Monahan also states that he did not resist officers at all and that he was not hit during the walk to R6. Id. at PageID.823, 827, 829, 837–838. He contends that he did not bite Geyer, explaining that he could not have bitten him because he has no teeth. Id. at PageID.800, 816–817.

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