Smith v. State of Indiana

904 F. Supp. 877, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 117, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17321
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedOctober 27, 1995
Docket3:95 cv 607 AS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 904 F. Supp. 877 (Smith v. State of Indiana) 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
Smith v. State of Indiana, 904 F. Supp. 877, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 117, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17321 (N.D. Ind. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

On October 4, 1995, the defendant, Ruben Calisto, M.D., filed a Motion to Dismiss the plaintiffs complaint as to that defendant for failure to comply with the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act. In its Order dated October 12, 1995, this court ruled that pursuant to Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.P., the filing of an affidavit in support of the Motion to Dismiss required that the defendant’s motion be treated as a Motion for Summary Judgment. The court has carefully considered the defendant’s memorandum and supporting affidavit, and now finds that the defendant’s motion must be denied.

BACKGROUND

On or about July 21,1993, plaintiff Russell Smith was awakened at his rural Cass County residence by members of the Cass County Sheriffs Department and the Logansport and Peru police departments. He was arrested and taken into custody clad in a T-shirt and a blanket to cover his lower extremities. Mr. Smith is a paraplegic who, according to his complaint, requires daily medication for back pain, a spastic bladder, stomach problems, leg circulation, anemia, muscle spasms in his legs, and other ailments. In addition, the plaintiff claims to need other medical supplies to enable him to maintain sterile conditions at the location of a catheter and for disability-related open skin wounds.

The plaintiff complains that following his apprehension, he was left unattended for approximately twelve hours in the Cass County Jail. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that “[f]rom the time of his apprehension and throughout the entire length of his incarceration,” the defendants in this action “continuously and intentionally deprived [him] of all assistance based upon his status as a paraplegic.” Complaint at 6. The complaint, as it relates to this defendant, alleges that Dr. Calisto, while acting under color of law in his capacity as jail physician at the Cass County Jail, failed to provide the plaintiff with the required medical care in violation of the

plaintiff’s rights under Title One of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. The defendant asserts that because the plaintiff failed to present his claim against Dr. Calisto to a medical review panel pursuant to the provisions of the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, see Ind. Code Ann. § 27-12-8-1 et seq., the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to address the plaintiffs allegations of medical malpractice. The plaintiff has filed no response to the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Russo v. Health, Welfare & Pension Fund, Local 705, 984 F.2d 762 (7th Cir.1993). A thorough discussion of Rule 56 by the Supreme Court of the United States can be found in a trilogy of eases decided in 1986. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Celotex addressed the initial burdens of the parties under Rule 56, and Anderson addressed the standards under which the record is to be analyzed within the structure of Rule 56.

The initial burden is on the moving party to demonstrate, “with or without supporting affidavits,” the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and that judgment as a matter of law should be granted in the moving party’s favor. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56). A question of material fact is a question which will be outcome determinative of an issue in the case. The Supreme Court has instructed that the facts material in a specific case shall be determined by the substantive law controlling the given ease or issue. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. Once the *879 moving party has met the initial burden, the opposing party must “go beyond the pleadings” and “designate ‘specific facts shows that there is a genuine [material] issue for trial.’” Id. The nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings. Waldridge v. American Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 920-21 (7th Cir.1994); Hughes v. Joliet Correctional Center, 931 F.2d 425, 428 (7th Cir.1991). Neither may the nonmoving party rely upon conelusory allegations in affidavits. Cusson-Cobb v. O’Lessker, 953 F.2d 1079, 1081 (7th Cir.1992).

During its analysis, this court must construe the facts and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Smith v. Fruin, 28 F.3d 646, 650 (7th Cir.1994), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 735, 130 L.Ed.2d 638 (1995); Brennan v. Daley, 929 F.2d 346, 348 (7th Cir.1991). Furthermore, it is required to analyze summary judgment motions under the standard of proof relevant to the case or issue. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252-55, 106 S.Ct. at 2512-14.

The 1986 Supreme Court trilogy was recently reexamined in Eastman Kodak v. Image Technical Services, 504 U.S. 451, 112 S.Ct. 2072, 119 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992), a case born in the context of antitrust law. The most that can be said for Kodak is that it did not tinker with Celótex and Anderson, and possibly involves an attempt to clarify Matsushita. This view is well-supported by an in-depth academic analysis in Schwarzer, Hirsch, and Barrans, The Analysis and Decision of Summary Judgment Motions, 139 F.R.D. 441 (1992).

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904 F. Supp. 877, 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 117, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-state-of-indiana-innd-1995.