West v. Lagree

District Court, N.D. New York·Decided July 26, 2024·No. 9:22-cv-00231·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ____________________________________________

ADAM WEST,

Plaintiff, vs. 9:22-CV-231 (MAD/CFH) CHRISTOPHER LAGREE and GEORGE MURPHY,

Defendants. ____________________________________________

APPEARANCES: OF COUNSEL:

ADAM WEST 14-A-5495 Cayuga Correctional Facility P.O. Box 1186 Moravia, New York 13118 Plaintiff, pro se

OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK NICHOLAS W. DORANDO, AAG STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL KONSTANDINOS D. LERIS, AAG The Capitol Albany, New York 12224 Attorneys for Defendants

Mae A. D'Agostino, U.S. District Judge:

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION On March 10, 2022, Plaintiff Adam West commenced this action, pro se, pursuant to 42 US.C. § 1983 for violations of his constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. See Dkt. No. 1. Plaintiff alleges that while incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility, Defendants Sergeant Christopher Lagree and Lieutenant George Murphy ("Defendants") improperly searched Plaintiff's cell, subjected him to X-rays, issued misbehavior reports, and subjected him to a disciplinary hearing and sanctions. See id. On March 10, 2024, Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel issued a Report-Recommendation and Order on Defendants' motion for summary judgment. See Dkt. Nos. 50, 62. Magistrate Judge Hummel recommended that Defendants' motion be denied as it related to Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment claim against Defendant Lagree concerning the X-ray searches. See Dkt. No. 62 at 35. Magistrate Judge Hummel recommended that Defendants' motion for summary judgment otherwise be granted. See id. Presently before the Court are Magistrate Judge Hummel's Report-Recommendation and

Order, Plaintiff's objections, Defendant Lagree's objections, and the parties' responses. See Dkt. Nos. 62, 63, 64, 65, 66. II. BACKGROUND For a complete recitation of the relevant factual background, the parties are referred to Magistrate Judge Hummel's Report-Recommendation and Order. See Dkt. No. 62 at 3-8. III. DISCUSSION A. Standard of Review When a party files specific objections to a magistrate judge's report-recommendation, the district court makes a "de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made." 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). However,

when a party files "[g]eneral or conclusory objections or objections which merely recite the same arguments [that he presented] to the magistrate judge," the court reviews those recommendations for clear error. O'Diah v. Mawhir, No. 9:08-CV-322, 2011 WL 933846, *1 (N.D.N.Y. Mar. 16, 2011) (citations and footnote omitted). After the appropriate review, "the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge." 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Plaintiff's objections state as follows: I disagree with the Ruling giving [sic] by (CFH). I was never "unsure" if Sg. Legree [sic] were involved in 8/4/21 search. He in fact gave the order to search me. From the start [I] stood by X-ray scanning my body without my consent [indiscernible] is.

Also Lt. Murphy idea to not fully record the tier 3 hearing arises to failure of due process. For this is the recorders sole purpose. I made it clear during my tier 3 Hearing of which tape [I] were [sic] requesting instead [I']m giving [sic] a video that he chose to produce on his own accord.

Dkt. No. 63 at 1. These objections are general or restate arguments fully considered by Magistrate Judge Hummel. Therefore, they will be reviewed for clear error. See Tavares v. Amato, 954 F. Supp. 2d 79, 84 (N.D.N.Y. 2013). Defendants object solely to the portion of Magistrate Judge Hummel's Report- Recommendation and Order that recommended the denial of summary judgment on Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment against Defendant Lagree. See Dkt. No. 64 at 3. Defendant Lagree's objections are specific enough that the Court will conduct a de novo review of the issues presented. B. Lagree's Presence During a Strip Search Magistrate Judge Hummel noted that Plaintiff was "unsure" about whether Defendant Lagree was present for the "strip search." Dkt. No. 62 at 20. Plaintiff objects, stating that he was never "unsure" about whether Defendant Lagree was present for the "8/4/21 search." Dkt. No. 63 at 1. Plaintiff then references an X-ray scan. See id. Plaintiff contends that in Defendant Lagree's "role as supervisor," he gave "the order for all searches ordered 8/4/21." Dkt. No. 66 at 3. Plaintiff notes that he emphasized his familiarity with Defendant Lagree in his complaint. See id. He asserts that he is "very sure Lagree ordered the cell search, the frisk, as well as the dryroom entry." Id. at 7. As cited by Magistrate Judge Hummel, in paragraph sixteen of Defendants' statement of material facts, they averred that "Defendant Lagree states that he was not present when C.O. Lehoisky strip frisked Plaintiff." Dkt. No. 50-1 at ¶ 16. In Plaintiff's handwritten response to Defendants' statement of material facts, he responded to each of Defendants' statements by paragraph number. See Dkt. No. 56 at 1-3. As for paragraph sixteen, Plaintiff wrote, "unsure."

Id. at ¶ 16. Magistrate Judge Hummel appropriately recognized what Plaintiff stated in his response to Defendants' motion for summary judgment. See Dkt. No. 62 at 20. Magistrate Judge Hummel also correctly concluded that although Plaintiff did identify Defendant Lagree in his complaint, he did not sufficiently rebut Defendant Lagree's contentions on summary judgment. See id. at 18-20. Insofar as Plaintiff states in his response to Defendant Lagree's objections that Defendant Lagree was a supervisor, an individual's role as a supervisor is insufficient to establish personal involvement. See Dkt. No. 66 at 3; see also Richardson v. Goord, 347 F.3d 431, 435 (2d Cir. 2003) ("'[S]upervisor liability in a § 1983 action depends on a showing of some personal responsibility, and cannot rest on respondeat superior'") (quotation omitted).

Alternatively, Magistrate Judge Hummel concluded that summary judgment was warranted on Plaintiff's strip-search claim because "there is no indication that this search was done in a humiliating manner, or otherwise conducted in an unreasonable manner unrelated to a legitimate penological concern." Dkt. No. 62 at 19. Plaintiff does not challenge this conclusion. See Dkt. Nos. 63, 65, 66. The Court agrees that Plaintiff "has not offered evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that []he was strip searched for the purpose of intimidation, harassment, or punishment." LaFever v. Clarke, 525 F. Supp. 3d 305, 338 (N.D.N.Y. 2021). Based on the foregoing, the Court finds no clear error in this portion of Magistrate Judge Hummel's Report-Recommendation and Order. Dkt. No. 62 at 20. C. Recording of Plaintiff's Disciplinary Hearing In reviewing Plaintiff's Fourteenth Amendment claim against Defendant Murphy, Magistrate Judge Hummel explained that "a failure 'to completely record the full tier hearing in its entirety' would 'not deprive [p]laintiff of any minimum requirements of due process.'" Dkt. No.

62 at 32 (quotation omitted). He thus concluded that Plaintiff did not demonstrate that he was denied sufficient process. See id. at 33.

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