Williams v. Shields
Opinion of the Court
ORDER AND JUDGMENT
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
Plaintiff seeks review of the district court’s dismissal of his complaint for damages brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and 1988, several amendments to the United States Constitution, portions of the Oklahoma Constitution, and Oklahoma state law. In essence he alleged that his rights were violated by his wrongful arrest and imprisonment between July 3 and July 11, 2000. The district court, by separate minute orders, granted the county’s motion for summary judgment and the city defendants’ motion to dismiss. These motions were based on statute of limitations grounds, in part for failure to bring the federal claims within two years of the alleged constitutional violations and in part for failure to comply with the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act with regard to the state law claims. We have jurisdiction, and we reverse and remand the matter for further proceedings.
We review both the dismissal and the grant of summary judgment de novo. Ledbetter v. City of Topeka, 318 F.3d 1183, 1187 (10th Cir. 2003). “A complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Id. (quotation omitted). Summary judgment, on the other hand, “is warranted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. (quotation omitted).
The underlying facts are not in dispute at this juncture. Plaintiff was arrested on July 3, 2000 by officers of the City of Muskogee, who then transported him to the city jail believing there were outstanding felony and/or misdemeanor warrants pending against him. On July 4, 2000, he was transferred to the county jail and was subsequently arraigned. On July 10 he was ordered released as a “misidentified defendant.” Aplee. Supp.App. at 43-44. It further appears that the outstanding warrants named not plaintiff, but his brother. Plaintiff contended that throughout his brief incarceration he attempted to tell various defendants they had arrested the wrong person, but that he was ignored. He further averred that he was released from custody on July 11, 2000.
In his complaint plaintiff alleged that he was in fact released on July 11, 2000. Defendants countered in their dispositive motions with the county court judge’s order of release dated July 10, 2000, and with a computer-generated “Inmate Book-In Sheet” reflecting plaintiff’s release on July 10, 2000, at 5:45 p.m. Aplee. Supp. App. at 12, 43-44. In response, plaintiff submitted his affidavit attesting that notwithstanding the judge’s July 10 release order, “the people in charge of the Muskogee County Jail continued to hold me until July 11,2000.” Aplt.App. at 26.
Defendants have labeled plaintiff’s affidavit as eonelusory and self-serving and therefore insufficient to support the denial of the motions to dismiss and for summary judgment. Aplee. Br. at 9-10. The district court’s minute orders granting defendants’ motions provide no insight as to whether the court agreed with this argument or, indeed, even considered plaintiffs affidavit. Although because made by a party to the action the affidavit might logically be called self-serving, it is nonetheless factually specific in nature. The documents submitted by defendants establish only that plaintiff was ordered released on July 10 and that the computer-generated county jail records indicate his release on that date.
As long as an affidavit is “based upon personal knowledge and set[s] forth facts that would be admissible in evidence,” Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1111 (10th Cir. 1991), such averment of a party is legally competent to oppose summary judgment, notwithstanding its inherently self-serving nature. Certainly the exact date of his release from the county jail is a specific fact within plaintiffs personal knowledge. We cannot, therefore, agree at this stage that plaintiffs affidavit was “merely eonelusory.” See Murray v. City of Sapulpa, 45 F.3d 1417, 1422 (10th Cir. 1995). For similar reasons we cannot hold that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim for relief therefore entitling the city defendants to a Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal.
Accordingly, the district court’s orders on defendants’ motions for dismissal and summary judgment are REVERSED and the cause is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this order and judgment.
Eleventh Circuit
DECISIONS WITHOUT PUBLISHED OPINIONS
The following cases have been decided without formal opinion prepared for publication in the permanent law reports:
Docket Date of Title Number Decision Disposition Appeal from and Citation (if reported)
U.S. v. Gerardo Benitez-Cortez...................... 01-13763 07/16/2003 Affirmed M.D.Fla.
U.S. v. Segundo Quinones ... 01-14142 07/17/2003 Affirmed M.D.Fla.
Danny M. Bennett v. Dennis Lee Hendrix............. 02-11031 07/25/2003 Reversed in part, N.D.Ga. Vacated in part
U.S. v. Gregory Eugene Gardner, Sr.............. 02-11802 07/14/2003 Affirmed N.D.Fla.
Title Docket Number Date of Decision Appeal from and Citation Disposition (if reported)
Barbara Brewton v. GA Dept. of Pub. Safety... 02-14782 07/17/2003 Affirmed in part, S.D.Ga. Reversed in part
Docket Date of Title Number Decision Disposition Appeal from and Citation (if reported)
Mary Reese v. Miami-Dade County.................. 02-16855 07/14/2003 Affirmed S.D.Fla., 242 F.Supp.2d 1292
Eleventh Circuit
DECISIONS WITHOUT PUBLISHED OPINIONS
The following cases have been decided without formal opinion prepared for publication in the permanent law reports:
Title Docket Number Date of Decision Disposition Appeal from and Citation (if reported)
U.S. v. David A. Cawthon ... 02-12360 08/06/2003 Affirmed in part, Reversed in part M.D.Ga.
Martin Gray v. ODS Technologies .................... 02-12813 08/08/2003 Reversed in part, S.D.Fla. Vacated in part
Elwood I. Kaplan v. Daimlerchrysler A.G.............. 02-13223 08/01/2003 Affirmed M.D.Fla.
Title Docket Number Date of Decision Disposition Appeal from and Citation (if reported)
Docket Title Number Appeal from and Citation (if reported) Date of Decision Disposition
Eleventh Circuit
DENIALS OF REHEARING EN BANC
(Rule 35 Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure; Local Eleventh Circuit Rule 35)
Group 1—Denials where no member of the panel nor Judge in regular active service on the Court requested that the Court be polled on rehearing en banc.
Group 2—Denials after a poll requested by a member of the panel or a Circuit Judge in regular active service.
Group 3—Denials on the Court’s own motion after a poll requested by a member of the panel or a Circuit Judge in regular active service.
Tide Docket Number Date of Citation of Denial Panel Decision
Group 1
Best v. Georgia-Pacific Corporation.... 02-13715 07/25/2003 S.D.Ga., 66 Fed.Appx. 845
Bogle v. McClure..................... 02-13213 07/25/2003 N.D.Ga., 332 F.3d 1347
Buchanan v. America Online, Inc...... 02-12838 07/18/2003 M.D.Fla., 67 Fed.Appx. 587
Judy v. Walker....................... 02-14042 07/25/2003 N.D.Ga., 69 Fed.Appx. 989
Lamb v. Hall......................... 02-12732 07/23/2003 S.D.Ga., 69 Fed.Appx. 989
McConnell v. Alabama Federal Savings and Loan Association............... 00-11920,01-15924, 01-16253 07/28/2003 N.D.Ala., 66 Fed.Appx. 844
U.S. v. Davis......................... 02-16075 07/25/2003 N.D.Ala., 71 Fed.Appx. 823
U.S.v. Knight........................ 02-12182 07/22/2003 M.D.Fla., 66 Fed.Appx. 844
Waddell v. Hendry County Sheriff’s Office................................ 00-11000, 01-16032 07/31/2003 M.D.Fla., 329 F.3d 1300
Eleventh Circuit
DENIALS OF REHEARING EN BANC
(Rule 35 Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure; Local Eleventh Circuit Rule 35)
Group 1—Denials where no member of the panel nor Judge in regular active service on the Court requested that the Court be polled on rehearing en banc.
Group 2—Denials after a poll requested by a member of the panel or a Circuit Judge in regular active service.
Group 3—Denials on the Court’s own motion after a poll requested by a member of the panel or a Circuit Judge in regular active service.
Title Docket Date of Citation of Number Denial Panel Decision
Group 1
King v. Richmond County, Georgia .... 02-14146-DD 08/06/2003 S.D.Ga., 331 F.3d 1271
U.S. v. Simmons ..................... 03-10298-11 08/06/2003 S.D.Fla.,—Fed.Appx.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
. Although the district court did not enter a separate judgment dismissing this action, because "no question exists as to the finality of the district court’s decision, the absence of a Rule 58 judgment will not prevent appellate review.” Burlington N. R.R. v. Huddleston, 94 F.3d 1413, 1416 n. 3 (10th Cir. 1996). To the extent defendants appear to challenge the timeliness of the appeal, plaintiff’s notice of appeal was filed within the time requirements of Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(1)(A), and is therefore timely.
. We are not unmindful of the city defendants’ arguments that their only apparent connection with plaintiff occurred incident to his arrest on July 3 and did not carry forward until his subsequent release on July 10 or 11. On remand, these defendants are free to reargue their position on the cut-off date for their liability.
Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 11thCir.R. 34-3.
Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 11th Cir.R. 34-3.
Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 11th Cir.R. 34-3.
Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 11th Cir.R. 34-3.
Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 11th Cir.R. 34-3.
Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 11th Cir.R. 34-3.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Anthony T. WILLIAMS v. Scott SHIELDS, in his individual and official capacities REx Eskridge, in his individual capacity and his official capacity as Chief of Police, Muskogee Police Department The City of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and David Anderson, in his individual and official capacities Walter Beckman, City Manager of Muskogee Municipal Corporation in the State of Oklahoma John Does, various agents, employees, supervisors, and/or policy makers of the County of Muskogee Muskogee County, Oklahoma, a subordinate political entity of the State of Oklahoma
- Cited By
- 33 cases
- Status
- Published