Pro Se Plaintiff seeking advise and direction in civil suit

[quincy]

MacDonald.T., you live in an area that provides a lot of free legal assistance if you make an effort to check this out. You may have a good claim, and tranquility and others have given you a good start and shown you nicely what you need to do, but it is really apparent that you need an attorney in your area to guide you.

And, latigo, can you provide those case cites? I see you responding to a bunch of other threads but ignoring this one for some reason. If, for some reason, you prefer not to make the case information available in this thread, I accept private messages. Thanks.

 

[tranquility]

MacDonald.T., you live in an area that provides a lot of free legal assistance if you make an effort to check this out. You may have a good claim, and tranquility and others have given you a good start and shown you nicely what you need to do, but it is really apparent that you need an attorney in your area to guide you.

And, latigo, can you provide those case cites? I see you responding to a bunch of other threads but ignoring this one for some reason. If, for some reason, you prefer not to make the case information available in this thread, I accept private messages. Thanks.

I agree completely. The complaint has many fatal flaws and I don't think the OP will be able to square the circle on his own. I also think he may have a cause of action. May have. It would take a good pleading for there to be any actual discussion on if the jail(ors) violated his constitutional rights. More facts would need to be added over the focus on the jail not fixing his lock after repeated requests. There is so much time trying to prove up those facts that the clear and plain statement required for a valid pleading is missing other facts that are needed for basic elements of the constitutional violations.

 

[Anyone2012]

I wanted to thank everyone, I thought I had more of a case than apparently what I did. I have been unable to find a lawyer to accept it, so I guess its not really worth it. I did contact the ACLU and await their response.

 

[Anyone2012]

Defenses Motion to Dismiss hearing today, and I prevailed!

 

[Willlyjo]

Other threads reported, if anyone has any advice, use this thread. I agree that there is no chance in hell of getting past summary judgement without a lawyer, and being ordered to pay the department's legal fees is a possibility.

Ummm...the latest update shows the OP did just that by prevailing in his opposition to Defendant's Motion to Strike, which means there is no way the Defendants would prevail in a Summary Judgment.

 

[ecmst12]

That just means he gets to get destroyed at trial instead. Sounds like fun!

 

[quincy]

Timothy, did you ever locate some legal help through the ACLU?

The latest update on your case is good news.

 

[Anyone2012]

Timothy, did you ever locate some legal help through the ACLU?

The latest update on your case is good news.

Quincy,

I had sent the ACLU my complaint awhile back(before posting here) and never heard from them. I did contact them again and got a copy of my complaint on someone else's desk last month, and I have yet to hear back from them as well.

I had to take a step back and prepare for the hearing on the defendants motion to dismiss, that was today. I prevailed!! WooHoo. lol. The magistrate allowed the motion as to the defendants official capacities, but not individual capacities.

 

[Willlyjo]

That just means he gets to get destroyed at trial instead. Sounds like fun!

Based on what others have said, I'd have to agree with you. However, even getting to trial with such a complicated case is admirable.

 

[quincy]

Quincy,

I had sent the ACLU my complaint awhile back(before posting here) and never heard from them. I did contact them again and got a copy of my complaint on someone else's desk last month, and I have yet to hear back from them as well.

I had to take a step back and prepare for the hearing on the defendants motion to dismiss, that was today. I prevailed!! WooHoo. lol. The magistrate allowed the motion as to the defendants official capacities, but not individual capacities.

The ACLU gets a lot of cases to review so it does take time. Perhaps you will hear back from them soon.

Again, I am glad to hear that your case is going forward.

Good luck.

 

[justalayman]

I didn't catch the basis for the motion for summary judgment. There are several possibilities so depending on what they were seeking a dismissal for, success at this point may not really mean much.
Then again, it could be a good sign.

Even with a win now, the hard part is yet to come.

 

[tranquility]

While I agree with Justalayman in general, ANY success on the motions shows the OP has something. A win? There is a long way from there. But, something.

 

[justalayman]

While I agree with Justalayman in general, ANY success on the motions shows the OP has something. A win? There is a long way from there. But, something.

If it was something as simple as proper defendant, lack of immunity, or anything similar, it gives nothing to the actual value of the case. It just means OP can sue whomever he has listed and the court sees them as an appropriate defendant.

Of course it could be much more telling if it dealt with the actual basis of the action.

I'm not trying to dampen the OP's spirit here though. Just making an observation.

Hopefully he will continue to post his results. It is interesting.

 

[Willlyjo]

If it was something as simple as proper defendant, lack of immunity, or anything similar, it gives nothing to the actual value of the case. It just means OP can sue whomever he has listed and the court sees them as an appropriate defendant.

Of course it could be much more telling if it dealt with the actual basis of the action.

I'm not trying to dampen the OP's spirit here though. Just making an observation.

Hopefully he will continue to post his results. It is interesting.

It DOES deal with the actual basis of the action!

Some of the OP's Defendants were stricken because they were agents working under the umbrella and on behalf of a larger Defendant, who remains as a Defendant in his case. After reading the Complaint, it definitely seems like the OP has a good case, but I agree with Tranquility in that he should amend to show Intentional and/or Gross Negligence, in case his claim based on proof that he notified the authorities about the faulty cell door prior to his assault, should fail.

Also, from what I saw in the Complaint, there should be Punitive Damages pled or properly defined. Such amendment making a more definitive distinction between Punitive Damages and Compensatory Damages might prevent any misinterpretations by the Court concerning any motions filed subsequently.

If the OP can 'prove up' his allegations and withstand a possible motion for Summary Judgment against him, all that would remain is basically following the rules of court in regard to submissions of evidence, timely responding to motions and filing trial briefs and witness disclosures.

If he follows the rules of court, he may have a reasonably good chance of prevailing at a trial providing his powers of articulation and organization are within reason. Having said this, it could be very possible that there may exist elements of surprise that nobody is aware of, since we haven't the experience and knowledge (other than what we attain via research) of actually litigating from Complaint through trial. It would be very interesting to keep abreast of Mr. MacDonald's case however far it may go from here.

 

[justalayman]

It DOES deal with the actual basis of the action!
.

have you read the motion for summary judgment put forth by the defendant or was it defendants? I haven't so I am not aware of what the motion claimed. Apparently you have privilege others do not.

Ah, my mistake.

motion to dismiss, which is even less telling. Most defendants are going to file a motion to dismiss on , well, it's the kitchen sink strategy. You throw everything at it hoping something will stick.

Not unusual for such a motion and not unusual for it to be denied.