Ryan Scott Smith v. Sgt. David Weaver, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of New York partially granted and partially denied defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion in a prisoner civil rights action arising from an alleged use of excessive force. The court dismissed the state-law assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress claims as barred by an untimely notice of claim, but allowed the federal excessive-force and failure-to-intervene claims to proceed and rejected dismissal based on non-exhaustion and qualified immunity.

Holdings

1. Smith's state-law assault, battery, and infliction-of-emotional-distress claims were dismissed because he did not plead compliance with New York's notice-of-claim requirements and the submitted notice of claim was filed after the ninety-day deadline.
2. The court denied dismissal based on failure to exhaust because nonexhaustion was not clear from the face of the amended complaint.
3. Smith plausibly stated excessive-force claims against the officers alleged to have pepper-sprayed, restrained, punched, and otherwise used force against him while he was on the ground and not resisting.
4. Smith could pursue failure-to-intervene claims in the alternative against defendants who were also accused of using excessive force.
5. The court denied qualified immunity because the defense could not be established solely from the face of the complaint.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Smith's New York-law assault, battery, and infliction-of-emotional-distress claims were barred by his failure to comply with New York's notice-of-claim requirements.
2. Whether failure to exhaust administrative remedies was clear from the face of the amended complaint and warranted dismissal under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
3. Whether Smith plausibly alleged Fourteenth Amendment excessive-force claims against the officers.
4. Whether Smith could plead failure-to-intervene claims in the alternative against officers also alleged to have used excessive force.
5. Whether qualified immunity could be resolved on the face of the complaint at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage.

Disposition

other