Damon Lamard Pace v. Dilon Byrd, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina granted Defendant Dilon Byrd’s motion for summary judgment in a pro se 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action arising from an incident at the Polk County Detention Center. The court held that the plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies and, alternatively, that the undisputed evidence did not establish excessive force or deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. The action was dismissed with prejudice, and the court also concluded that Byrd was entitled to qualified immunity.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies before filing suit, because he submitted no grievance addressing the February 18, 2023 incident in compliance with the detention center's grievance procedure.
2. The undisputed evidence did not establish a genuine dispute of material fact that Byrd used objectively unreasonable force; the force used to retrieve the towel, restrain plaintiff, respond to his grabbing of Byrd's duty belt, and deploy pepper spray was objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
3. Plaintiff failed to present evidence that he had a serious medical need, that Byrd knew or should have known of such a need and disregarded it, or that plaintiff was harmed; summary judgment was therefore proper on the deliberate-indifference claim.
4. Byrd was entitled to qualified immunity because plaintiff failed to establish a constitutional violation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies before bringing his § 1983 claims.
2. Whether the undisputed evidence established that defendant did not use objectively unreasonable force against plaintiff, a pretrial detainee.
3. Whether the undisputed evidence established deliberate indifference to a serious medical need under the Fourteenth Amendment.
4. Whether defendant was entitled to qualified immunity.

Disposition

dismissed