Filed Date: Feb. 2, 2015
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
On November 14, 2014, a man who had been left in jail for twenty-three days after his court-ordered release date filed this lawsuit in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiff sued the District of Columbia, the D.C. Department of Corrections, and several employees of the D.C. Department of Corrections under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and common law. The plaintiff’s release was ordered on March 18, 2014, but he was not released until April 10, 2014. He alleged that his over-detention was illegal false imprisonment, constituted negligence on the part of the defendants, and violated his due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Represented by private counsel, the plaintiff sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. On February 2, 2015, the defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The case was assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
On February 9, 2015, the Department of Corrections filed a motion to dismiss because, as an agency within the D.C. government, it could not be a party to any lawsuit. On February 27, the parties filed a stipulation that dismissed the Department of Correction from the case.
On August 14, 2015, the warden of the D.C. Jail filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, arguing that the official-capacity claims against defendant Smith are duplicative of his claims against the District of Columbia and that the complaint did not allege any viable individual-capacity claims against him. On December 15, the court granted this motion, and the warden was dismissed as a defendant. 149 F.Supp.3d 128.
On February 1, 2016, the case was referred to Magistrate Judge Alan Kay for mediation. Initial attempts at mediation were unsuccessful.
On April 21, 2016, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint, adding two individual defendants and an additional claim against the District of Columbia. Then, on May 11, the plaintiff moved for discovery costs and fees, alleging that the defendants had claimed that certain documents did not exist and then failed to provide the plaintiff with them once the plaintiff found out that they did exist. The case was randomly reassigned to Magistrate Judge Robinson to decide on this motion. On December 6, Magistrate Judge Robinson granted the motion in part and denied it in part: the District of Columbia was precluded from using those documents, and the plaintiff was granted $18,428.30 in fees and costs. 319 F.R.D. 40. (Judge Jackson would later reduce this amount down to $15,579.90. 249 F.Supp.3d 106.)
In December 2016 and January 2017, both sides sought summary judgment; after the parties alleged different versions of the facts, the court denied both motions as moot on February 21, 2017.
On March 31, 2017, the defendants filed another motion for partial summary judgment, as did the plaintiff two weeks later. Nearly a year later, on March 30, 2018, the court granted both of these motions in part and denied them both in part. The constitutional claims and the false imprisonment claims against the two individual defendants were dismissed, leaving only the negligence claim at issue for those defendants. The false imprisonment and negligence claims against the District of Columbia were decided in favor of the plaintiff, as was part of the due process claim. For all other claims against the District of Columbia, the plaintiff was denied summary judgment. The District of Columbia was granted summary judgment as to the plaintiff's negligent supervision and training claim and part of the plaintiff's due process claim. 2018 WL 1568878.
On April 20, 2018, the court referred this case, with consent of the parties, to Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey for mediation. In July of 2018 the parties agreed to pretrial conference and trial that was to occur in late October of that year. However, for reasons unknown to the Clearinghouse, both the conference and the trial were delayed until February of 2019. After the trial the court asked for proposed findings of fact from both sides. The case is still ongoing.
Summary Authors
Rebecca Strauss (6/22/2018)
Jack Hibbard (6/2/2020)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4213389/parties/smith-v-district-of-columbia/
Akulian, David (District of Columbia)
1-10, JOHN DOES (District of Columbia)
Adams, Eugene A. (District of Columbia)
Adams, Corliss Vaughn (District of Columbia)
Addo, Michael K (District of Columbia)
Jackson, Amy Berman (District of Columbia)
Robinson, Deborah A. (District of Columbia)
1-10, JOHN DOES (District of Columbia)
Adams, Eugene A. (District of Columbia)
Adams, Corliss Vaughn (District of Columbia)
Addo, Michael K (District of Columbia)
Amato, Maria-Claudia Theresa (District of Columbia)
Anderson, Steven J. (District of Columbia)
Armstrong, Joel Demetrius (District of Columbia)
ARTHUR, ELIZABETH G. (District of Columbia)
AVERSA, ROBYN LYNN (District of Columbia)
Baker, Melissa Lael (District of Columbia)
Baker, Denise J. (District of Columbia)
Barksdale, Charles Beverly (District of Columbia)
Bender, Robyn Renee (District of Columbia)
Beydoun, Ali Abed (District of Columbia)
Beyer, Wayne C. (District of Columbia)
BISCEGLIE, KYLE C. (District of Columbia)
Blecher, Matthew Robert (District of Columbia)
Block, Alan S. (District of Columbia)
Bojanowski, Timothy J. (District of Columbia)
Bolden, Melvin W. (District of Columbia)
Bravo, Mariana del (District of Columbia)
Bruckheim, Michael P. (District of Columbia)
Bryant, Asha Shawnique (District of Columbia)
Burstein, Caliandra (District of Columbia)
Buscemi, Peter (District of Columbia)
Bush, Nicholas Alan (District of Columbia)
Cameron, Donald Stuart (District of Columbia)
Caspari, Matthew W. (District of Columbia)
Causey, William Frederick (District of Columbia)
Chambers, Darrell (District of Columbia)
Chang, William (District of Columbia)
Chhe, Soriya R. (District of Columbia)
Coates, Nicholas (District of Columbia)
Conner, Michelle E. (District of Columbia)
COOLEY, GWENDOLYN J. (District of Columbia)
Copeland, Chad Wayne (District of Columbia)
Coppock, Akua Damali (District of Columbia)
Corcoran, Stephanie Marie (District of Columbia)
Coughlin, Charles Joseph (District of Columbia)
Cullen, Alicia Marie (District of Columbia)
Cumming, Gregory Martin (District of Columbia)
Dansby, Joshua Wade (District of Columbia)
Davy, Michelle Hamilton (District of Columbia)
DeBerardinis, Robert A. Jr. (District of Columbia)
DELLICATO, WILLIAM M. (District of Columbia)
DeMarco, Juliane T. (District of Columbia)
Dickerson, Rahsaan J (District of Columbia)
Donkor, Patricia B. (District of Columbia)
Drummey, Jane (District of Columbia)
Eberle, Andrew Carl (District of Columbia)
Efros, Ellen A. (District of Columbia)
ESMERADO, DENISE ERRICO (District of Columbia)
Featherstone, Kerslyn D. (District of Columbia)
Feldon, Gary Daniel (District of Columbia)
Ferster, Andrea C. (District of Columbia)
Fischer, Michael John (District of Columbia)
Fisher, David (District of Columbia)
Frost, Shana Lyn (District of Columbia)
Gainey, Shameka L. (District of Columbia)
Gallagher, Judith C. (District of Columbia)
GANNON, CHRISTIAN H. (District of Columbia)
Gasper, George A. (District of Columbia)
Gemmill, Helen L. (District of Columbia)
George, Laura (District of Columbia)
Gere, Elizabeth Sarah (District of Columbia)
Gill, Ronald William (District of Columbia)
Glover, Eric Sebastian (District of Columbia)
Gonzalez, Joseph Alfonso (District of Columbia)
Graham, Grace (District of Columbia)
Guest, Nathan Andrew (District of Columbia)
Hardy, Tasha Monique (District of Columbia)
HARRISON, ERIC L. (District of Columbia)
Henneberry, Edward Paul (District of Columbia)
Hersh, Michelle Guyette (District of Columbia)
Hill, Dana E. (District of Columbia)
HOFFMAN, DAVID M. (District of Columbia)
Holsman, Jennifer L. (District of Columbia)
HORN, ELLEN M. (District of Columbia)
Hutton, Caroline B. (District of Columbia)
Hyden, David A. (District of Columbia)
Jackson, Catherine Anne (District of Columbia)
Jackson, David A. (District of Columbia)
Jackson, Toni Michelle (District of Columbia)
Jara, Ana Lorraine (District of Columbia)
Jefferson, Dwayne C. (District of Columbia)
JENKINS, DOUGLAS K. (District of Columbia)
Johnson, Holly Michelle (District of Columbia)
Johnson, Wyneva (District of Columbia)
Jones, Shermineh C. (District of Columbia)
Jones, Patricia Ann (District of Columbia)
Kantor, Jayme (District of Columbia)
Kaplan, Samuel C. (District of Columbia)
Karpinski, Alex (District of Columbia)
Katzenbarger, Kimberly (District of Columbia)
Kempson, Judson Norris (District of Columbia)
Kennedy, Scott Patrick (District of Columbia)
Kent, Anna Josephine (District of Columbia)
Kerr, David M. (District of Columbia)
Kim, Brian Gook-hyun (District of Columbia)
Knapp, Sarah L. (District of Columbia)
Koger, Thomas Louis (District of Columbia)
Lanzdorf, Michael J. (District of Columbia)
Latterell, Richard Allan (District of Columbia)
Lattimore, Phillip A. (District of Columbia)
Lee, Julie Steptoe (District of Columbia)
Leininger, Peter J. (District of Columbia)
Lerner, Jacques P. (District of Columbia)
Levinson-Waldman, Ariel B. (District of Columbia)
Liapis, William Constantine (District of Columbia)
LICHTENBERG, DAVID B. (District of Columbia)
Litos, Stephanie (District of Columbia)
LOMBARDI, STEVEN P. (District of Columbia)
Love, Richard S. (District of Columbia)
Lutz, Portia (District of Columbia)
Madigan, Patrick Thomas (District of Columbia)
Maloney, Paul J. (District of Columbia)
Martin, Brant (District of Columbia)
Matini, Shana Lyn (District of Columbia)
McKinley, Erica Taylor (District of Columbia)
McQuinn, Urenthea (District of Columbia)
Medley, Philip Alexander (District of Columbia)
Mercer, John F. (District of Columbia)
Miller, Eden Ilene (District of Columbia)
Montee, Amanda (District of Columbia)
MONTGOMERY, YVONNE BARNES (District of Columbia)
MORGAN, FREDERICK M. (District of Columbia)
Naini, Ali (District of Columbia)
Naran-Ferrini, Rick V. (District of Columbia)
Naso, Chad Alan (District of Columbia)
Neal, Corey Nicholas (District of Columbia)
Neinast, Lindsay Morgan (District of Columbia)
Okereke, Christina (District of Columbia)
Oxendine, Patricia Ann (District of Columbia)
Pace, Damon A. (District of Columbia)
Parker, Charlotte Wartman (District of Columbia)
Parris, Lori S. (District of Columbia)
Parsons, Keith David (District of Columbia)
Patrick, Bradford Collins (District of Columbia)
PEET, STEPHANIE JILL (District of Columbia)
Phillips, E. Louise (District of Columbia)
PISKORA, JOHN A. (District of Columbia)
Pittman, Jonathan Hale (District of Columbia)
Pittman, Lucy E. (District of Columbia)
Pivec, Mary E. (District of Columbia)
Pollak, Cary D. (District of Columbia)
Porter, Veronica A. (District of Columbia)
Pressley, Monique Daniel (District of Columbia)
QUINN, SEAN E. (District of Columbia)
Rezneck, Daniel Albert (District of Columbia)
Rich, Robert Joseph (District of Columbia)
Rickman, George E. (District of Columbia)
Risher, Conrad Z. (District of Columbia)
Robinson, Tonya Ann (District of Columbia)
Rosenbloom, Douglas Stuart (District of Columbia)
Roundtree, Portia M. (District of Columbia)
RUDERMAN, MARK S. (District of Columbia)
Rushkoff, Bennett C. (District of Columbia)
Saindon, Andrew J. (District of Columbia)
SAVERIANO, CHRISTINA LYNN (District of Columbia)
Schifferle, Carl James (District of Columbia)
SCHWARTZ, AARON L. (District of Columbia)
Seabrook, Linda Ann (District of Columbia)
SERLIN, DAVID MALVIN (District of Columbia)
SHERIDAN, THOMAS W. (District of Columbia)
SICLARI, LAURA ANNE (District of Columbia)
Simmons, Jack M. (District of Columbia)
Skeeles-Shiner, Heather R. (District of Columbia)
Snare, Jonathan L. (District of Columbia)
SNYDER, AMY Z. (District of Columbia)
SONNENREICH, DAVID N. (District of Columbia)
Southerling, E. Andrew (District of Columbia)
STOCKWELL, MATTHEW D. (District of Columbia)
STONE, DAVID S. (District of Columbia)
Struck, Daniel P. (District of Columbia)
Sulkowski, Sarah Ann (District of Columbia)
Swann, Sally Lotz (District of Columbia)
Taylor, Leah Brownlee (District of Columbia)
Tonnesen, Sara Elizabeth (District of Columbia)
Towns, James Anthony (District of Columbia)
Utiger, Robert C. (District of Columbia)
Valdes, Leticia L. (District of Columbia)
VALENTINE, ELIZABETH (District of Columbia)
Vricos, James H. (District of Columbia)
Walls, Brenda J. (District of Columbia)
Washington, Alicia D. (District of Columbia)
WEINGARTEN, MARC P. (District of Columbia)
Williams, Zuberi Bakari (District of Columbia)
Wiseman, Benjamin Michael (District of Columbia)
Wright, Allie M. (District of Columbia)
Yong, Esther (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4213389/smith-v-district-of-columbia/
Last updated March 18, 2024, 3:10 a.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Feb. 2, 2015
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A man left in jail for twenty-three days after his court-ordered release date.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General: