Johnson v. Moody

Plaintiff and his wife filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the City and members of the police department who investigated a student's allegation that plaintiff sexually assaulted her. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants, holding that the district court correctly identified the governing Rule 56(d) principles, so there was no error of law amounting to an abuse of discretion. In this case, plaintiff presented no evidence tending to refute or contradict defendants' strong evidence from the state court proceedings that their conduct in investigating the student's serious allegation of sexual misconduct, however questionable or incomplete, was not conscious-shocking behavior as a matter of law. The court held that officers were entitled to summary judgment where the investigation did not violate plaintiff's constitutional rights. Consequently, the district court dismissed claims for supervisory liability against the police chief and the city. The court affirmed the dismissal of claims for malicious prosecution, negligent hiring and supervision and loss of consortium affirmed. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiffs' Rule 56(d) request to defer its ruling until additional discovery was completed and in granting summary judgment dismissing all claims. View "Johnson v. Moody" on Justia Law