Melvin v. Miller et al

Filing 155

ORDER denying 149 Motion for In Camera Inspection, Entry of Default Judgment and/or Issuance of a Subpoena, and denying 152 Motion for Extension of Time. See attached Ruling. Signed by Judge Thomas P. Smith on February 7, 2013. (Slitt, M.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
MARTIN MELVIN,
Plaintiff,

V.

CIV. NO. 3:09-cv-01612 (RNC)

CTO MILLER, ET AL,
Defendants

RULING ON PENDING MOTIONS
Pending before the Court are four motions filed by the pro se
plaintiff.

Three of the motions are contained in one document

(Dkt. #149), and consist of a Motion for In Camera Inspection, a
Motion for Entry of Default Judgment, and a Motion to Subpoena The
Honorable Christopher F. Droney.
on the plaintiff's

The three motions are predicated

fundamental misunderstanding of the Initial

Review Order (Dkt. #28) filed by Judge Droney in this case.
Specifically, the plaintiff erroneously believes that Judge Droney
viewed a videotape of the alleged actions giving rise to the
Complaint in this case, and that his Initial Review Order contains
factual conclusions demonstrating the use of excessive force.

As

this Court carefully explained to the plaintiff in its Memorandum
of Status Conference (Dkt. #148), in accordance with the applicable
statutes and case law, Judge Droney's Initial Review Order assumed
the truth of the allegations contained in the Complaint.

Although

the plaintiff seems to think otherwise, Judge Droney did not, and

could not, find that plaintiff's allegations were substantiated.
These are questions reserved for a jury.

Moreover, Judge Droney's

recitation of the allegations in this case come not from having
viewed a videotape of the alleged incident, but solely from his
review of the Complaint. In fact, at the time of the Order, the
defendants had not yet filed an Answer, and discovery had not yet
begun.

The plaintiff has not provided any explanation, nor could

he, as to how Judge Droney could have come into possession of such
a videotape.
The simple fact is that the Initial Review Order is a recitation of
the allegations in the Complaint.
The plaintiff's misunderstanding of the Initial Review Order
has,

unfortunately,

had

additional

consequences.

As

the

plaintiff's submissions state, the videotape he has subsequently
been provided by the defendants does not show the instances of
excessive force described in the Initial Review Order. Because the
plaintiff continues to erroneously believe that the Initial Review
Order reflects Judge Droney's observations from having watched the
videotape, he has concluded that the defendants must have tampered
with the videotape.

Accordingly, he has filed a motion for entry

of default judgment against the defendants, citing the alleged
tampering of evidence, as well as a motion for issuance of a
subpoena ad testificandum for Judge Droney.
Out of an abundance of caution, the Court ordered defendants'

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counsel to make a good faith attempt to locate the original
videotape, conduct a comprehensive comparative review of both the
original videotape and the copy provided to the plaintiff, and to
file a report on the record with his findings. The defendants have
fully complied with the Court's order. See Dkt. #154.

The Court

accepts the representation, contained in a sworn affidavit from a
member of the Department of Correction's computer forensic team,
that their comprehensive review has confirmed that none of the
tapes were tampered with or edited. Id. at 6.
For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiff's Motion for In
Camera Inspection, Motion for Entry of Default Judgment, and
Motion to Subpoena The Honorable Christopher F. Droney, all of
which are contained in Dkt. #149, are DENIED.

The plaintiff's

Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to the Court's Memorandum
of Status Conference (Dkt. #152) is also DENIED.

The Memorandum

neither requested nor contemplated a response from the plaintiff.
Dated at Hartford, Connecticut this

7th day of February, 2013.

/s/ Thomas P. Smith
THOMAS P. SMITH
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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