Townes v. David et al

Filing 80

ORDER ADOPTING 76 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION. The Motion for Sanctions filed by Defendant Jeffery Dennison (Doc. 72) is GRANTED, and the claims against Defendant Jeffery Dennison are DISMISSED with prejudice. This case is CLOSED, and the Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment accordingly. Signed by Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel on 4/2/2019. (mlp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
HENRY TOWNES,

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Plaintiff,
vs.
JEFFERY DENNISON,
Defendant.

Case No. 3:17-CV-651-NJR-GCS

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge:
This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of United
States Magistrate Judge Gilbert C. Sison (Doc. 76) regarding the Motion for Sanctions filed
by Defendant Jeffery Dennison (Doc. 72).
Plaintiff Henry Townes, a former inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections,
filed this lawsuit for deprivations of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983
for events that occurred while he was incarcerated. Townes alleges that Defendants were
deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs relating to diabetes, sleep disorders,
and a history of falling out of bed. He also alleged that Defendant David refused to follow
the advice of an outside physician to provide him with physical therapy.
The Court granted summary judgment to Defendants David, Pittayathikhan,
Smoot, and Swalls on August 8, 2018, due to Townes’s dishonest conduct in modifying a
piece of evidence presented at a hearing (Doc. 66). 1 Dennison, the only remaining
defendant, now asks the Court to dismiss the claims against him with prejudice because

This case was reassigned to Magistrate Judge Sison on January 3, 2019 (Doc. 74) and to the undersigned
District Judge on March 6, 2019 (Doc. 77) following judicial retirements.

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Townes acquiesced in the falsification of pieces of evidence and because multiple
alterations of documents were submitted to the Court with the intention of misleading
the Court. Townes did not respond to the motion, despite being directed to do so.
Judge Sison entered a Report and Recommendation on February 6, 2019,
recommending that the undersigned grant the motion, dismiss the claims against
Dennison with prejudice, and enter judgment in favor of all Defendants. Objections were
due on or before February 25, 2019. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); FED. R. CIV. P. 72(b)(2); SDILLR 73.1(b). No objections were filed.
Where neither timely nor specific objections to the Report and Recommendation
are made, the Court need not conduct a de novo review. See Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140
(1985). Instead, the Court should review the Report and Recommendation for clear error.
Johnson v. Zema Systems Corp., 170 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir. 1999). The Court may then
“accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by
the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).
The

undersigned

has

carefully

reviewed

Judge

Sison’s

Report

and

Recommendation and finds there is no clear error in his findings of fact or conclusions of
law. Accordingly, the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 76) is ADOPTED in its entirety.
The Motion for Sanctions (Doc. 72) is GRANTED, and the claims against Defendant
Jeffery Dennison are DISMISSED with prejudice. This case is CLOSED, and the Clerk
of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: April 2, 2019
____________________________
NANCY J. ROSENSTENGEL
Chief U.S. District Judge
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