Aaron v. Keith et al

Filing 73

ORDER granting 60 Motion to Strike; granting 63 Motion to Strike. The Baton Rouge Advocate article entitled Reporter Exposes Flaws of Prison (Advocate article) (Docs. 57-2; 61-1) and any and all references to it from Plaintiffs Objections to Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 57-1; 61) are hereby STRICKEN from the record. Signed by Magistrate Judge Joseph H L Perez-Montes on 12/29/2016. (crt,Haik, K)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
ALEXANDRIA DIVISION
ANDRAE D. AARON,
Plaintiff

CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:13-CV-02867;
SEC. P

VERSUS

CHIEF JUDGE DRELL

TIM KEITH, ET AL.,
Defendants

c

MAGISTRATE JUDGE PEREZ-MONTES

MEMORANDUM ORDER
Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Strike. (Docs. 60, 63). Defendants
move the Court to strike the Baton Rouge Advocate article entitled “Reporter Exposes
Flaws of Prison” (“Advocate article”) (Docs. 57-2; 61-1) and any and all references to
it from Plaintiff’s Objections to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs.
57-1; 61). Plaintiff relies on the article to support his opposition to Defendants’ Motion
for Summary Judgment.
Defendants’ argue that the Advocate article constitutes inadmissible hearsay
and therefore should be excluded from consideration by the Court. Plaintiff
acknowledges it as hearsay but states that his “intent in presenting the exhibit shows
that the defendant’s [sic] had knowledge of bad practices at their facility and they
ignored them.” (Doc. 66, pp. 1-2).
Newspaper articles do not constitute competent summary judgment evidence
to prove the truth of the facts that they report because they are inadmissible hearsay.
Cano v. Bexar County, Texas, 280 Fed. Appx. 404, 406 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing Roberts
v. City of Shreveport, 397 F.3d 287, 295 (5th Cir. 2005)); see also James v. Texas

Collin County, 535 F.3d 365, 374 (5th Cir. 2008). Authors of newspaper articles
typically convey information collected from other sources and rarely have personal
knowledge of the facts reported. Anderson v. Dallas County, Texas, Civ. No. 3:05-CV1248-G, 2007 WL 1148994, at *5 (N.D. Tex. April 18, 2007). Plaintiff is attempting to
introduce the Advocate article to prove the truth of the facts that it reports. The Court
cannot identify a hearsay exception that would apply to the Advocate article, and
Plaintiff does not argue that a hearsay exception applies. Therefore, the Court will
not consider the Advocate article as it is not competent summary judgment evidence.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Strike (Docs. 60, 63)
is hereby GRANTED. The Baton Rouge Advocate article entitled “Reporter Exposes
Flaws of Prison” (“Advocate article”) (Docs. 57-2; 61-1) and any and all references to
it from Plaintiff’s Objections to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs.
57-1; 61) are hereby STRICKEN from the record.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in chambers in Alexandria, Louisiana, this
29th
_______ day of December, 2016.
______________________________
Joseph H.L. Perez-Montes
United States Magistrate Judge

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