BARNARD v. STATE OF MAINE et al

Filing 29

ORDER AFFIRMING THE RECOMMENDED DECISIONS OF THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE re 4 and 14 REPORT AND RECOMMENDED DECISION re 1 Complaint, and 16 Amended Complaint filed by JEFFREY PAUL BARNARD. By JUDGE JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR. (ccs) Modified on 8/14/2017 to add reference to Amended Complaint (ccs).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MAINE
JEFFREY PAUL BARNARD,
Plaintiff,
v.
STATE OF MAINE, et al.,
Defendants.

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1:16-cv-00276-JAW

ORDER AFFIRMING THE RECOMMENDED DECISIONS
OF THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE
On June 3, 2016, Jeffrey Paul Barnard filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. §
1983 against numerous state governmental entities and employees related to an
alleged violation of his civil rights during a police standoff on May 31-June 1, 2014 in
Ellsworth, Maine, during which Mr. Barnard was shot in the face. Compl. at 1–4
(ECF No. 1). Mr. Barnard included his wife Vicki Barnard as a party plaintiff,
asserting damages on her behalf as well. Id. The Magistrate Judge screened the
Complaint and on June 14, 2016, he recommended that the Complaint be dismissed
against all Defendants except for Troy Bires. Recommended Decision After Screening
Compl. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e), 1915A at 1–6 (ECF No. 4) (First Rec. Dec.).
However, the Magistrate Judge also conditioned his recommended dismissal on the
possibility that Mr. Barnard could file an amended complaint within the time for
filing an objection to the recommended decision. Id. at 5.

On August 1, 2016, Mr. Barnard moved to amend his complaint, Mot. for Leave
to File Am. Compl. (ECF No. 11), and on August 19, 2016, the Magistrate Judge
granted Mr. Barnard’s motion to amend the complaint and ordered that it be filed.
Mem. of Decision Granting Mot. to Amend (ECF No. 15). In the Amended Complaint,
Mr. Barnard sought to reassert his claims against the same defendants that the
Magistrate Judge had earlier recommended be dismissed, joined numerous
additional defendants based on his 2014 encounter with law enforcement, and added
a series of claims against another group of defendants at Somerset County Jail
concerning the conditions of his confinement. Am. Compl. (ECF No. 16).
The Magistrate Judge issued a second recommended decision based on the
newly-filed Amended Complaint, withdrawing his first recommended decision with
respect to the claims asserted on Mr. Barnard’s own behalf. Mem. of Decision on Pl.’s
Mot. to Amend; Recommended Decision After Review of Pl.’s Am. Compl. at 8 (ECF
No. 14) (Second Rec. Dec.). The Magistrate Judge maintained his recommendation
that the Court dismiss the claim asserted on behalf of Vicki Barnard, who is not
named as a plaintiff in the Amended Complaint, because Mr. Barnard may not act as
his wife’s attorney. Id. at 8; see also First Rec. Dec. at 4. The Magistrate Judge
concluded that in the Amended Complaint, Mr. Barnard had stated a § 1983 excessive
force claim “against Defendants Bires, Duff and Tokas.” Second Rec. Dec. at 4. The
Magistrate Judge also recommended that the Court dismiss Mr. Barnard’s federal
and state claims against the state of Maine, the Maine State Police, and state of
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, dismiss his federal claim against the municipal

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defendants, and dismiss or sever his claims regarding the conditions of confinement
at Somerset County Jail. Id. at 5–7. The Magistrate Judge concluded that Mr.
Barnard had failed to state claims against Rob Angelo, Harold Page, Robert Williams,
the Hancock County Sheriff, and Hancock County Deputies Campbell and Frost. Id.
at 4–5.
After moving to extend the time to file objections to the second recommended
decision and being granted that time, Mr. Barnard did not object to the second
recommended decision. Mot. for Continuance and Enlargement of Time (ECF No. 19);
Order (ECF No. 20); Mot. for Continuance and Enlargement of Time (ECF No. 21);
Order (ECF No. 22); Mot. for Continuance and Enlargement of Time (ECF No. 23);
Order (ECF No. 24). Mr. Barnard wrote a letter to the Court dated December 2, 2016,
that he filed in this civil action on December 7, 2016, dealing with issues that had
arisen in his then-pending criminal case, but Mr. Barnard did not file an objection to
the second recommended decision. Letter from Jeffrey Paul Barnard to Hon. John A.
Woodcock, Jr. (Dec. 2, 2016) (ECF No. 25).
1. No objection having been filed to the Magistrate Judge’s Recommended
Decision filed June 14, 2016 (ECF No. 4), the Recommended Decision is
hereby AFFIRMED in part.
2. No objection having been filed to the Magistrate Judge’s Recommended
Decision filed August 19, 2016 (ECF No. 14), the Recommended Decision is
hereby AFFIRMED.
3. It is further ORDERED that the claim Mr. Barnard attempted to assert on
behalf of Vicki Barnard in his original Complaint be and hereby is
DISMISSED.
4. It is further ORDERED that the claims in the Amended Complaint against
the state of Maine, the Maine State Police, and Attorney General Janet
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Mills, Harold Page, Rob Angelo, the City of Ellsworth, the Ellsworth Police
Department, the City of Bangor, the Bangor Police Department, Robert
Williams, the Hancock County Sheriff, and Deputies Campbell and Frost
be and hereby are DISMISSED.
5. It is further ORDERED that the claims in the Amended Complaint against
the Somerset County Defendants be and hereby are DISMISSED without
prejudice.
6. The Court ORDERS service of the amended complaint upon Troy Bires,
Scott Duff, and Barton Tokas.
/s/ John A. Woodcock, Jr.
JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 14th day of August, 2017

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