Opinions of the United
2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
8-13-2008
Williams v. Comm PA Corrections
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 07-2829
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
________________
No. 07-2829
________________
CHARLES WILLIAMS,
Appellant
v.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS;
NORRIS B. WEBB; Officer HERBERT; Officer STREET; Sergeant SMITH
____________________________________
On Appeal From the United States District Court
For the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. No. 01-cv-02345)
District Judge: The Honorable Christopher C. Conner
____________________________________
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
July 16, 2008
Before: AMBRO, FUENTES and FISHER, Circuit Judges.
(Filed: August 13, 2008 )
_______________________
OPINION
_______________________
PER CURIAM
Charles Williams appeals, pro se, from an order of the District Court entering
judgment as a matter of law with respect to the complaint he filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983.” For the reasons that follow, we will affirm.
I.
Williams filed a § 1983 complaint claiming violations of the Eighth and
Fourteenth Amendments arising from the defendants’ deliberate indifference to his
serious medical needs, and retaliation. Williams alleged that while he was incarcerated at
State Correctional Institution-Rockview as a participant in the prison’s “Therapeutic
Community Unit” (“TCU”), he was forced by inmate “supervisors” to engage in
strenuous physical activity contrary to doctors’ orders, causing him to develop an inguinal
hernia. Williams alleged that the Director of the TCU, Norris Webb, knew what the
inmate “supervisors” were doing and was aware of Williams’s medical restriction
prohibiting strenuous activity or lifting more than 10 pounds, but failed to intervene.
Williams alleges that Webb harassed him, threatening that Williams would be terminated
from the program if he did not participate in the physical activity that was part of his
“misfit coordination.”
Williams filed two administrative grievances. Defendants Webb, Herbert, Street,
Smith, and the Department of Corrections (“DOC”), filed a motion for summary
judgment which the District Court granted. On appealed we affirmed the District Court’s
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decision as to the DOC, Herbert, Street, and Smith, and reversed and remanded as to
Appellee Webb. See Williams v. Comm. of Pa., 146 Fed. Appx. 554 (3d Cir. 2005) (per
curiam). We held that Williams’s claim arising from his first grievance against Webb
was properly exhausted and therefore ripe for review. Id. at 557-558.
On remand, the District Court held a jury trial on Williams’ Eighth Amendment
claim against Webb. Williams presented a case consisting of the testimony of Webb, Dr.
John Symons, a doctor who treated Williams at the prison, and various exhibits. At the
close of Williams’s case, Webb moved orally for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to
Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). The District Court orally granted Webb’s motion, finding that
Williams failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that Webb was deliberately
indifferent to Williams’s serious medical need or that Webb’s deliberate indifference
caused Williams serious harm or injury. On June 6, 2007 the District Court issued a
written order confirming the judgment. Williams has filed a timely appeal from that
judgment.
II.
We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise
plenary review over the grant of a motion for judgment as a matter of law. See Curley v.
Klem, 499 F.3d 199, 205 (3d Cir. 2007).
A motion for judgment as a matter of law should be granted only if, “viewing the
evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, there is no question of
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material fact for the jury and any verdict other than the one directed would be erroneous
under the governing law.” McGreevey v. Stroup, 413 F.3d 359, 364 (3d Cir. 2005)
(citation omitted). In order to establish a violation of his Eighth Amendment right to be
free from cruel and unusual punishment, Williams was required to prove that Webb acted
with deliberate indifference to his serious medical need. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S.
97, 104 (1976).
Williams failed to prove his case against Webb. Despite repeated urging from the
District Court, Williams attempted to enter his complaint into evidence as proof of his
claim instead of taking the stand. Statements made in a complaint, however, are merely
allegations and not evidence. See Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Deglau, 207 F.3d 153, 172
(3d Cir. 2000). Nor are remarks Williams made during his opening statement or
questions he posed to witnesses. See Shellenberger v. Summit Bancorp, Inc., 318 F.3d
183, 191 n.11 (3d Cir. 2003). Therefore, Williams case rested on the testimonies of
Webb and Symons and several exhibits he admitted into evidence.1
It is true, as Appellant claims, that Symons’ testimony established that he suffered
a hernia. However, the doctor also testified that he had no personal knowledge of how
Appellant sustained the injury. Moreover, while Webb’s testimony established that
inmates in the TCU performed squats as punishment for misconduct, there is no evidence
1
The exhibits included: Defendants’ answers to the complaint, the Department of
Corrections’ inmate handbook, a medical clearance form, and Williams’ medical records.
4
that Appellant was personally required to perform squats while he was injured. As the
District Court stated Appellant established, at best, that he suffered a serious injury.
Williams, however, failed to demonstrate that Webb knew of and was deliberately
indifferent to his serious injury. See Spruill v. Gillis 372 F.3d 218, 235-36 (3d Cir. 2004).
Accordingly, the District Court did not err in granting Appellee’s motion for judgment as
a matter of law.
To the extent that Williams attempts to resurrect claims against Defendants whose
dismissal we previously affirmed, such claims are generally barred. See In re City of
Phila. Litig., 158 F.3d 711, 717 (3d Cir. 1998) (one panel of an appellate court will not
reconsider questions that another panel has decided on a prior appeal in the same case).
Williams does not present “extraordinary circumstances” that would warrant
reconsideration of issues the previous panel decided. See Pub. Interest Research Group
of N.J., Inc. v. Magnesium Elektron, Inc., 123 F.3d 111, 116-17 (3d Cir. 1997).
Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.2
2
Appellee’s motion to strike Williams’s brief is denied. Appellant’s April 21,
2008 motion requesting an extension of time to file an alternative brief and appendix is
denied as unnecessary. The briefs and appendices submitted by Williams have been filed
in the Clerk’s Office and considered by this panel in rendering our decision.
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