Dist. Ct. erred in rejecting Magistrate Judge’s pre-trial recommended finding that plaintiff-prisoner had exhausted his administrative remedies for purposes of allowing him to proceed on his complaint that challenged his conditions of confinement. Record showed that: (1) Magistrate Judge held evidentiary hearing and made credibility findings that accepted plaintiff’s version of facts; and (2) Dist. Ct. reviewed record and transcripts, but, without holding hearing, found prison employee’s testimony to be more credible. While Dist. Ct. need not hold separate hearing when accepting Magistrate Judge’s credibility findings, Dist. Ct. must hold de novo evidentiary hearing if it is rejecting Magistrate Judge’s material credibility findings. As such, plaintiff was entitled to remand for new evidentiary hearing before Dist. Ct. to resolve administrative exhaustion issue.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Prisoners