Hunter v. Mueske

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-prison correctional officers’ motion for summary judgment in plaintiff-prisoner’s section 1983 action, alleging that defendants were deliberately indifferent to his reports that his cellmate had physically threatened him in months leading up to physical assault of plaintiff by cellmate on day cellmate was scheduled to be transferred from plaintiff’s cell. Record showed that: (1) plaintiff had submitted several transfer requests to one defendant, who had authority to grant said requests, but failed to act on any request; and (2) other defendant had actually assisted plaintiff in drafting one transfer request and advised him on how to make request more meritorious. Dist. Ct. could properly find that plaintiff had failed to establish indifference on part of defendant who had helped him draft transfer request. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly find that plaintiff had failed to causally connect his injuries to other defendant’s failure to act on his transfer requests, where record showed that plaintiff voluntarily approached cellmate and began interaction that led to his injuries.