3:25-cv-01349•MOULTRIE v. PRICE et al
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1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA PENSACOLA DIVISION EDDIE JAMES MOULTRIE, Plaintiff, v. Case No.: 3:25cv1349/LC/ZCB N. PRICE, et al., Defendants. / REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Plaintiff is a prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action. After performing its screening duties under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B), 1915A(a)-(b), the Court identified several deficiencies in the amended complaint (Doc. 12) and ordered Plaintiff to correct those deficiencies by filing a second amended complaint. (Doc. 14). Plaintiff has now filed a second amended complaint. (Doc. 17). The Court must screen the second amended complaint to determine if it is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from immune defendants. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B), 1915A(a)-(b). Because Plaintiff’s second amended complaint fails to state a plausible claim for relief, his federal claims Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 1 of 18
2 should be dismissed, and supplemental jurisdiction should be declined over Plaintiff’s state law claim. I. Plaintiff’s Allegations1 Plaintiff names three officials of Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI) as Defendants: (1) Former Officer N. Price; (2) Officer C. Coates; and (3) Captain W.M. Turner. Plaintiff sues Defendants in their individual capacities. (Doc. 17 at 2-3). According to the second amended complaint, on June 12, 2024, Defendant Price escorted Plaintiff to a classification callout. Defendant Price stayed outside the callout room until the callout ended. On June 18, Plaintiff allegedly learned the callout was “a retaliatory ploy” after receiving a disciplinary report from the classification officer. Plaintiff claims the report falsely accused him of a spoken threat during the callout. Plaintiff alleges recording devices could not have captured the inside of the callout room. Plaintiff called Defendant Price as a witness for Plaintiff’s upcoming hearing on the report to describe Plaintiff’s conduct during the callout. (Doc. 17 at 5-6). 1 Plaintiff’s allegations are assumed true at this stage. DeVillier v. Texas, 601 U.S. 285, 288 n.1 (2024). Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 2 of 18
3 At 8:00 a.m. on June 20, 2024, Plaintiff saw Defendants Price and Coates in the recreation yard before Plaintiff went to his disciplinary hearing. Plaintiff’s hearing lasted approximately five minutes. Plaintiff allegedly was “shocked” when the hearing officers presented evidence, and Plaintiff learned that Defendant Price falsely accused Plaintiff of unruly behavior. Plaintiff claims a formal grievance that he filed proves Defendant Price lied. (Id. at 6). Plaintiff returned to his cell after the hearing, and he saw Defendant Price leaving the area. Plaintiff’s property was outside of his cell, and the cell was in disarray. Plaintiff went to his cell’s window and confronted Defendant Price who was next to Defendant Coates in the yard. Plaintiff asked Defendant Price “why’d you lie on the witness statement and trash[] my cell.” (Id.). Defendant Price responded, “you shouldn’t of called me as a witness.” (Id. at 7). Plaintiff told Defendant Price that his statement got Plaintiff “maxed out.” (Id.). Defendant Price told Plaintiff he was stupid to think he would be a witness against other prison staff. Plaintiff told Defendant Price he was going to get in trouble after Plaintiff obtained evidence proving Defendant Price lied and ransacked Plaintiff’s cell. Defendant Price told Plaintiff, “do it and you’ll see what’ll happen.” (Id.). Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 3 of 18
4 Plaintiff states that Defendant Price’s comment bothered him, and he decided not to try and prove Defendant Price’s misconduct. (Id.). Around 1:30 p.m., Defendant Price came to Plaintiff’s cell with other officers and told Plaintiff to submit to restraints because he was going on property restriction. Plaintiff refused, and Defendant Price left to find a supervisor. Plaintiff packed his property and tried messaging his family on his tablet. Defendants Price and Turner arrived, and Defendant Turner ordered Plaintiff to drop the tablet and submit to restraints. Plaintiff said he would comply after sending his message. Defendant Turner left and returned with a mental health counselor but then sent the counselor away before she could do anything. (Id. at 7-8). Defendants Price and Turner and other staff prepared to enter Plaintiff’s cell, but Plaintiff’s “submissive posture prevented the use of chemical agents.” (Id. at 8). Plaintiff was searched and placed in restraints. Defendant Price and another officer then entered the cell, and Plaintiff allegedly could hear them damaging his property. Plaintiff alleges a camera captured Defendant Turner watching Plaintiff’s property being destroyed. (Id. at 8-9). When Defendant Price put Plaintiff on property restriction, Plaintiff “assumed” it was because Defendant Price learned about a civil Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 4 of 18
5 complaint Plaintiff was drafting before the disciplinary hearing. (Id. at 9). Plaintiff alleges he asked the officer with him “what’s going on?” to which the officer responded, “Price said you did or said something to him that’s all I know.” (Id.). When Plaintiff re-entered his cell, he found all of his property removed except for a toothbrush and toilet paper. On June 21, 2024, Plaintiff received another disciplinary report in Defendant Turner’s name for disobeying the June 20th order to drop his tablet and submit to a search. (Id. at 9-10). Plaintiff’s property was returned on June 23, 2024, but he assumed it was not his because the property did not resemble Plaintiff’s. Plaintiff was not allowed to inspect the property before signing for it. Defendants Price and Coates were allegedly responsible for inventorying Plaintiff’s property. Plaintiff’s property was in disarray when it was returned to his cell. The property had a moldy smell, his papers were damaged, and he was missing books and magazines. Plaintiff raised this issue to the dorm supervisor who responded, “what do you want me to do about it?” (Id. at 10-11). Plaintiff submitted a grievance regarding the damaged property, but it was denied. (Id. at 11). Plaintiff submitted an informal grievance about the moldy papers, but the grievance was returned. Plaintiff showed the moldy papers to Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 5 of 18
6 the warden who said to write to “McDuff” about the issue. (Id. at 11-12). Plaintiff states there is no “McDuff” and that this was a way to return the grievance without action. Plaintiff sought various recordings to show that Defendant Turner’s basis for the property restriction was untrue. (Id. at 12). On July 15, 2024, prison staff went to Plaintiff’s cell to place him on property restriction. (Id. at 13). Plaintiff refused to submit to restraints, so that a use of force camera could capture his moldy property. Plaintiff states he was not given a disciplinary report for refusing to comply but that the use of force was never documented. Plaintiff asked for copies of the property restriction forms for June 20, 2024, and July 15, 2024, but was told they did not exist. Plaintiff claims this shows concealment of Defendants’ actions by evidence destruction. (Id.). Plaintiff brings Fourteenth Amendment retaliation claims and state law claims for loss of property against all three Defendants. For relief, Plaintiff seeks damages and attorney’s fees. (Doc. 17 at 17-22). II. Statutory Screening Standard To survive dismissal at screening, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 6 of 18
7 (cleaned up). The plausibility standard is met only where the facts alleged enable “the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. Plausibility means “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. “Where a complaint pleads facts that are merely consistent with a defendant’s liability, it stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.” Id. (cleaned up). Determining if a complaint states a plausible claim is “a context- specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679. The Court is “not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.” Id. at 678 (cleaned up). And “bare assertions” that “amount to nothing more than a formulaic recitation of the elements” of a claim “are conclusory and not entitled to be assumed true.” Id. at 681 (cleaned up). “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations.” Id. at 679. Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 7 of 18
8 III. Discussion A. Plaintiff has failed to allege a plausible Fourteenth Amendment due process violation resulting from the prison disciplinary proceeding. Count 1 of the second amended complaint alleges Fourteenth Amendment claims against all three Defendants regarding his disciplinary hearing. (Doc. 17 at 17-19). Although the second amended complaint is not entirely clear, the Court construes this claim as being brought under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The Due Process Clause encompasses a substantive component and a procedural component. Maddox v. Stephens, 727 F.3d 1109, 1118 (11th Cir. 2013). Because Plaintiff’s allegations involve challenges to prison disciplinary proceedings, he appears to be asserting a procedural due process claim. Procedural due process claims have three elements: “(1) a deprivation of a constitutionally-protected liberty or property interest; (2) state action; and (3) constitutionally-inadequate process.” Yarbrough v. Decatur Hous. Auth., 941 F.3d 1022, 1026 (11th Cir. 2019). But importantly, “the fact that prisoners retain rights under the Due Process Clause in no way implies that these rights are not subject to restrictions imposed by the nature of the regime to which they have been lawfully committed.” Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 556 (1974). “Prison Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 8 of 18
9 disciplinary proceedings are not part of a criminal prosecution, and the full panoply of rights due a defendant in such proceedings does not apply.” Id. The gist of Plaintiff’s allegations is that Defendant Price gave false testimony in a hearing on an allegedly false disciplinary charge, falsified a basis for property restriction, and damaged Plaintiff’s property. “The filing of a false disciplinary charge, standing alone, does not state a constitutional claim. The Constitution requires only that the plaintiff be afforded due process at the institutional hearing (on the allegedly false charge), which represents the plaintiff’s opportunity to expose falsities or inaccuracies.” Hall v. Poppell, No. 2:20cv380, 2021 WL 3602807, at *5 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 13, 2021). There are “specific hearing procedures that prison disciplinary panels must comply with to satisfy the standards of procedural due process in the prison setting.” O’Bryant v. Finch, 637 F.3d 1207, 1213 (11th Cir. 2011). “[P]risoners must receive: (1) advance written notice of the charges against them; (2) an opportunity for the inmate to call witnesses and present documentary evidence, so long as doing so is consistent with institutional safety and correctional goals; and (3) a Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 9 of 18
10 written statement by the factfinder outlining the evidence relied on and the reasons for the disciplinary action.” Id. The second amended complaint fails to plausibly allege that Plaintiff did not receive advanced written notice of the charges, that he was denied an opportunity to call witness or present evidence, or that he did not receive a written statement outlining the evidence behind and reasons for the disciplinary action.2 Instead, Plaintiff takes issue with being found guilty of disciplinary charges based on allegedly false information. Again, however, the “filing of a false disciplinary charge, standing alone, does not state a constitutional claim.” Poppell, 2021 WL 3602807, at *5. Because his allegations do not show that the hearing failed to comply with procedural due process requirements, Plaintiff fails to plausibly allege due process claims regarding the disciplinary hearing. Plaintiff essentially argues that his procedural due process rights were violated because his disciplinary conviction was based on Defendant Price’s false testimony. (Doc. 17 at 17). Procedural due process requires 2 Plaintiff admits he received a written disciplinary report accusing him of a spoken threat and received a hearing on the report at which he presented evidence in the form of Defendant Price’s testimony. (Doc. 17 at 5-6). And nowhere does Plaintiff allege that he did not receive a written statement summarizing the findings against Plaintiff. Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 10 of 18
11 that “the findings of the prison disciplinary board are supported by some evidence in the record.” Superintendent, Massachusetts Corr. Inst., Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 454 (1985). “Due process in this context does not require examination of the entire record, independent assessment of the credibility of witnesses, or weighing of the evidence. And the ‘some evidence’ standard is satisfied by even a meager showing, so long as the record is not so devoid of evidence as to render the tribunal’s determination arbitrary.” Smart v. England, 93 F.4th 1283, 1290 (11th Cir. 2024) (cleaned up). In other words, the “decision need only have some basis in fact.” Yarbrough, 941 F.3d at 1028 (cleaned up). Though Plaintiff disagrees with the outcome, Plaintiff’s disciplinary conviction was based on “some evidence.” That evidence was Defendant Price’s statements “in the DR witness statement[.]” (Doc. 17 at 6). Plaintiff argues these statements were false, but that does not constitute a due process violation because the statements, even if false, still are some evidence that Plaintiff committed the infractions. See Hill, 472 U.S. at 456-57 (holding a disciplinary panel complied with due process when convicting prisoner based on oral testimony and written report by prison guard); see also Murray v. Givens, 2018 WL 3463309, at *4 (N.D. Ala. May 14, 2018) (“Due process requires only that an inmate be afforded a Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 11 of 18
12 hearing on the charges against him. Therefore, a prisoner’s allegation of false disciplinary charges fails to state a claim so long as due process was provided.” (cleaned up)), adopted, 2018 WL 3455692 (N.D. Ala. July 18, 2018). Accordingly, Plaintiff has failed to plausibly allege that his Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process rights were violated by Defendant Price giving false testimony at the disciplinary hearing. B. Plaintiff has failed to plausibly allege a Fourteenth Amendment due process claim involving the destruction of his property. Plaintiff has also failed to state a plausible Fourteenth Amendment due process claim involving the destruction of his property. As mentioned above, the Due Process Clause encompasses substantive and procedural components. Substantive due process protects only “fundamental” rights. Kentner v. City of Sanibel, 750 F.3d 1274, 1279 (11th Cir. 2014). Fundamental rights “are protected from certain state actions regardless of the procedures the state uses.” Doe v. Moore, 410 F.3d 1337, 1343 (11th Cir. 2005). In contrast, “areas in which substantive rights are created only by state law . . . are not subject to substantive due process protection . . . because substantive due process rights are created only by the Constitution.” Lewis v. Brown, 409 F.3d 1271, 1272-73 (11th Cir. 2005) (cleaned up). Thus, such state-law rights “are protected by Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 12 of 18
13 procedural, not substantive, due process[.]” DeKalb Stone, Inc. v. Cnty. of DeKalb, Ga., 106 F.3d 956, 960 (11th Cir. 1997). Property interests are generally created and defined by state law— not the U.S. Constitution. Greenbriar Village, L.L.C. v. Mountain Brook City, 345 F.3d 1258, 1262 (11th Cir. 2003). They are not fundamental rights and are not entitled to substantive due process protection. See id. at 1262-63 (“[N]on-legislative deprivations of state-created rights . . . cannot support a substantive due process claim[.]”). Because property rights are not fundamental, Plaintiff fails to plausibly allege a substantive due process claim based on his property being damaged. Busse v. Lee Cnty., Fla., 317 F. App’x 968, 973 (11th Cir. 2009) (affirming dismissal of substantive due process claim because “[p]roperty rights would not be fundamental since they are based on state law” and thus the plaintiff “could not bring a viable substantive due process claim based on the alleged denial of a state-defined property right”); see also Regions Bank v. Hyman, 91 F. Supp. 3d 1234, 1243 (M.D. Fla. 2015) (“A claim for deprivation of property without due process under the Fourteenth Amendment is not one for violation of substantive due process . . . .”). As to procedural due process, the Supreme Court has unequivocally held that an unauthorized intentional deprivation of property by a state Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 13 of 18
14 actor “does not constitute a violation of the procedural requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment if a meaningful postdeprivation remedy for the loss is available.” Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 533 (1984). Under Florida law, a person may file a tort action in state court to recover damages for destruction of property. See Fla. Stat. § 768.28. And also under Florida law, a plaintiff “can sue the officers for the conversion of his personal property.” Jackson v. Hill, 569 F. App’x 697, 698 (11th Cir. 2014) (affirming dismissal of procedural due process claim where plaintiff alleged that officials “denied him access to personal property”). Thus, Plaintiff has a meaningful, post-deprivation state law remedy available to challenge the alleged loss of his property. See Loor v. Bailey, 708 F. App’x 992, 994-95 (11th Cir. 2017) (“The existence of § 768.28 provides Loor with a meaningful, post-deprivation remedy to challenge the loss of property.” (cleaned up)) C. Plaintiff has failed to state a Fourteenth Amendment due process claim for retaliation. The second amended complaint alleges retaliation against Plaintiff in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. More specifically, Plaintiff claims that Defendant Price violated the Fourteenth Amendment by testifying falsely at the disciplinary hearing and destroying Plaintiff’s Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 14 of 18
15 property in retaliation for Plaintiff exercising his due process right to call Defendant Price as a witness during a disciplinary proceeding. (Doc. 17 at 17). This Fourteenth Amendment retaliation claim fails because “neither the Supreme Court nor [the Eleventh Circuit] have held that there is a separate constitutional right to be free from retaliation for the exercise of a due-process right.” Zen Group, Inc. v. Agency for Health Care Admin., 80 F.4th 1319, 1326 (11th Cir. 2023) (affirming qualified immunity dismissal of various claims, including due process retaliation claim). To the extent Plaintiff’s second amended complaint alleges that the alleged retaliatory conduct violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, the claim would similarly fail.3 See Ratliff v. DeKalb Cnty, Ga., 62 F.3d 338, 340 (11th Cir. 1995) (explaining that “no 3 Plaintiff has argued that two circuit courts have permitted prisoners to assert retaliation claims that are based on something other than the exercise of free speech under the First Amendment. (Doc. 18 at 2). The Court would first note that one of the cases cited by Plaintiff—Rouse v. Benson, 193 F.3d 936 (8th Cir. 1999)—is a First Amendment retaliation case and adds no support to Plaintiff’s argument. See Rouse, 193 F.3d at 940 (stating that the plaintiff claimed prison officials violated “his First Amendment rights of free speech and free exercise of religion”). In any event, the Eleventh Circuit has made clear that its precedent has “cabin[ed] the scope of the anti-retaliation right to specific constitutional provisions—most often the First Amendment.” Zen Group, Inc., 80 F.4th at 1328. And it has “never recognized a general, free-floating right to be free from retaliation.” Id. Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 15 of 18
16 established right exists under the equal protection clause to be free from retaliation”). D. Supplemental jurisdiction should be declined over Plaintiff’s state law claim. If the federal claims are dismissed as discussed above, then the remaining claim would be a state law loss of property claim. (Doc. 17 at 19). A district court may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims when it has “dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction.” 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3). A court’s decision “to exercise [supplemental] jurisdiction after dismissing every claim over which it had original jurisdiction is purely discretionary.” Carlsbad Tech., Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc., 556 U.S. 635, 639 (2009). The Eleventh Circuit has “encouraged” district courts to exercise that discretion and decline supplemental jurisdiction “the federal claims have been dismissed prior to trial.” Raney v. Allstate Ins. Co., 370 F.3d 1086, 1089 (11th Cir. 2004). Thus, a court “will rarely err by declining supplemental jurisdiction after the federal claims that supported its jurisdiction are dismissed.” Silas v. Sheriff of Broward Cnty., Fla., 55 F.4th 863, 866 (11th Cir. 2022). The stage of the federal proceedings is important, with the “preference for declining supplemental jurisdiction” Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 16 of 18
17 being “particularly strong when the federal claims have dropped out of the lawsuit in its early stages.” 68V BTR Holdings, LLC v. City of Fairhope, 737 F. Supp. 3d 1222, 1239 (S.D. Ala. 2024) (cleaned up). Considering that the current case is in its infancy, the Court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law loss of property claim if the federal claims are dismissed as recommended. See Royal Canin U. S. A., Inc. v. Wullschleger, 604 U.S. 22, 31-32 (2025) (“[I]f the district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction . . . supplemental jurisdiction persists, [but] the district court need not exercise it: Instead, the court may (and indeed, ordinarily should) kick the case to state court.”). IV. Conclusion For the reasons above, it is respectfully RECOMMENDED that: 1. The federal claims in the second amended complaint (Doc. 17) be DISMISSED under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), 1915A(b)(1) for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. 2. Supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s state law loss of property claim be declined and such claim DISMISSED without prejudice to Plaintiff pursuing it in state court. 3. All pending motions be DENIED as moot. Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 17 of 18
18 4. The Clerk of Court be directed to enter judgment accordingly and close this case. At Pensacola, Florida, this 16th day of March 2026. /s/ Zachary C. Bolitho Zachary C. Bolitho United States Magistrate Judge Notice To The Parties Objections to these proposed findings and recommendations must be filed within fourteen days of the date of the Report and Recommendation. Any different deadline that may appear on the electronic docket is for the court’s internal use only and does not control. An objecting party must serve a copy of the objections on all other parties. A party who fails to object to the magistrate judge’s findings or recommendations contained in a report and recommendation waives the right to challenge on appeal the district court’s order based on unobjected-to factual and legal conclusions. See 11th Cir. Rule 3-1; 28 U.S.C. § 636. Case 3:25-cv-01349-TKW-ZCB Document 19 Filed 03/16/26 Page 18 of 18
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