Trowell v. Santamore, 9:16-cv-00639

Plaintiff Ramizidden Trowell, a former NYS inmate, sued several Upstate Correctional Facility officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged incidents on February 29, 2016 and August 5, 2016 (including an alleged sexual assault during a strip search).
Plaintiff filed a complaint, a supplemental complaint, and a second related action; the two cases were consolidated with this as the lead case.
Defendants moved for summary judgment; Plaintiff failed to file a response to the defendants’ supplemental summary-judgment papers after being permitted to do so.
Magistrate Judge Dancks recommended granting summary judgment for defendants and dismissing unidentified John Does; Plaintiff did not object to the report-recommendation.
The record included undisputed evidence and a video of the August 5 strip search showing force used to complete a search while Plaintiff resisted; defendants contend the conduct was legitimate search procedure, not sexual misconduct.
The district court adopted the report-recommendation in full, granted summary judgment for defendants, dismissed the John Does, and directed entry of judgment for defendants.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Failure to exhaust administrative remedies	Trowell contended he pursued grievances for the incidents	Defendants argued Trowell failed to fully and properly exhaust administrative remedies	Court: Plaintiff did not exhaust remedies; summary judgment for defendants on exhaustion grounds
Eighth Amendment sexual abuse claim (Aug. 5, 2016)	Trowell alleged sexual abuse during a strip search (finger in rectum)	Defendants asserted the search was a legitimate, authorized strip search, force used only to complete search while plaintiff resisted	Court: Claim dismissed on the merits; evidence (including video) showed legitimate penological purpose and no sexual motivation by officer
Sufficiency of plaintiff’s opposition to summary judgment	Trowell, proceeding pro se, submitted little to controvert defendants’ evidence	Defendants relied on uncontroverted record evidence including video and affidavits	Court: Pro se status does not excuse failure to produce evidentiary support; uncontroverted record supports summary judgment
Dismissal of unnamed John Doe defendants	Plaintiff named John Does but provided no identifying proof or opposition	Defendants sought dismissal of John Does; court may dismiss sua sponte when appropriate	Court: John Does sua sponte dismissed for failure to identify or prosecute claims

Chambers v. TRM Copy Ctrs. Corp., 43 F.3d 29 (2d Cir. 1994) (summary judgment tests and limits on court factfinding)
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (U.S. 1986) (nonmovant cannot rely on pleadings to defeat summary judgment)
Crawford v. Cuomo, 796 F.3d 252 (2d Cir. 2015) (Eighth Amendment sexual abuse claim requires sexual motivation or intent to humiliate)