Opinion

Dudley v. Gonzales

Court
District Court, N.D. Texas
Filed
Jul 25, 2025
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 38.3%

The opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AMARILLO DIVISION

ROBERT STEVEN DUDLEY,

TDCJ-CID No. 1763466,

Plaintiff,

v. 2:23-CV-146-Z-BR

SENIOR WARDEN ADAM GONZALES,

etal.,

Defendants.

ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION

Before the Court are the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation (“FCR”) of the

United States Magistrate Judge to Grant Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment.

ECF No. 73. Plaintiff has filed objections to the FCR. ECF No. 74.

After making an independent review of the pleadings, files, records, and objections in

this case, the District Judge OVERRULES Petitioner’s Objections (ECF No. 74) and

concludes that the FCR of the Magistrate Judge is correct. ECF No. 73. It is therefore

ORDERED that the FCR of the Magistrate Judge is ADOPTED and this case is hereby

DISMISSED with prejudice.

LEGAL STANDARD

A party may serve and file objections to a non-dispositive magistrate judge’s order

“within 14 days after being served with a copy.” FED. R. CIv. P. 72(a). For these timely

objections, “[t]he district judge must determine de novo any part of the magistrate judge's

disposition that has been properly objected to.” FED. R. CIv. P. 72(b)(3). However, for

objections that are not filed within the 14-day period, the Court reviews the Magistrate

Judge’s findings and recommendations only for plain error. Serrano v. Customs & Border

Patrol, U.S. Customs & Border Prot., 975 F.3d 488, 502 (5th Cir. 2020).

ANALYSIS

Plaintiffs Objections are untimely, as they were not filed within the applicable

fourteen-day period set by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. FED. R. CIv. P. 72.

Accordingly, the Court reviews the Magistrate’s FCR only for plain error. Serrano, 975 F.3d

at 502.

Plaintiff (1) “objects to Defendants’ version of events,” as he believes that their

“statements don’t match” and thus “Defendants are committing acts of perjury and falsifying

documents”; (2) “objects to Defendants being granted qualified immunity”; and (3) “objects to

the legal analysis.” ECF No. 74 at 1-3. Plaintiff asserts that Defendants “are withholding or

destroyed” video footage of the attack and such footage “could prove his allegations.” Jd.

But Plaintiffs objections fail to reveal any plain error regarding the Magistrate

Judge’s FCR. As discussed in the FCR, among other things, (1) Plaintiffs “generalized

allegations are insufficient as a matter of law to establish deliberate indifference by any

Defendant”; (2) Plaintiff “has failed to provide evidence indicating deliberate indifference” by

Officer Stephanie Porras, Sergeant Luis Velarde, Officer Leo Ramirez, Captain Diana

Gonzales, or Assistant Warden William Jones; and (3) Plaintiff has “failed to meet his burden

to provide relevant case law sufficient to defeat summary judgment.” ECF No. 73 at 8-19.

Accordingly, Plaintiffs objections should be overruled and the Magistrate Judge’s FCR

should be adopted.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Petitioner’s Objections (ECF No. 74) are OVERRULED.

The Court ADOPTS the FCR of the Magistrate Judge (ECF No. 73) and GRANTS

Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 49). This case is DISMISSED with

prejudice.

SO ORDERED.

July LF o005 Seaver □□

MATTHEW J. KACSMARYK

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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