United States First Circuit

In an inmate's civil rights suit against various corrections officers, claiming they used excessive force against him, district court's dismissal of the suit on res judicata grounds is affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded where: 1) the case is remanded for the district court to consider whether the inmate failed to exhaust all administrative remedies available to him before initiating his federal action; 2) district court's dismissal of the official-capacity claim as to the February 28, 2004 incident against all defendants is affirmed; 3) district court's dismissal of the personal-capacity claim against those defendants already named as personal-capacity defendants in the state case is affirmed; but 4) as to the personal-capacity claims against those defendants whose party status in the state case remains unclear, the dismissal is reversed and remanded; and 5) as to the claims concerning the events of August 18, 2004, and March 2, 2005, the dismissal is reversed and remanded so that the district court may, depending on the resolution of the exhaustion issue, consider whether Puerto Rico law would preclude claims arising out of post-complaint events that could have been but were not incorporated into the state case through an amended complaint.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/16/2010
• Published 12/16/2010

Judges

• HOWARD

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Victor J. Quiñones, Irene S. Soroeta-Kodesh