Circuit Watcher

06-1626 Blair v. City of Worcester
STAHL, Senior Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs-appellants Brandon S. Blair and Richard N. Tousignant (”plaintiffs”) appeal the district court’s dismissal of two separate actions in favor of defendants City of Worcester, Massachusetts (”City”), former Worcester Chief of Police James Gallagher, and Worcester Police Officers Daniel Dowd, Thomas Dowd, Thomas C. Duffy, Falcone¹, Edward McGinn, James Moore, Jose Ortiz, Jonathan Thomas, and Peter Towler (collectively, “defendants”).² The plaintiffs, in separate complaints that were later consolidated, alleged that they were attacked and beaten by Worcester police officers, for which they sought recovery against the defendants under myriad legal theories. In an initial action, the district court granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss, without prejudice, for failure to perfect service of process. After the plaintiffs refiled their claims in a second action, the district court granted the defendant officers’ motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim, holding that the matter was time-barred. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings. … Blair v. City of Worcester.

1. The first name of Officer Falcone is unclear. [↩]
2. We note that the City of Worcester, Chief Gallagher, and Officer Thomas were not named in the second action. Moreover, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed Falcone from the second action on August 29, 2006. Finally, the plaintiffs have abandoned their claims with respect to Chief Gallagher and the City. Where these distinctions matter, we refer to the remaining defendants as the “defendant officers.” [↩]