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govinfo:USCOURTS-ohsd-2_25-cv-00698-3

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio · 2026-05-29

· GavelSight synced 2026-09-06 03:50:48

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO 
EASTERN DIVISION 
 
HAROLD D. YOUNG, 
 
Plaintiff, 
 
v. 
 
CITY OF LOGAN, et al., 
 
Defendants. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
JUDGE DOUGLAS R. COLE 
Magistrate Judge Shimeall 
 
ORDER AND OPINION 
On February 6, 2026, the Court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s previous 
Report and Recommendation (Doc. 19), dismissing all of Plaintiff Harold Young’s 
claims except his Fourth Amendment unreasonable seizure claim against Defendant 
Officer Kyle Arnett in his individual capacity. (Op. & Order, Doc. 27 , #175 ). But 
because that dismissal rested on pleading defects, the Court dismissed without 
prejudice, and granted Young thirty -one days in which to seek leave to file an 
amended complaint if he wished to do so. ( Id. at #175–76). Young now seeks that 
leave. (See Mot. for Leave to File Am. Compl., Doc. 30). Defendants responded, ( see 
Resp., Doc. 31), and Young filed a memorandum in reply, ( see Doc. 33). Magistrate 
Judge Shimeall has reviewed the briefing and issued a new Report and 
Recommendation (R&R, Doc. 34), recommending the Court deny the motion for leave 
to file because Young’s proposed amended complaint fails to state a claim upon which 
relief can be granted, (id. at #230). Young did not object to that R&R, and the time to 
do so has since passed. For the reasons discussed briefly below, and especially in light 
of Young’s failure to object, the Court agrees with and ADOPTS the recommendation 
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(Doc. 34) and so DENIES Young’s Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint 
(Doc. 30) as futile. 
BACKGROUND 
 To briefly recount the facts of this case, Young alleges that Officer Arnett 
unlawfully took Young’s checks and gave them to a non-party to this lawsuit. (Compl., 
Doc. 18, #99–100). Based on that, Young brought several claims against both Officer 
Arnett and the City of Logan , the officer’s employer . ( Id. at #100–01). But Young 
failed to sufficiently plead most of those claims, so the Court dismissed them all 
except the Fourth Amendment unreasonable seizure claim against Officer Arnett in 
his individual capacity. (Doc. 27, #175). 
 Now, Young seeks to amend his Complaint to cure the deficiencies the Court 
identified in his claim under Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New 
York, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), against the City of Logan and his procedural due process 
claim against both Defendants. (See Doc. 30). But because Young is proceeding in 
forma pauperis, the Magistrate Judge screened the proposed amended complaint 
under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and issued an R&R . (Doc. 34 , #230 ). There he 
recommends denying leave to amend . (Id.). That is because the Magistrate Judge 
concluded that Young, once again, fails to allege the facts necessary to plausibly state 
his claims. (Id.). Indeed, the Magistrate Judge found that the proposed amended 
complaint—even considered in light of the additional facts raised in Young’s reply 
brief—fails to sufficiently allege the required elements of a Monell or a procedural 
due process claim. (Id. at #234). 
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Regarding the former, the Magistrate Judge found that while the new version 
of Young’s complaint at least narrows his claim to an alleged failure to train and 
supervise by the City , “it just recite s the elements of Monell, and the basic facts of 
what allegedly happened to him.” ( Id. at #235 –36). And even if one credits the 
additional facts Young included in his Reply (although typically only allegations in 
the proposed amended complaint itself count) , the Magistrate Judge found that 
Young at most alleges “one instance of one officer not following a procedure.” ( Id. at 
#236). And the problem is that “one officer’s failure to comply with a statute or rule 
is generally insufficient to show that the City was deliberately indifferent to a need 
to train officers.” (Id. (citing Harvey v. Campbell Cnty., Tenn., 453 F. App’x 557, 567 
(6th Cir. 2011))). So the R&R recommends dismissal of that claim. (Id. at #237). 
As for Young’s other attempted claim, which asserts a procedural due process 
violation, the Magistrate Judge found that Young likewise fails to plead a viable 
claim. ( Id.). That is because “to state a due process claim for the deprivation of 
property that resulted from a state employee’s ‘random and unauthorized act, ’ the 
plaintiff must allege facts showing that he lacked an adequate post -deprivation 
remedy to rectify the wrong.” (Id. at #238 (quoting Geer v. Ginocchio, No. 1:17-cv-214, 
2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86942, at *9 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 19, 2017) (R&R), adopted by 2017 
U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85784 (S.D. Ohio June 5, 2017 ))). Even assuming Young had a 
property interest in the checks Officer Arnett allegedly took , the Magistrate Judge 
found that Young failed to plead facts suggesting that state remedies were 
unavailable. (Id.). And regardless, the Magistrate Judge found that, as a matter of 
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law, Ohio has adequate post-deprivation process for the recovery of seized personal 
property. (Id.). 
Accordingly, the R&R recommends denying Young’s Motion for Leave to File 
Amended Complaint (Doc. 30). (Doc. 34, #239). The R&R also advised Young that he 
had 14 days to file specific written objections, noting that failing to do so may forfeit 
rights on appeal. (Id. at #239–40 (citing Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (1985))); see also 
Berkshire v. Dahl, 928 F.3d 520, 530 (6th Cir. 2019) (noting the “fail[ure] to file an[y] 
objection[s] to the magistrate judge’s R&R … [constitutes a] forfeiture” of such 
objections (emphasis omitted)); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). That meant Young needed 
to object by May 14, 2026. He did not do so. 
LEGAL STANDARD AND ANALYSIS 
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b)(3), “district courts review a [] 
[report and recommendation] de novo after a party files a timely objection .” Bates v. 
Ohio Dep’t of Rehab. & Corr. , No. 1:22 -cv-337, 2023 WL 4348835, at *1 (S.D. Ohio 
July 5, 2023). But that de novo review requirement extends only to “any portion to 
which a proper objection was made.” Id. (citation omitted). For unobjected portions of 
an R&R, by contrast, the plaintiff has forfeited his right to such review. Berkshire, 
928 F.3d at 530. Still, “the advisory committee notes to Federal Rule of Civil 
Procedure 72(b) suggest that the Court [] must ‘satisfy itself that there is no clear 
error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.’” Redmon v. 
Noel, No. 1:21-cv-445, 2021 WL 4771259, at *1 (S.D. Ohio Oct. 13, 2021) (collecting 
cases). 
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Here, Young has not objected to the R&R. And, having reviewed the R&R, the 
Court finds no clear error. The Court agrees that Young’s proposed amendment is 
futile as to both the Monell and procedural due process claims. While Young names 
various Monell theories, just as before, he still fails to point to any facts , other than 
the single instance of what allegedly happened to him , in support o f any failure to 
train or supervise claim. (See Proposed Am. Compl., Doc. 30-1, #197–98). That is not 
enough. Simply alleging that “the City of Logan failed to adequately train and 
supervise” its officers regarding “warrantless seizures of personal property,” with no 
accompanying details, does not allow the Court to plausibly infer from one alleged act 
that the City was deliberately indifferent to the need for training its officers . (Id.). 
And while his reply brief claims (for the first time) that Officer Arnett’s failure to log 
the checks into evidence violated the Logan Municipal Code, (Doc. 33, #223), the 
Court finds no clear error in the R&R’s conclusion that “one officer’s failure to comply 
with a statute or rule is generally insufficient to show that the City was deliberately 
indifferent to a need to train officers ,” (Doc. 34, #236 (citing Harvey, 453 F. App’x at 
567)). 
Nor does the Court find clear error in the R&R’s recommendation on the 
procedural due process claim. The Magistrate Judge correctly stated that such a 
claim requires that the plaintiff lack adequate post-deprivation remedies under state 
law, (id. at #238), and the Magistrate Judge committed no clear error in finding those 
remedies sufficiently available to Young here, ( id. at #239); Geer, 2017 U.S. Dist. 
LEXIS 86942, at *10–11 (discussing Ohio remedies for the return of seized property). 
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In sum, the R&R did not clearly err in finding that Young fails to state a Monell 
or due process claim. So the Court adopts the R&R in its entirety. That in turn means 
that Young’s Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint (Doc. 30) fails on futility 
grounds. 
CONCLUSION 
Finding no clear error , the Court adopts the R&R (Doc. 34) in its entirety. 
Accordingly, the Court DENIES Young’s Motion for Leave to File Amended 
Complaint (Doc. 30) as futile. 
SO ORDERED. 
 
May 29, 2026 
 
DATE DOUGLAS R. COLE 
 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
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