Opinion ID: 442029
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: THE FAILURE TO ALLOW TYLER TO RESPOND TO McCONNELL'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Text: 25 Tyler argues that he was denied due process because the district court did not allow him to respond to McConnell's summary judgment motion but rather granted the motion immediately after it was filed. The district court's docket sheet confirms that Judge Wright did enter summary judgment for McConnell on December 7, one day after McConnell filed his motion. 26 McConnell acknowledges that it is generally error for a trial court to enter summary judgment without giving the nonmoving party an opportunity to respond. He argues, however, that this court has previously applied a harmless error rule in such a situation and that the district court's error here was harmless. 27 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) provides that a motion for summary judgment must be served at least 10 days before the time fixed for a hearing to afford the non-moving party an opportunity to serve counteraffidavits. As a general rule this circuit has required strict adherence to the ten-day notice requirement in Rule 56(c). See, e.g., Jensen v. Klecker, 599 F.2d 243, 245 (8th Cir.1979); Winfrey v. Brewer, 570 F.2d 761, 764 (8th Cir.1978); Ailshire v. Darnell, 508 F.2d 526, 528 (8th Cir.1974). However, in Kelsey v. State of Minnesota, 565 F.2d 503, 506 n. 2 (8th Cir.1977), and in Green v. White, 693 F.2d 45, 47 (8th Cir.1982), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 2464, 77 L.Ed.2d 1341 (1983), this court recognized that the ten-day notice requirement can be waived and is subject to the harmless error rule. Other circuits have also recognized a harmless error exception to Rule 56(c)'s ten-day notice requirement. E.g., Hoopes v. Equifax, Inc., 611 F.2d 134, 135-36 (6th Cir.1979); Ikerd v. Lapworth, 435 F.2d 197, 203 (7th Cir.1970); accord 6 J. Moore, W. Taggart & J. Wicker, Moore's Federal Practice p 56.14, at 56-357 (2d ed. 1983). 28 In this case the district court's failure to give Tyler an opportunity to respond to McConnell's motion for summary judgment was harmless error. In his summary judgment motion filed on December 6, McConnell argued that Tyler was barred by collateral estoppel from relitigating the destruction of evidence claim. An examination of the district court docket sheet and the record reveals that on September 10, 1980, Harper filed a motion for summary judgment in which he presented the same argument: that the destruction of evidence claim was barred by collateral estoppel. He renewed the motion on September 1, 1983, again presenting the same argument. On three separate occasions Tyler filed responses to Harper's motion for summary judgment in which he challenged the applicability of collateral estoppel (see docket entries on September 30, 1980, August 19, 1981, and September 16, 1983). He also submitted numerous affidavits and transcripts in an effort to show that his evidence destruction claim was not fully and fairly litigated in the state criminal proceeding. Tyler was not prejudiced by the district court's failure to give him one more opportunity to demonstrate that collateral estoppel should not bar the claim. 29