Michael J. Conlon v. United States

Appellant Michael J. Conlon appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment against him under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346 (b), 2671-2680. Conlon failed to respond to the government’s Request for Admissions within the thirty-day time frame set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36(a). Consequently, the United States by letter deemed its Request for Admissions admitted, and the government relied on those admissions when seeking summary judgment. We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Conlon’s motion to withdraw under Rule 36(b), and we affirm the district court’s entry of summary judgment. We are satisfied that the district court conducted an appropriate analysis under Rule 36, properly considering both the factors elucidated in the rule, and that it did not clearly err in concluding that the government’s case would have been significantly prejudiced by the withdrawal of Conlon’s sweeping admissions on the eve of trial.

I

In 1986, Conlon was sentenced to a twelve-year term of federal imprisonment, with an eight-year special parole term to follow. His parole was revoked four times between 1990 and…