Bellamy v. State of Kansas

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Decided: August 8, 2024
• Docket: 23-3259
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT August 8, 2024 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court RONNIE ALLEN BELLAMY, JR.,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 23-3259 (D.C. No. 5:23-CV-03051-JWL) STATE OF KANSAS; JEFF ZMUDA; (D. Kan.) KANSAS CIVIL SERVICE; KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; CHANDLER CHEEKS; NICOLAUS BALL; BRETT PETERSON; UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS CENTURION; WESLEY MEDICAL CENTER; EL DORADO CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; LANSING CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; CENTURION MEDICAL SERVICES; DEREK SCHMIDT; (FNU) (LNU), 1; DENISE SISCO; (FNU) (LNU), 2; DANIELLE D. WAGNER; JAMES ENGLIS; LARRY WAGNER; ALEX J. ELLISON; CHRISTOPHER HUNT; ANDREW PARKS; DANIEL EAST; KINCAID WILLARD SCOTT; KANSAS CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION; KANSAS BAR ASSOCIATION; LEGAL SERVICES FOR PRISONERS; (FNU) (LNU), 3; DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION; JOINT COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE; WYANDOTTE COUNTY, KANSAS,

Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 2

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________

Before HOLMES, Chief Judge, HARTZ, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

Ronnie Allen Bellamy, Jr., a Kansas state prisoner appearing pro se, appeals

the district court’s judgment dismissing his civil rights action brought under

42 U.S.C. § 1983 and its order denying his post-judgment motion. Exercising

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand

for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Mr. Bellamy’s initial complaint in this case advanced multiple and varied

claims against multiple defendants. Because he proceeded in forma pauperis (“IFP”),

the district court screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) and ordered him

to show cause why the action should not be dismissed for reasons detailed in the

order. In the alternative, the court permitted him to file an amended complaint.

Mr. Bellamy filed an amended complaint. The court determined the amended

complaint was also deficient and again ordered Mr. Bellamy to either show cause

* After examining the brief and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 2 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 3

why the action should not be dismissed or file an amended complaint curing the

deficiencies.

Mr. Bellamy then filed a second amended complaint (“SAC”), naming five

defendants: the State of Kansas; the Kansas Department of Corrections (“KDOC”);

the Kansas Secretary of Corrections, Jeff Zmuda; and corrections officers Larry

Wagner and James Englis. Mr. Bellamy claimed his custody was in violation of the

Constitution because his state sentence had been vacated in 1991. He also alleged he

was attacked four times at the Lansing Correctional Facility (“LCF”) due to

defendants’ failure to protect him and that defendants did not provide him with

proper medical care for the serious injuries he sustained. Mr. Bellamy asserted that

these actions and omissions violated his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The district court dismissed Mr. Bellamy’s challenges to his state sentence,

concluding that (1) he had to present his challenge to the sentence’s validity in an

application for habeas corpus and (2) Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486–87

(1994), barred his claim for monetary damages related to his sentence because he had

not shown the sentence had been overturned, reversed, or otherwise called into

question. The court dismissed his claims against the State of Kansas and the KDOC

based on Eleventh Amendment immunity. And it dismissed the claims against

Secretary Zmuda for failure to allege he personally participated in any constitutional

deprivations. However, the district court determined it could not screen the

remaining Eighth Amendment claims without additional information from LCF

officials. It therefore ordered them to file an investigative report pursuant to

3 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 4

Martinez v. Aaron, 570 F.2d 317 (10th Cir. 1978).1 The court’s order left two

remaining defendants, Officers Wagner and Englis.

After the Martinez report was filed, the district court screened Mr. Bellamy’s

remaining claims, which involved prison officials’ Eighth Amendment duties to

guarantee inmate safety, see Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832–33 (1994), and to

refrain from “the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain,” Estelle v. Gamble,

429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976) (internal quotation marks omitted). The court described the

Martinez report as showing: (1) Mr. Bellamy “received prompt and ongoing medical

and mental health treatment at all times relevant to his [SAC]”; (2) prison “staff were

not aware of any fears expressed by [Mr. Bellamy] and did not have knowledge of

any threat towards [his] safety prior to any of the altercations”; (3) after prison staff

“received information leading to a possible cause of the attacks—drug debts—[staff]

took steps to ensure [Mr. Bellamy’s] safety by placing him in extended restrictive

housing until the situation had been resolved”; and (4) Mr. Bellamy “signed

protective custody waivers each time he was released to general population.”

R. vol. II at 314. The court informed Mr. Bellamy that “[i]n light of the [Martinez]

Report, the Court is considering dismissal of this matter for failure to state a claim.”

Id. at 315. In particular, the court determined that Mr. Bellamy had not yet shown

one component of the deliberate-indifference test applicable to his remaining Eighth

1 “A Martinez report is a judicially authorized investigative report prepared by prison officials to help the court determine if a pro se prisoner’s allegations have any factual or legal basis.” Simkins v. Bruce, 406 F.3d 1239, 1241 n.2 (10th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation marks omitted). 4 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 5

Amendment claims—“that any defendant was both aware of facts from which the

inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm existed and also drew

the inference.” Id. (discussing Farmer, Estelle, and their progeny). The court

therefore ordered Mr. Bellamy to show cause why it should not dismiss his action.

Mr. Bellamy then filed three documents (ECF Nos. 42, 44, and 46), which the

district court construed as his response to the final show-cause order. After

summarizing those documents, the court concluded Mr. Bellamy had not shown

deliberate indifference by any defendant. It therefore dismissed all his Eighth

Amendment claims for failure to state a claim and dismissed the action.

Mr. Bellamy filed a motion to reconsider, which the district court denied.

Mr. Bellamy appeals.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

We review de novo a district court’s decision to dismiss a prisoner complaint

pursuant to § 1915A(b)(1) for failure to state a claim. Young v. Davis, 554 F.3d

1254, 1256 (10th Cir. 2009). “We must accept all the well-pleaded allegations of the

complaint as true and must construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.”

Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual

matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.”

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). To

meet this standard, the plaintiff must “plead[] factual content that allows the court to

draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct

alleged.” Id. Because Mr. Bellamy is pro se, we construe his pleadings liberally, but

5 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 6

we may not act as his advocate. See Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir.

1991).

III. DISCUSSION

Even liberally construing Mr. Bellamy’s appellate brief, we discern no

adequately developed arguments regarding the district court’s dismissal of (1) his

claim that his continued confinement was unconstitutional because his sentence had

been invalidated in 1991; (2) his claim for monetary damages related to his sentence

based on the Heck bar; (3) his claims against the State of Kansas and the KDOC

based on Eleventh Amendment immunity; (4) his claims against Secretary Zmuda for

failure to allege personal participation in the alleged constitutional deprivations;

(5) his Eighth Amendment claims regarding medical care; or (6) his Eighth

Amendment claims regarding three of the four attacks at LCF. Mr. Bellamy has

therefore waived his opportunity to contest those rulings. See Sawyers v. Norton,

962 F.3d 1270, 1286 (10th Cir. 2020) (“Issues not raised in the opening brief are

deemed abandoned or waived . . . [as are] arguments that are inadequately presented

. . . .” (internal quotation marks omitted)).2

We do, however, construe Mr. Bellamy’s brief as adequately challenging the

district court’s dismissal of his Eighth Amendment claim regarding the third of the

2 Mr. Bellamy also complains about an earlier appeal he filed in this court that involved a different attack on him at a different correctional facility. That appeal was dismissed for failure to prosecute. See Bellamy v. Cline, No. 22-3106, slip op. at 2 (10th Cir. July 20, 2022). Such complaints are not grounds for appeal in this case.

6 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 7

four attacks, which occurred on September 29, 2022. As to that attack, Mr. Bellamy

reiterates allegations in the SAC that Officer Wagner opened Mr. Bellamy’s cell door

“so that another resident could attempt to murder [Mr. Bellamy] at knifepoint,” and

Officer Wagner “conspired to commit murder by opening [the cell] door knowing

what was going on and why.” Aplt. Br. at 2.3 Mr. Bellamy also alleged Officer

Englis “showed some misleading video to [the] attacker” and was equally

“responsible for putting [Mr. Bellamy’s] life in danger.” Id. He directs us to the

“body of [his] Complaints for proof-details.” Id. at 9.

We treat these allegations as an argument that Mr. Bellamy alleged sufficient

facts in the SAC regarding the September 29 attack to state a claim for relief against

Officers Englis and Wagner based on a breach of the “duty to protect prisoners from

violence at the hands of other prisoners,” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 833 (ellipsis omitted).

To prevail on a failure-to-protect claim, Mr. Bellamy would have to show “that the

conditions of his incarceration present an objective substantial risk of serious harm”

and that “prison officials had subjective knowledge of the risk of harm, in other

words, an official must both be aware of the facts from which the inference could be

drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the

inference.” Requena v. Roberts, 893 F.3d 1195, 1214 (10th Cir. 2018) (brackets and

internal quotation marks omitted).

3 We cite the brief by the pdf page number at the top right corner. 7 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 8

As best we understand the SAC, Mr. Bellamy alleged that the day before the

September 29 attack, Officer Englis opened the door of the attacker’s cell so another

inmate could steal from the attacker. Officer Englis then showed the attacker and his

cellmate surveillance video of the theft and of the thief going into a gang member’s

cell and then Mr. Bellamy’s cell, which evidently implicated Mr. Bellamy in the

theft. To cover up Officer Englis’s role in the theft, Officer Englis conspired with

Officer Wagner to open Mr. Bellamy’s cell door for the attacker “so that [the] knife

wielding inmate . . . could gain entry into [Mr. Bellamy’s] room and stab him in an

attempt to murder [Mr. Bellamy].” R. vol. 2 at 295 (capitalization normalized).

Mr. Bellamy further alleged Officer Wagner “let the inmate try to murder

[Mr. Bellamy] by opening [Mr. Bellamy’s] door with those intentions,”

id. (capitalization normalized and spelling corrected), and “knowing that” stabbing

Mr. Bellamy “was the reason” the attacker sought access to Mr. Bellamy’s cell, id.

at 305 (capitalization normalized).

In its dismissal order, the district court did not analyze any of these

allegations.4 We conclude that if proven, they are sufficient to show (1) there was a

4 The only allegation related to any of the four attacks the district court analyzed was that, after the last attack on October 7, 2022, Mr. Bellamy was forced to walk to medical instead of being transported on a stretcher or gurney, and because he had a concussion, it was wrong to place him in a crisis cell unattended. The court concluded that although Mr. Bellamy alleged prison staff “should have known that he should not have been walking, arguing that a defendant ‘should have known’ is insufficient” to meet the deliberate-indifference test. R. vol. III at 95. The court then concluded Mr. Bellamy had not shown deliberate indifference regarding any of his Eighth Amendment claims.

8 Appellate Case: 23-3259 Document: 010111091944 Date Filed: 08/08/2024 Page: 9

substantial risk of serious harm if the attacker gained access to Mr. Bellamy’s cell;

(2) Officers Englis and Wagner were aware of facts from which an inference could be

drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm existed—the officers knew that the

attacker would attempt to kill Mr. Bellamy, ostensibly for his role in the theft; and

(3) Officers Englis and Wagner drew the inference because they conspired to allow—

and Officer Wagner did allow—the armed attacker into the cell, intending to give the

attacker a chance to kill Mr. Bellamy. The district court therefore erred in dismissing

this claim for failure to state a claim for relief.5

IV. CONCLUSION

We reverse the district court’s judgment solely with respect to the dismissal of

Mr. Bellamy’s Eighth Amendment failure-to-protect claim against Officers Englis

and Wagner regarding the September 29 attack. Accordingly, we remand for further

proceedings on that claim only. In all other respects we affirm the district court’s

judgment. We grant Mr. Bellamy’s motion to proceed IFP on appeal.

Entered for the Court

Jerome A. Holmes Chief Judge

5 We note that in the Martinez report, Officers Wagner and Englis dispute Mr. Bellamy’s version of events. But the district court may not resolve disputed factual issues at the pleading stage. See Hall, 935 F.2d at 1109 (“Although a court may consider the Martinez report in dismissing a claim [for failure to state a claim for relief], it cannot resolve material disputed factual issues by accepting the report’s factual findings when they are in conflict with pleadings or affidavits.” (citations omitted)). Furthermore, “[a] bona fide factual dispute exists even when the plaintiff’s factual allegations that are in conflict with the Martinez report are less specific or well-documented than those contained in the report.” Id. 9