Christopher D. Warsaw v. Captain J. Garcia, CDCR A.W. - A May, Staff A. Perez

District Court, S.D. California·Decided August 3, 2026·No. 3:25-cv-01262·Unknown

Opinion

CHRISTOPHER D. WARSAW, Case No.: 25-cv-1262-JO-DDL

Plaintiff, REPORT AND v. RECOMMENDATION FOR ORDER GRANTING - A MAY, STAFF A. PEREZ, DISMISS Defendants. [Dkt. No. 25] The undersigned respectfully submits this Report and Recommendation to United States District Judge Jinsook Ohta pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Civil Local Rule 72.3. Plaintiff Christopher D. Warsaw (“Plaintiff”), an inmate at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (“RJD”), is proceeding pro se in this civil rights action. Before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint by Defendants A. Perez, J. Garcia, and A. May (collectively “Defendants”). Dkt. No. 25-1 (“MTD”). For the reasons stated below, the undersigned RECOMMENDS that the District Court GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss without leave to amend. / / / / / / I. A. Procedural History On February 13, 2025, Plaintiff filed his initial complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. Dkt. No. 1-4 at 13-39. Defendants removed the action to this Court on May 16, 2025. Id. On May 29, 2025, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for Failure to State a Claim. Dkt No. 2. On December 29, 2025, Judge Leshner issued a Report and Recommendation for Order Granting Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss with Leave to Amend. Dkt. No. 15. On February 27, 2026, Judge Ohta issued an Order Adopting the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. Dkt. No. 22. On March 20, 2026, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint. Dkt. No. 24. On April 9, 2026, Defendants filed the instant Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Claim for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (“IIED”) for Failure to State a Claim. Dkt. No. 25. On May 13, 2026, Plaintiff filed an opposition to Defendants’ MTD. Dkt. No. 34 (“Oppo.”). Defendants replied on June 15, 2026. Dkt. No. 36 (“Reply”). B. Complaint Allegations Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint alleges that he was denied access to the courts when he was preparing a habeas petition based on false evidence and that Defendants intentionally inflicted emotional and physical distress upon him. Dkt. No. 25 (“FAC”). Plaintiff alleges that he requested Officer Paul Devlin’s body worn camera (“BWC”) footage from a shooting incident involving Plaintiff because Officer Devlin provided false testimony at Plaintiff’s trial. Id. at 2. Plaintiff intended to use the evidence to demonstrate the misconduct surrounding his case for his habeas petition. Id. Plaintiff requested the BWC footage from the Inglewood Police Department, and Lieutenant Scott Collins responded and sent the footage. Id. at 3-4, 13. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants denied him access to the footage once it arrived and that Defendant A.W. May “was full[y] aware and determine[d] not to let Plaintiff have access to the CD footage.” Id. at 5, 8. Plaintiff notes that Defendants’ refusal to provide the footage prejudiced him and prevented him from accessing the courts. Id. at 11. Plaintiff further alleges that Defendants intentionally inflicted physical and emotional distress upon him due to their “extreme and outrageous conduct.” Id. at 16. Specifically, because Defendants knew that Plaintiff had a right “to communicate with all city, county, state and federal official[s] confidentially, including receiving legal mail from Lt. Scott Collins of the Inglewood Police Dept.,” and falsely identified the video footage as contraband, Defendants’ behavior was “extreme and outrageous.” Id. Plaintiff notes that he was never disciplined for receiving contraband materials and that Defendants knew their actions were “more than likely with a high probability of causing/inflicting distress.” Id. at 17. Plaintiff’s emotional distress damages include humiliation, suffering, pain, anger, frustration, and disgust. Id. Plaintiff does not plan to have anyone testify as to his emotional distress and is seeking $300,000 in damages. Id. C. Parties’ Positions Defendants argue that: Plaintiff fails to state a claim for which relief may be granted as to his state law claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress because there are no allegations showing Defendants acted with extreme and outrageous conduct with the intention of causing, or reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress. Dkt. No. 25 at 2. Plaintiff contends he adequately pleads that Defendants’ behavior constituted extreme and outrageous conduct, especially given the power imbalance between Plaintiff and Defendants. Oppo. at 1-2. Plaintiff further explains that the behavior was outrageous because (1) Plaintiff’s confidential communications with Lieutenant Collins were breached, (2) the BWC footage was returned before Plaintiff could exhaust his administrative remedies, (3) Defendant A. May smirked at Plaintiff and said he had sixty days to respond when Plaintiff asked why white inmates were allowed to view their discovery, but he was not, (4) the May 24, 2026 Office of Appeal decision contained lies about the ability to view the footage, (5) Defendants improperly labeled the footage as contraband, and (6) Defendants conceded that they violated Plaintiff’s right to access the courts.1 Id. at 3-4. Plaintiff further contends Defendants’ behavior was intended to inflict emotional distress and that he did in fact suffer “mental anguish, humiliation, emotional distress, anger, [and] frustration.” Id. at 5. Finally, Plaintiff contends that the cause of his emotional distress is directly linked to Defendants’ outrageous conduct. Id. at 7. Defendants reply that Plaintiff has failed to identify alleged actions that are extreme and outrageous. Reply at 1. Defendants note that Plaintiff does not allege that Defendants prevented him from communicating with Lieutenant Collins or disclosed Plaintiff’s communications with Lieutenant Collins to others. Id. at 2-3. Defendants further note that Plaintiff was provided with instructions on how he could arrange to see the BWC footage and that even if Defendants lied to Plaintiff as alleged, those lies “cannot support a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress because those actions are not extreme and outrageous.” Id. at 4. /// /// 1 Plaintiff filed his opposition to the MTD prior to receiving the Court’s order denying his Motion [to] Accept Concede by Defendants of Plaintiff Claim Access to the Court" [see Dkt. No. 28], and Motion to Compel Defendants to Answer [see Dkt. No. 32]. Dkt. No. 33. II. A motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) “tests the legal sufficiency of a claim.” Navarro v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir. 2001).2 To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007); Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). The court must “accept all allegations of material fact in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party,” Cedars-Sinai Med. Ctr. v. Nat’l League of Postmasters of U.S., 497 F.3d 972, 975 (9th Cir. 2007), but need not “accept as t

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