Goss v. Shepherd

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided May 27, 2021·No. 2:21-cv-00234·Unknown

Opinion

1 WO JL 2 3 4 5 8 9 Brett William Goss, No. CV 21-00234-PHX-MTL (JFM) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 J. Adam Shepherd, et al., 13 14 Defendants.

15 16 On February 8, 2021, Kenneth James Myers and 40 others, who are all or were 17 confined in the Gila County Jail in Globe, Arizona, filed a pro se civil rights Complaint 18 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In a February 16, 2021 Order, the Court dismissed the action 19 and directed the Clerk of Court to open a new separate action on behalf of each Plaintiff. 20 The Court gave each Plaintiff 30 days to (1) pay the filing and administrative fees for his 21 individual case or file an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and a certified six- 22 month trust account statement and (2) file an amended complaint in his individual case. 23 This case was opened for Plaintiff Brett William Goss (hereinafter, “Plaintiff”). On 24 March 11, 2021, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint and an Application to Proceed 25 In Forma Pauperis. In a March 18, 2021 Order, the Court granted the Application to 26 Proceed and dismissed the First Amended Complaint with leave to amend because Plaintiff 27 had failed to state a claim. The Court gave Plaintiff 30 days to file a second amended 28 complaint that cured the deficiencies identified in the Order. 1 On April 1, 2021, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint. In an April 20, 2 2021 Order, the Court dismissed the Second Amended Complaint with leave to amend 3 because Plaintiff had failed to state a claim. The Court gave Plaintiff 30 days to file a third 4 amended complaint that cured the deficiencies identified in the Order. 5 On May 19, 2021, Plaintiff filed a Third Amended Complaint (Doc. 11). The Court 6 will require Defendant Shepherd to answer Count One of the Third Amended Complaint 7 and will dismiss the remaining claims and Defendants without prejudice. 8 I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 9 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 10 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 11 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 12 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which 13 relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from 14 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 15 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 16 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 17 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 18 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 19 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 20 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 21 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 22 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 23 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 24 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 25 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 26 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 27 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 28 1 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 2 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 3 But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts 4 must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 5 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent 6 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 7 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). 8 II. Third Amended Complaint 9 In his three-count Third Amended Complaint, Plaintiff sues Gila County Sheriff J. 10 Adam Shepherd, Jail Commander Justin Solberg, and Head Health Coordinator Penni 11 Padgett. Plaintiff asserts claims regarding his conditions of confinement. He seeks 12 monetary relief. 13 In Count One, Plaintiff alleges that from May 19, 2020 to the present, Defendant 14 Shepherd failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant 15 Shepherd has not mandated COVID-19 testing for detainees already housed in the Gila 16 County Jail or incoming detainees. Plaintiff claims Defendant Shepherd also has not 17 mandated that correctional staff or detainees wear masks and has not implemented 14-day 18 quarantine for incoming detainees. Plaintiff alleges that between May 19, 2020 and 19 January 2021, Defendant Shepherd never mandated the use of sanitizing products to clean 20 cells and never provided such products. Plaintiff asserts that in January and February 2021, 21 detainees “were contracting” COVID-19, and as a result, cells were cleaned and sanitized 22 three times in those two months. Plaintiff claims that Defendant Shepherd has not provided 23 detainees with proper masks “for protection” or provided space for social distancing, even 24 after detainees were released and space became available. Plaintiff alleges that due to 25 Defendant Shepherd’s inaction, Plaintiff contracted COVID-19 and lost his sense of smell 26 and taste. Plaintiff also had difficulty breathing and now suffers from post-traumatic stress 27 disorder and fatigue. 28 In Count Two, Plaintiff alleges that from May 19, 2020 to the present, Defendant 1 Solberg “has been in control of day to day operations” at the Jail. Plaintiff asserts that in 2 that time, Defendant Solberg has not quarantined incoming detainees. Plaintiff claims that 3 from August 2020 to January 2021, he asked Defendant Solberg “daily” for a “mask for 4 PPE,” but Solberg denied all his requests. Plaintiff alleges Defendant Solberg either told 5 him “no” or that he did not “need anything” or “simply ignore[d]” his requests. Plaintiff 6 asserts that Defendant Solberg also allowed “all food trays to travel through all pods” in 7 the Jail, whether those pods were “affected” by COVID-19 or not. 8 On January 20, 2021, Plaintiff became very ill. He asked Defendant Solberg for 9 PPE masks, a COVID-19 test, and to be quarantined. Defendant Solberg told Plaintiff it 10 was “not necessary” and that masks “were not being mandated.” On January 24, 2021, 11 Plaintiff tested positive for COVID-19. Plaintiff asked Defendant Solberg to be 12 quarantined, but Solberg told Plainitiff “that was not warranted.” Plaintiff claims that 13 because of Defendant Solberg’s actions, Plaintiff contracted COVID-19 and suffered the 14 injuries described in Count One. 15 In Count Three, Plaintiff alleges that beginning in August 2020, he asked Defendant 16 Padgett “several times” to be provided with a mask, but Padgett ignored his requests or 17 refused to provide him a mask. In January 2021, Defendant Padgett refused to quarantine 18 Plaintiff after he tested positive for COVID-19.

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