Gwen v. Unknown Parties

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided July 27, 2022·No. 2:21-cv-02211·Unknown

Opinion

MDR WO Gerald Vaughn Gwen, No. CV 21-02211-PHX-JAT (JFM) Plaintiff, v. ORDER Yavapai County Jail Medical Providers, et al., Defendants.

Pro se Plaintiff Gerald Vaughn Gwen is confined in CoreCivic’s Red Rock Correctional Center and is proceeding in forma pauperis. After the Court dismissed Plaintiff’s civil rights Complaint because he had failed to state a claim, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint. The Court dismissed the First Amended Complaint because Plaintiff had again failed to state a claim and gave Plaintiff an opportunity to file a second amended complaint that cured the deficiencies the Court identified. On June 13, 2022, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 15). The Court will order Defendant Becky P. to answer the portion of Count One regarding her July 2020 response to Plaintiff’s July 2020 grievance and her related failure to provide medical care, order Defendant Caholico to answer the portion of Count One regarding his November 2020 response to Plaintiff’s medical concerns regarding his weight and coronavirus-like symptoms, and dismiss the remaining claims and Defendants without prejudice. I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). . . . . II. Second Amended Complaint In his two-count Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiff sues Defendants Yavapai County Jail Medical Providers, Dr. Leon Caholico, Health Services Administrator Becky P., and Jail Commander Captain Newnun. Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief and monetary damages. In Count One, Plaintiff alleges a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights regarding his medical care. He contends Defendants Caholico, Becky P., and Newnun, acting “pursuant to a policy, custom or practice,” were deliberately indifferent to Plaintiff’s serious medical needs when they “refused to provide reasonably necessary medical care or medical treatment or access to medical services.” (Doc. 15 at 3.)1 He claims Defendants had “actual knowledge of a subjectively serious medical condition to Plaintiff[’s] spine diagnosed by an independent phys[ic]ian [and] were indifferent to the impending harm, easily preventable.” (Id.) Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that on July 17, 2020, he told “the medical services provider” that he was concerned about his weight loss and that he was experiencing severe pain in his neck, shoulder, and back. (Id. at 5.) Four days later, Plaintiff met with a medical counselor, not a physician, and discussed his weight loss, neck injury, and inability to sleep because of his pain. (Id.) The medical counselor stated that he would discuss Plaintiff’s problems with the “appropriate parties” and would respond within a week. (Id.) Plaintiff contends that on July 27, 2020, Defendant Newnun responded to an “Appeal of Grievance,” that allegedly gave him “constructive notice of practices that violated Plaintiff[’]s constitutional rights.” (Id. at 6.) He claims Defendant Newnun “failed to act on the knowledge provided to him” and, “by denying Plaintiff’s appeal,” acquiesced to the deprivation of Plaintiff’s “right to be free from deliberate indifference.” (Id.) . . . .

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Gwen v. Unknown Parties, (D. Ariz. 2022).

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