Helvy v. Paramo

District Court, S.D. California·Decided September 11, 2020·No. 3:20-cv-01144·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 FRED WAYNE HELVY, Case No.: 3:20-cv-01144 JAH-MSB CDCR #H-72048, 12 ORDER DISMISSING FIRST Plaintiff, 13 AMENDED COMPLAINT vs. PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) 14 AND § 1915A(b)(1)

15 DANIEL PARAMO, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 19 20 21 I. Procedural History 22 On June 22, 2020, Frank Wayne Helvy (“Plaintiff”), incarcerated at California 23 Medical Facility (“CMF”) located in Vacaville, California, filed a civil rights Complaint 24 filed pursuant to 22 U.S.C. § 1983 (ECF No. 1). In addition, he filed a Motion to Proceed 25 In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (ECF No. 2). 26 On July 8, 2020, the Court GRANTED Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP and 27 DISMISSED his Complaint for failing to state a claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) 28 and § 1915A(b)(1) (ECF No. 3). 1 Plaintiff was granted leave to file an amended pleading in order to correct the 2 deficiencies of pleading identified in the Court’s Order. (See id.) On August 27, 2020, 3 Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (ECF No. 5.) 4 II. Sua Sponte Screening per 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A 5 A. Standard of Review 6 Because Plaintiff is a prisoner and is proceeding IFP, his FAC requires a pre- 7 answer screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A(b). Under these 8 statutes, the Court must sua sponte dismiss a prisoner's IFP complaint, or any portion of 9 it, which is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, or seeks damages from defendants 10 who are immune. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) 11 (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)); Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 12 2010) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)). “The purpose of [screening] is ‘to ensure that 13 the targets of frivolous or malicious suits need not bear the expense of responding.’” 14 Nordstrom v. Ryan, 762 F.3d 903, 920 n.1 (9th Cir. 2014) (citations omitted). 15 “The standard for determining whether a plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon 16 which relief can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the same as the Federal Rule of 17 Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a claim.” Watison v. Carter, 668 18 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012); see also Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th 19 Cir. 2012) (noting that screening pursuant to § 1915A “incorporates the familiar standard 20 applied in the context of failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 12(b)(6)”). Rule 12(b)(6) requires a complaint “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted 22 as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 23 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted); Wilhelm, 680 F.3d at 1121. 24 Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the 25 elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” 26 Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 27 relief [is] ... a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its 28 judicial experience and common sense.” Id. The “mere possibility of misconduct” or 1 “unadorned, the defendant-unlawfully-harmed me accusation[s]” fall short of meeting 2 this plausibility standard. Id.; see also Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 3 (9th Cir. 2009). 4 C. Plaintiff’s Allegations 5 Plaintiff alleges that he was in the Enhanced Outpatient Program (“EOP”) while he 6 was housed at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (“RJD”) in 2017. (See FAC 7 at 3.) On April 1, 2017, Plaintiff was issued a Rules Violation Report (“RVR”) based on 8 allegations of inappropriate behavior with his “assigned clinician,” Defendant Obregon. 9 (Id. at 3, 20.) On April 28, 2017, the “disciplinary hearing was held with [Defendant] 10 Soto as the hearing officer.” (Id. at 5.) Plaintiff alleges he “presented a 9-page defense 11 packet” but “a guilt finding was given based on corrupted application of the ‘some 12 evidence’ standard.” (Id.) 13 On May 23, 2017, Plaintiff claims that his “evening meal was disrupted by 14 [Defendant] Mesa who escorted Plaintiff to the P.S.U. building in cuffs.” (Id. at 6.) 15 Plaintiff further claims that Defendant Larios “rolled up” his personal property and he 16 was given an inventory property form to sign. (Id.) Plaintiff was “taken to Ad-Seg and 17 ordered to strip out.” (Id. at 7.) 18 On June 1, 2017, Plaintiff appeared before the Institution Classification Committee 19 (“ICC”) and was informed that he would be “retained 45 days in Ad-Seg for the staff 20 threat investigation.” (Id.) On July 3, 2017, Plaintiff “received the disciplinary hearing 21 results.” (Id.) On August 2, 2017, Plaintiff “was informed a staff separation order was 22 granted and transfer was recommended.” (Id. at 8.) Plaintiff was transferred to CMF on 23 August 27, 2017. (Id. at 9.) On September 22, 2017, when Plaintiff went to pick up his 24 personal property, he “discovered that over $500 worth was missing.” (Id. at 10.) 25 Plaintiff seeks “monetary damages, compensatory and punitive damages in an 26 amount to be determined at trial” and injunctive relief in the form of expunging the “guilt 27 finding” following the disciplinary hearing. (Id. at 17.) 28 / / / 1 D. Retaliation claims 2 Plaintiff alleges that Defendants “initiated a retaliatory series of adverse actions 3 solely to punish the Plaintiff for attempting to pursue his United States constitutional 4 rights.” (Id. at 14.) 5 Allegations of retaliation against a prisoner’s First Amendment rights to speech or 6 to petition the government may support a 1983 claim. Rizzo v. Dawson, 778 F.2d 527, 7 532 (9th Cir. 1985); see also Valandingham v. Bojorquez, 866 F.2d 1135 (9th Cir. 1989); 8 Pratt v. Rowland, 65 F.3d 802, 807 (9th Cir. 1995). 9 A retaliation claim has five elements. Brodheim v. Cry, 584 F.3d 1262, 1269 (9th 10 Cir. 2009). First, Plaintiff must allege that the retaliated-against conduct is protected. 11 Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 1108, 1114 (9th Cir. 2012). Second, Plaintiff must allege 12 Defendants took adverse action against him.1 Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d 559, 567 (9th 13 Cir. 2005). Third, Plaintiff must allege a causal connection between the adverse action 14 and the protected conduct.2 Watison, 668 F.3d at 1114.

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