Hill v. Torrazaz

CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedAugust 24, 2023
Docket5:23-cv-03198
StatusUnknown

This text of Hill v. Torrazaz (Hill v. Torrazaz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hill v. Torrazaz, (D. Kan. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

DEVENION SENTELL HILL, JR.,

Plaintiff,

v. CASE NO. 23-3198-JWL

(FNU) TERRAZAZ, et al.,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Plaintiff Devenion Sentell Hill, Jr., a pretrial detainee who is housed at the Wyandotte County Detention Center (WCDC) in Kansas City, Kansas, filed this pro se civil action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. 1.) His fee status is pending. (See Doc. 4.) The Court has reviewed the complaint and identified certain deficiencies that are set forth below and that leave the complaint subject to dismissal in its entirety. The Court will allow Plaintiff time to file a complete and proper amended complaint curing these deficiencies. If Plaintiff fails to do so in the allotted time, this matter will be dismissed without further prior notice to Plaintiff. I. Nature of the Matter before the Court Plaintiff names as Defendants Major (fnu) Terrazaz of the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office; Deputy Sheriffs L. Slopski, (fnu) Jolly, M. Johnson, and (fnu) Ramirez; and Wellpath Medical, the WCDC “medical provider.” (Doc. 1, p. 1-2, 4.) As the factual background for this complaint, Plaintiff alleges that when the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department brought him to WCDC1, he was taken to intake and Defendant Slopski kneed Plaintiff in his right leg/thigh in

1 On page 2 of the complaint, Plaintiff alleges this happened on March 1, 2023, but on page 3 of the complaint, he alleges this happened on May 1, 2023. retaliation for Plaintiff “expressing [his First] Amendment right.” Id. at 3. In March 20232, Defendants Johnson and Ramirez did not provide Plaintiff with food. Id. Plaintiff has bipolar disorder. Id. at 7. On or around March 16, 2023, Plaintiff’s medication was discontinued by the medical staff for “misuse of authorized medication.” Id. at 7. At some point between May 25 and 28, 2023, Plaintiff spoke with mental health providers and the WCDC

doctor, seeking to reestablish his medication. He began to receive the medication again the following day, but between June 12, 2023 and June 18, 2023, he “had a manic/mania episode” that led to Defendant Jolly citing him for “conduct which disrupts, disturbs or interferes with security or orderly operations,” threatening an employee, battery, and refusing to obey or disobeying an order of a Sheriff’s Office employee. Id. It appears that Plaintiff was on restriction at the time of the incident. Id. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that at 9:30 a.m. on June 29, 2023, Defendants Terrazaz and Slopski took Plaintiff to the medical unit and something may have occurred that led to Defendant Terrazaz filing criminal charges against Plaintiff. Id. at 2. As Count I of the complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Slopski maliciously kneed

him in retaliation for expressing his First Amendment rights. Id. at 3. As Count II, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Johnson “went three days without feeding [Plaintiff].” Id. As Count III, Plaintiff alleges that when he arrived at WCDC, he informed Wellpath of his bipolar disorder and the medication he took for it, but after three days, his medication was stopped and it was not reinstated until late May 2023. Id. at 5. As relief, Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief; $48,000.00 in punitive damages; $35,000.00 in compensatory damages; and $16,000.00 in nominal damages. Id. at 8.

2 On pages 2 and 3 of the complaint, Plaintiff alleges that he was not fed from March 6, 2023 through March 8, 2023. But on pages 6 and 7, Plaintiff alleges that the denial of food occurred beginning on March 3, 2023 and lasted three days but was “only [at] lunch time.” II. Screening Standards Because Plaintiff is a prisoner, the Court is required by statute to screen his amended complaint and to dismiss it or any portion thereof that is frivolous, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks relief from a defendant immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) and (b); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); Forney v. Oklahoma, 172 F.3d 878 (10th Cir. 1999)

(unpublished order and judgment) (applying 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) to complaint brought by pretrial detainee). During this screening, the Court liberally construes this pro se amended complaint and holds it to “less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007). In addition, the Court accepts all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true. Anderson v. Blake, 469 F.3d 910, 913 (10th Cir. 2006). On the other hand, the Court “will not supply additional factual allegations to round out a plaintiff’s complaint or construct a legal theory on plaintiff’s behalf.” See Whitney v. New Mexico, 113 F.3d 1170, 1173-74 (10th Cir. 1997). “To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege the violation of a right secured by

the Constitution and laws of the United States, and must show that the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law.” West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48-49 (1988) (citations omitted); Northington v. Jackson, 973 F.2d 1518, 1523 (10th Cir. 1992). “[W]hen the allegations in a complaint, however true, could not raise a claim of entitlement to relief,” dismissal is appropriate. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 558 (2007). Furthermore, a pro se litigant’s “conclusory allegations without supporting factual averments are insufficient to state a claim upon which relief can be based.” Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). “[A] plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citations omitted.) The Court must determine whether Plaintiff has “nudge[d] his claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” See Smith v. United States, 561 F.3d 1090, 1098 (10th Cir. 2009) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “Plausible” in this context refers “to the scope of the allegations in a complaint: if they are so general that they encompass a wide swath of conduct,

much of it innocent,” then the plaintiff has not met his or her burden. Robbins v. Okla., 519 F.3d 1242, 1247 (10th Cir. 2008) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). III. Discussion A. Joinder Some or all of the claims in the complaint are subject to dismissal because Plaintiff appears to have improperly joined parties and/or unrelated claims in this action. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure3 20(a)(2) governs permissive joinder of defendants and pertinently provides: (2) Defendants. Persons . . . may be joined in one action as defendants if: (A) any right to relief is asserted against them jointly, severally, or in the alternative with respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences; and (B) any question of law or fact common to all defendants will arise in the action.

Rule 18(a) governs joinder of claims and pertinently provides: “A party asserting a claim . . . may join . . .

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Bluebook (online)
Hill v. Torrazaz, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-torrazaz-ksd-2023.