Huston 284061 v. Mardesich

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedFebruary 28, 2024
Docket2:23-cv-02203
StatusUnknown

This text of Huston 284061 v. Mardesich (Huston 284061 v. Mardesich) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Huston 284061 v. Mardesich, (D. Ariz. 2024).

Opinion

1 JL 2 WO 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Donald R. Huston, No. CV-23-02203-PHX-JAT (DMF) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 A. Mardesich, et al., 13 Defendants.

15 Plaintiff Donald R. Huston, who is confined in the Central Arizona Correctional 16 Facility, has filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Doc. 1) and 17 an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2). The Court will order Defendant 18 Mardesich to answer Count One of the Complaint and will dismiss Count Two and 19 Defendant Mendez without prejudice. 20 I. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Filing Fee 21 The Court will grant Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. 28 22 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Plaintiff must pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00. 28 U.S.C. 23 § 1915(b)(1). The Court will assess an initial partial filing fee of $168.60. The remainder 24 of the fee will be collected monthly in payments of 20% of the previous month’s income 25 credited to Plaintiff’s trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00. 26 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The Court will enter a separate Order requiring the appropriate 27 government agency to collect and forward the fees according to the statutory formula. 28 . . . . 1 II. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 2 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 3 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 4 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 5 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which 6 relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from 7 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 8 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 9 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 10 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 11 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 12 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 13 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 14 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 15 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 16 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 17 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 18 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 19 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 20 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 21 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 22 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 23 But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts 24 must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 25 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent 26 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 27 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). 28 . . . . 1 III. Complaint 2 In his two-count Complaint, Plaintiff sues Health Services Administrator L. Mendez 3 and “Contract Healthcare Provider Facility Healthcare Admin” A. Mardesich. Plaintiff 4 asserts claims regarding his medical care. He seeks compensatory and punitive damages, 5 as well as his legal costs for this case. 6 In Count One, Plaintiff alleges the following: 7 Plaintiff is incarcerated at the Central Arizona Correctional Facility, a private prison 8 operated by the GEO Group pursuant to a contract with the Arizona Department of 9 Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADC). In May 2020, Plaintiff underwent cataract 10 surgery on his right eye at Southwest Eye Center. On February 17, 2022, Plaintiff woke 11 up with a blind spot in his right eye. On February 20, 2022, Plaintiff submitted a health 12 needs request (HNR) for his diminished eyesight. At some point, Plaintiff saw an offsite 13 specialist, who determined that Plaintiff had a detached retina that required emergency 14 surgery. On March 4, 2022, Plaintiff submitted an HNR stating that the specialist had told 15 him that he needed emergency surgery. The same day, Defendant Mendez wrote in the 16 plan of action on the HNR, “Already scheduled.” On March 7, 2022, Plaintiff underwent 17 surgery to repair the detached retina. The surgeon ordered Plaintiff to return for additional 18 surgery. 19 On May 9, 2022, Plaintiff submitted an HNR stating that he could not see from his 20 right eye and wanted to ensure the follow-up surgery was scheduled. On May 10, 2022, 21 Plaintiff saw a nurse, who instructed Plaintiff to use an inmate letter, not an HNR, “for 22 these types of questions as they bog down her nursing line.” The same day, Plaintiff 23 submitted an Inmate Letter to the Health Services Administrator requesting the second 24 surgery. On May 13, 2022, Defendant Mardesich responded to the Inmate Letter, stating 25 that she had called the surgery scheduler and had confirmed that Plaintiff was scheduled 26 for the recommended eye surgery “soon.” 27 Plaintiff apparently stayed in observation in the medical unit because he was told he 28 was undergoing surgery the following day, but the next day, he was released to his housing 1 unit and was told the surgery was canceled because “GEO did not have the staff to transport 2 [Plaintiff] to surgery.” 3 On June 7, 2022, Plaintiff sent another Inmate Letter to “Medical” regarding the 4 surgery and eyedrops he needed to use before surgery. On June 13, 2022, the HSA 5 responded to the Inmate Letter, stating the surgery had been rescheduled, and the eye drops 6 had been reordered. 7 On June 27, 2022, Plaintiff underwent surgery for a detached retina with placement 8 of a NOS bubble in his right eye. Plaintiff did not receive the eye drops that he was 9 supposed to use before surgery. The surgeon told Plaintiff that the NOS bubble must be 10 released in six weeks. Plaintiff submitted two HNRs regarding the follow-up appointment 11 the surgeon had ordered, but he did not receive a response. On August 16, 2022, Plaintiff 12 submitted an Inmate Letter to “Medical” requesting care. The same day, Plaintiff sent an 13 Inmate Letter to the HSA requesting care. 14 On August 17, 2022, Plaintiff felt that the NOS bubble had ruptured.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Gardner v. Collins
27 U.S. 58 (Supreme Court, 1829)
Haines v. Kerner
404 U.S. 519 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Rizzo v. Goode
423 U.S. 362 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Hebbe v. Pliler
627 F.3d 338 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Powell v. Alexander
391 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2004)
Ivey v. Board of Regents of University of Alaska
673 F.2d 266 (Second Circuit, 1982)
Michael Henry Ferdik v. Joe Bonzelet, Sheriff
963 F.2d 1258 (Ninth Circuit, 1992)
Farmer v. Brennan
511 U.S. 825 (Supreme Court, 1994)
In re Summit Corp.
891 F.2d 1 (First Circuit, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Huston 284061 v. Mardesich, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/huston-284061-v-mardesich-azd-2024.