Jack Leroy Carroll v. Ralph Diaz

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedMay 27, 2022
Docket2:22-cv-02742
StatusUnknown

This text of Jack Leroy Carroll v. Ralph Diaz (Jack Leroy Carroll v. Ralph Diaz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jack Leroy Carroll v. Ralph Diaz, (C.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

Case 2:22-cv-02742-GW-MAR Document 8 Filed 05/27/22 Page 1 of 48 Page ID #:49

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5

6 7 JACK LEROY CARROLL, Case No. . 2:22-cv-02742-GW (MAR) 8 Plaintiff,

9 v. ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT RALPH DIAZ, ET AL., 10 WITH LEAVE TO AMEND Defendant. 11 12

13 I. 14 INTRODUCTION 15 On April 20, 2022, Jack Leroy Carroll (“Plaintiff”), proceeding in forma 16 pauperis (“IFP”) and pro se, constructively filed1 a Complaint (“Complaint”) against 17 Ralph Diaz (“Diaz”), Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and 18 Rehabilitation (“CDCR”); Gina Rasheed (“Rasheed”), a registered nurse for the 19 CDCR; Michael Felder, MD (“Felder”), Chief Medical officer of the CDCR; and John 20 Doe-One, MD, the treating physician and surgeon (collectively, “Defendants”). ECF 21 Docket No. (“Dkt.”) 1 at 3–4. For the reasons discussed below, the Court dismisses 22 the Complaint with leave to amend. 23 If Plaintiff desires to pursue this action, he is ORDERED to respond by 24 no later than June 27, 2022, by choosing one (1) of the three (3) options 25 26 27 1 Under the “mailbox rule,” when a pro se inmate gives prison authorities a pleading to mail to court, the court deems the pleading constructively “filed” on the date it is signed. Roberts v. 28 Marshall, 627 F.3d 768, 770 n.1 (9th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted); Douglas v. Noelle, 567 F.3d 1103, 1107 (9th Cir. 2009) (stating the “mailbox rule applies to § 1983 suits filed by pro se prisoners”). Case 2:22-cv-02742-GW-MAR Document 8 Filed 05/27/22 Page 2 of 48 Page ID #:50

1 discussed in Part V, below. Further, Plaintiff is admonished that, if he fails to 2 timely respond, the Court may recommend that this action be dismissed without 3 further leave to amend and with prejudice for failure to state a claim and follow the 4 Court’s orders. 5 II. 6 SUMMARY OF THE COMPLAINT 7 A. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 8 Plaintiff alleges that each defendant showed “deliberate indifference to a 9 serious medical need” that resulted in significant injury to Plaintiff. Dkt. 1 at 8. On 10 or around December 20, 2017, while detained at California State Prison, Los Angeles 11 County, Plaintiff experienced severe pain in his right testicle, which was hard with 12 lumps. Id. at 9. One week later, Plaintiff completed a CDC 7362 Health Care Service 13 Request Form to seek medical care. Id. After completing this form, Plaintiff met 14 with Defendant Rasheed, a registered nurse “who’s job [it] is to block treatment.” Id. 15 Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Rasheed minimized his concerns and dismissed the 16 possibility of a testicular tumor. Id. When Plaintiff insisted on seeing a doctor, 17 Defendant Rasheed was offended and allegedly retaliated by writing in Plaintiff’s 18 medical report that she observed no medical abnormalities. Id. 19 A few days later, Plaintiff was seen by a doctor, Defendant Doe-One. Id. 20 After examining the Plaintiff and his medical record, Defendant Doe-One advised 21 Plaintiff that he would not be ordering any further testing and opined that “not 22 knowing the problem[] is sometimes better then [sic] the treatment.” Id. at 10. 23 Plaintiff alleges that he suffered in pain for the next two years as the cancer spread to 24 his abdomen. Id. However, it is not clear whether Plaintiff subsequently sought or 25 received medical care after his visit with Defendant Doe-One. 26 On or around March 5, 2021, Plaintiff experienced extreme pain in his stomach 27 and went “man-down,” which resulted in him being rushed to a hospital outside of 28 the prison. Id. Plaintiff was seen by a urologist who performed a feel-examination of 2 Case 2:22-cv-02742-GW-MAR Document 8 Filed 05/27/22 Page 3 of 48 Page ID #:51

1 Plaintiff’s testicles and exclaimed, “how long has this been like this?” Id. The 2 urologist appeared to express shock at how long Plaintiff had gone without medical 3 treatment and that his cancer was not identified earlier. See id. The urologist advised 4 that the mass on Plaintiff’s testicle required urgent removal and, approximately four 5 days later, Plaintiff underwent emergency surgery to remove his right testicle, which 6 was rife with cancerous tumors. Id. at 11. Plaintiff alleges that, due to this surgery, he 7 will never be able to have children or a family, and that this realisation caused him to 8 suffer severe emotional trauma and a diminished quality of life. Id. Then, on April 9 19, 2021, Plaintiff underwent chemotherapy and was told that he was close to dying. 10 Id. Plaintiff claims that his chemotherapy compromised his immune system, which 11 rendered him especially vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Id. at 12. 12 Plaintiff claims that Defendant Diaz, the Secretary of the CDCR, and 13 Defendant Felder, the CDCR’s Chief Medical Officer, are using medicine to punish 14 and disable prisoners. Id. at 11. 15 B. CLAIMS 16 Plaintiff brings the following two claims: 1) an Eighth Amendment claim 17 alleging that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs; and 18 2) a claim for medical negligence and malpractice under California law. Id. at 8. 19 C. RELIEF SOUGHT 20 Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief, in the form of proper medical diagnostic testing 21 and treatment; general damages; special damages; punitive damages; and attorneys’ 22 fees and costs. Id. at 13. 23 III. 24 STANDARD OF REVIEW 25 Where a plaintiff proceeds in forma pauperis, a court must screen the 26 complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 and is required to dismiss the case at any time if it 27 concludes the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which relief may 28 be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such 3 Case 2:22-cv-02742-GW-MAR Document 8 Filed 05/27/22 Page 4 of 48 Page ID #:52

1 relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 2 (9th Cir. 1998). 3 Dismissal for failure to state a claim can be warranted based on either a lack of 4 a cognizable legal theory or the absence of factual support for a cognizable legal 5 theory. See, e.g., Mendiondo v. Centinela Hosp. Med. Ctr., 521 F.3d 1097, 1104 6 (9th Cir. 2008). A complaint may also be dismissed for failure to state a claim if it 7 discloses some fact or complete defense that will necessarily defeat the claim. 8 Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1228–29 (9th Cir. 1984), abrogated on other 9 grounds by Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319 (1989). Although the plaintiff must 10 provide “more than labels and conclusions,” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 11 544, 555 (2007), “[s]pecific facts are not necessary; the [complaint] need only give the 12 defendant[s] fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” 13 Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (per curiam) (citations and quotation marks 14 omitted). 15 In considering whether a complaint states a claim, a court must accept as true 16 all the material factual allegations in it. Hamilton v. Brown, 630 F.3d 889, 892–93 17 (9th Cir. 2011). However, a court need not accept as true “allegations that are merely 18 conclusory, unwarranted deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences.” In re 19 Gilead Scis. Sec. Litig., 536 F.3d 1049, 1055 (9th Cir. 2008).

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Jack Leroy Carroll v. Ralph Diaz, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jack-leroy-carroll-v-ralph-diaz-cacd-2022.