Khan v. Madsen

District Court, N.D. California·Decided June 12, 2024·No. 5:23-cv-06141·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 MUHAMMAD KHAN, 11 Case No. 23-cv-06141 BLF (PR) Plaintiff, 12 ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH v. LEAVE TO AMEND 13 HALEY MADSEN, et al., 14 Defendants. 15

17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, filed the instant pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983 against prison staff at the Correctional Training Facility (“CTF”), where he 19 is currently confined. Dkt. No. 5. The “final amended complaint” (“FAC”) filed on 20 January 22, 2024, is the operative complaint in this action. Dkt. No. 11. Plaintiff recently 21 paid the full filing fee as directed. Dkt. Nos. 15, 24. Accordingly, the Court proceeds 22 herein with an initial review of the FAC. 23

24 DISCUSSION 25 A. Standard of Review 26 A federal court must conduct a preliminary screening in any case in which a 27 1 governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any 2 cognizable claims and dismiss any claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim 3 upon which relief may be granted or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune 4 from such relief. See id. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). Pro se pleadings must, however, be liberally 5 construed. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1988). 6 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential 7 elements: (1) that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was 8 violated, and (2) that the alleged violation was committed by a person acting under the 9 color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 10 B. Plaintiff’s Claims 11 In the FAC, Plaintiff alleges a series of events and circumstances since September 12 2019, involving allegations of harassment and several disciplinary actions based on “false” 13 Rules Violation Reports (“RVR”) processed by Defendants. These RVRs involved the 14 loss of good conduct credits which Plaintiff challenges. 15 Plaintiff first claims he was harassed by Defendant A. Stephens on September 4, 16 2019, when Defendant conducted an “invasive” and sexually abusive search of Plaintiff. 17 Dkt. No. 11 at 11. 18 Plaintiff claims Defendants H. Madsen began to target him since May 2020, with 19 “non-stop harassment and reprisals for engaging in protected conduct.” Id. at 13. He 20 alleges that she first falsely accused him of exposing himself to her while masturbating 21 during a security check. Id. at 14. This resulted in his placement in the administrative 22 segregation unit (“ASU”) and being forced to wear an Exposure Control Jumpsuit (“ECJ”). 23 Id. at 15. Plaintiff grieved his placement in ASU, the disciplinary action, denial of his TV, 24 and the ECJ. Id. at 16. Plaintiff claims he was denied rights and privileges while in ASU 25 which had unsanitary and unsafe conditions. Id. at 18. He claims that he filed numerous 26 grievances which were misplaced or thrown out, so that he was unable to exhaust his 1 Plaintiff also asserts that Defendant Madsen “trashed” and disposed of his property 2 while packing it for his removal to ASU on March 29, 2020. Id. at 18-19. He claims that 3 Defendant Madsen also falsely alleged finding a cell phone among his property. Id. at 19- 4 20. He was later found guilty at the disciplinary hearing on the matter. Id. at 20. 5 Plaintiff states that after he was placed in ASU, Defendant Madsen came to his cell 6 with a property receipt. Id. at 20. Plaintiff refused to sign the receipt because it was not 7 correct. Id. He claims that Defendant Madsen later filed another false RVR “stating 8 [Plaintiff] had ripped the items from [her] hands and delayed her”; Plaintiff denies this 9 allegation. Id. Plaintiff claims that an inmate told him that Defendants Madsen and Reed 10 were laughing and joking about “what they did” to Plaintiff, and that Defendant Reed 11 instructed Defendant Madsen to file another fraudulent RVR against Plaintiff “to raise 12 [Plaintiff’s] points and transfer him out.” Id. at 21. Defendant Reed later conducted the 13 hearing on this RVR and denied Plaintiff due process. Id. Plaintiff appealed the matter but 14 did not receive a response. Id. 15 Plaintiff had a hearing on the indecent exposure RVR in April 2021, at which 16 Defendant Lt. J. Gonzales found him guilty and denied him due process. Id. at 22. 17 Plaintiff left for court shortly after and did not receive a final copy of the decision until his 18 return to CTF in October 2023. Id. He states that he appealed the matter, which has not 19 been exhausted as of the date of the FAC. Id. 20 Plaintiff had a classification hearing on June 5, 2020, regarding his retention in 21 ASU, at which he alleges he was denied due process. Id. at 18. 22 Plaintiff claims that Defendants participated in “stacking” these three RVRs, 23 (prepared by Defendant Madsen), which resulting in “additional points” and multiple 24 losses of credit. Id. at 22. He asserts that but for these false RVRs, he would not be 25 serving an additional 90 days for indecent exposure and 61 days for the possession of a cell 26 phone. Id. at 23. He asserts that he should get no more than 30 days loss of good time 1 Plaintiff also asserts that the litigation coordinator, Enrique Galvan, would not 2 allow him a call with his attorney but insisted that they communicate via mail. Id. at 17. 3 Furthermore, Defendant Galvan prevented Plaintiff from retrieving his legal property from 4 CTF while he was out to court in Santa Clara County. Id. at 25. Plaintiff claims that when 5 his attorney and family tried to access his stored paperwork, Defendant Galvan denied that 6 CTF had Plaintiff’s paperwork in storage. Id. Plaintiff claims Defendant Galvan 7 prevented him from having meaningful access to the courts and caused the delay in filing 8 this action. Id. 9 Based on the above allegations and others, Plaintiff lists twenty-eight counts as his 10 causes of action. Dkt. No. 11 at 29-33. Among the claims are the following: (1) 11 Defendant Stephens violated the Fourth and Eighth Amendments based on her actions 12 during the invasive search; (2) Defendant Warden Koenig failed to act in response to or to 13 prevent the actions of Defendants Stephens and Madsen; (3) Defendant Madsen violated 14 the First Amendment by retaliating against him in various ways; (4) Defendant Madsen 15 violated the Fourteenth Amendment in the handling of his property; (5) Defendant Madsen 16 violated Plaintiff’s First Amendment right to freedom of religion by disposing of his 17 religious materials; (6) Defendant Madsen violated the Fourth Amendment by her 18 unreasonable search and seizure of his cell; (7) Defendant Madsen violated due process by 19 placing Plaintiff in ASU without a hearing; Defendant Reed violated due process during 20 the disciplinary proceedings; (8) Defendant Bojorquez violated due process during the 21 disciplinary proceedings and acted in retaliation; (9) Defendant Ramon violated the Eighth 22 Amendment in forcing Plaintiff to wear the ECJ; (10) Defendant Galvan violated 23 Plaintiff’s First Amendment rights while he was in county jail; (11) Defendant Monroy 24 violated the First Amendment and due process with regard to Plaintiff’s grievances; and 25 (12) Defendant Gonzalez violated due process and acted in concert with Defendant 26 Madsen to retaliate against him during the disciplinary proceedings. Id. at 29-33.

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