Manzanillo v. Lewis

267 F. Supp. 3d 1261
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJanuary 12, 2017
DocketCase No. 12-cv-05983-JST
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 267 F. Supp. 3d 1261 (Manzanillo v. Lewis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manzanillo v. Lewis, 267 F. Supp. 3d 1261 (N.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

AMENDED ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT1

JON S. TIGAR, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Raymond Manzanillo, an inmate at Pelican Bay Prison, was stabbed by another inmate when a guard left his cell door open. Manzanillo alleges that the guard knew that an attack was likely and that he left the door open in retaliation for Manzanillo having filed a prior lawsuit concerning the prison.

Defendants now move for summary judgment, arguing that (1) Defendant Brown, the guard who left Manzanillo’s door open, was not deliberately indifferent to the risk to Manzanillo’s safety; (2) the training Brown received was adequate, and that even if it was not, the remaining defendants were unaware of any deficiencies in that training; and (3) in any event, all defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. ECF No. 204, 206.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny the motions.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

[1266]*1266BACKGROUND2

A. Manzanillo’s Prior Lawsuit

During the events giving rise to this lawsuit, Manzanillo was ¡incarcerated, at Pelican Bay State Prison within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”). Manzanillo was housed in the Security Housing Unit (SHU),3 Inmates housed in the SHU have severe, disciplinary issues, convictions for assaults committed in prison, or are validated gang members and associates, ECF No. 212-1 (“Lewis Depo,”) at 6-8; ECF No. 212-2 (“McGuyer Depo.”) at 3-4; EOF No. 212-8 (“Brown Depo.”) at 12; Vasquez Decl. ¶ 15.

On August 10, 2010, Brown filed a civil rights action for excessive force against prison officials pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 13 at 5; see also ECF No. 213, ¶ 10 (“Manzanillo Ded”), That action was pending when the events underlying this case occurred,.ECF No. 13 at 5, In his complaint, Manzanillo alleges that Pelican Bay staff permitted him to be assaulted by another inmate in retaliation for filing this lawsuit. See, e.g., ECF No. 13 at 2 (stating that Defendants “collaborated] in a staging of a gladiator fight that resulted in Plaintiff being attacked' and' stabbed by another prisoner to retaliate against me for exercising protected conduct”). The presence or absence of such a motive by the guards is not at issue in the present' motion.

B. The Events of August 8, 2011

The events underlying the present case took place on August 8, 2011. Some time before 10:35 a.m, that day, Defendant Naeem Brown, acting as -the Control Booth Officer in Manzanillo’s pod of cells, let inmate George Blakeley out into the exercise yard; ECF No. 212-8 (“Brown Depo.”) at 12. Blakeley was a member of the “Northern Structure Prison Gang,” a “Norteño” affiliated gang, , while Manzanil-lo was an associate of the “Mexican Mafia,’,’ • or “Sureños” affiliated gang. Manzanillo Decl, ¶ 13, “It is common prison knowledge .., that rival gang inmates in PBSP must be kept separate due to the. rioting that occurs in the general population between Northern Hispanics and Southern Hispan-, ics.” Id. at ¶ 15. At approximately. 10:35 a.m., while Blakeley was still in the yard, Brown released Manzanillo from his cell so he could speak to a law library officer at the front door of the pod about documents related to his excessive force lawsuit. Brown Depo. at 12; Manzanillo Decl. ¶¶ 10-12. While Manzanillo was speaking to- the law library officer, Brown allowed Correctional Sergeant B. Grenert, his superior, into the control booth and began speaking to him, Brown Depo, at .12. Inmate Blakeley, from the yard, was watching “off and on” what was going on inside the pod. Brown Depo. at 14; see also ECF No. 204-1 at 6. While Brown and Grenert were still speaking,-Manzanillo and the law library officer finished their conversation. Brown Depo. at 12. Brown saw that Man-zanillo .turned away from the pod door and made eye contact with him as he was returning to his cell, but admits that he did not maintain constant visual observation of Manzanillo until he was back in his cell with the door secured, a violation of his post orders. Brown Depo. at 15; Manzanil-lo Decl. ¶¶ 21-23. It is undisputed that [1267]*1267Manzanillo’s “cell door-was not electronically secured by control booth officer defendant Brown.” ECF No. 13 at 7.

It seems that while Brown was still conversing with Sergeant Grenert, Blakeley asked to re-enter the pod to return to his cell.4 Brown Depo. at 13. Brown looked into the pod to make sure that no inmates were outside of their cells. Id. Brown claims that he then “looked up at the [sic] inmate Manzanillo,” but that because Man-zanillo’s cell “was kind of — -it was on the upper tier and it’s in the corner," Brown “guess[es] [he] just didn’t really notice that his door was open.” Id. When Brown moved to allow-Blakeley inside, Manzanillo alleges that he heard the “unit floor officer L. Simonsen state to Brown ... ‘No I don’t want you [to].’” Manzanillo Deck ¶ 22.

“A couple of seconds later Brown open[ed] the exercise door allowing [Blake-ley] out of the yard;” ECF No. 13 at 7; Brown Depo. at 13. Given what happened next, a reasonable jury could conclude that Blakeley was aware, when he entered the pod, that Manzanillo’s door was not closed. Manzanillo Decl. ¶ 26. Also, since inmates in the exercise yard “can hear when [cell doors] open and close because it’s pretty loud,” they are aware when a, cell opens and closes and if a cell door is open or closed. Brown Depo. at 14. Instead of returning to his own cell, Blakeley “threw something into his cell” and then immediately “ran up the stairs and entered [Man-zanillo’s] cell to attack [him]” with a homemade. 7-inch, knife. Manzanillo Deck ¶¶23-26. Brown agrees that when he let Blake-ley in, he could immediately tell by his actions “something was wrong because he came and he ran straight in and he ran up the stairs.” Brown Depo. at 14. Brown then ‘looked up,” saw “that the cell door was open,” and saw “where [Blakeley] was going.” Id,

Once Blakeley ran inside, Manzanillo “never heard Brown yell out any command for Blakeley to stop his course of action and/or return to his cell,” and he never heard Blakeley’s cell door being opened as it normally would be upon an inmate’s return from the yard. Manzanillo Deck ¶24. Brown did not attempt to lock Man-zanillo’s door before Blakeley arrived there. Id. ¶25. Instead, when he realized what was happening, he hit his alarm button and made a radio call for backup. Brown Depo. at 14. Manzanillo estimates that “cell doors which were only opened half way took less than [three] seconds or so to close,” and that it took Blakeley “almost [eight] seconds to trot up the stairs and enter” Manzanillo’s cell. Manza-nillo Deck ¶27.5 Once Blakeley entered [1268]*1268Manzanillo’s cell, Brown closed the door to it, locking both inmates inside. Id Manza-nillo tried to defend himself for several minutes “before Pelican Bay officials finally entered the unit” and pepper sprayed both Manzanillo and the other prisoner to end the assault. Id.

Afterwards, Manzanillo was escorted to be decontaminated from the pepper spray. He alleges that during the escort Defendants Wood and Hallock told him they “had no choice.” Manzanillo Decl. ¶ 30.

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267 F. Supp. 3d 1261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manzanillo-v-lewis-cand-2017.