Matt Scott v. Latavia

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 MATT SCOTT, Case No. 26-cv-00391-LJC

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF SERVICE v. 9

10 LATAVIA, Defendant. 11

12 13 Plaintiff, a detainee at the San Francisco county jail proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights 14 complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging excessive force by a jail deputy. For the reasons stated 15 below, the complaint is ordered served on the defendant. Plaintiff has been granted leave to 16 proceed in forma pauperis. 17 DISCUSSION 18 1. Standard of Review 19 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 20 redress from a governmental entity, or from an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 21 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any 22 claims which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or 23 seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 24 Further, it should be noted that pleadings submitted by pro se parties must be liberally construed. 25 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 26 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 27 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” While specific facts are not necessary, the 1 which it rests. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007). Although a plaintiff need not include 2 detailed factual allegations in a complaint, the complaint must do more than recite elements of a 3 cause of action and state conclusions; rather, a plaintiff must state factual allegations sufficient to 4 raise the entitlement to relief “above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 5 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is 6 plausible on its face.” Id. at 570. The Supreme Court explained this standard: “[w]hile legal 7 conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual 8 allegations . . . [and] [w]hen there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their 9 veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Ashcroft 10 v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). 11 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: 12 (1) that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that 13 the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. 14 Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 15 2. Legal Claims 16 Plaintiff alleges the following: on October 10, 2025, from around 2:30 to 3:10 in the 17 morning, he was physically and verbally assaulted by defendant deputy Latavia at the direction of 18 the shift booking lieutenant because he was questioning the fingerprinting staff about how long it 19 was taking to be booked. Latavia stood behind plaintiff and told him to shut the fuck up, and 20 plaintiff turned around and realized Latavia was standing very close to him. Plaintiff let him know 21 he did not have to be that close, and Latavia continued to degrade him. The lieutenant came out of 22 his office and said, “fuck that, cuff him up!” Latavia cuffed plaintiff and grabbed his arms and 23 started to twist them upwards. A number of deputies then marched him to a holding cell, where 24 Latavia shoved him inside so roughly that he almost fell. Plaintiff told him he did not have to do 25 that. The lieutenant then told the deputies to take plaintiff to a safety cell. During the exchange, 26 Latavia continued to punch plaintiff on the left side of his body. Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief. 27 Liberally construed, plaintiff has stated a claim for excessive force. The Fourth 1 arrestee while detained in custody post-arrest but pre-arraignment. See Pierce v. Multnomah 2 County, Oregon, 76 F.3d 1032, 1043 (9th Cir. 1996). 3 CONCLUSION 4 For the foregoing reasons, the Court orders as follows: 5 1. The Clerk of the Court shall mail (1) a Notice of Lawsuit and Request for Waiver 6 of Service of Summons, (2) the Waiver of Service of Summons, (3) a copy of the complaint (Dkt. 7 No. 1), (4) a copy of this order, and (5) the notice of assignment of prisoner case to a United States 8 magistrate judge and accompanying magistrate judge jurisdiction consent or declination to consent 9 form to Deputy Latavia at San Francisco County Jail #1. The Clerk shall also mail a copy of the 10 complaint and a copy of this order to the City Attorney of San Francisco. Additionally, the Clerk 11 shall mail a copy of this Order to plaintiff. 12 2. Defendant is cautioned that Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires 13 them to cooperate in saving unnecessary costs of service of the summons and complaint. Pursuant 14 to Rule 4, if defendant, after being notified of this action and asked by the Court, on behalf of 15 plaintiff, to waive service of the summons, fail to do so, they will be required to bear the cost of 16 such service unless good cause can be shown for their failure to sign and return the waiver form. 17 If service is waived, this action will proceed as if defendant had been served on the date that the 18 waiver is filed, except that pursuant to Rule 12(a)(1)(B), defendant will not be required to serve 19 and file an answer before 60 days from the date on which the request for waiver was sent. (This 20 allows a longer time to respond than would be required if formal service of summons is 21 necessary.) Defendant is asked to read the statement set forth at the foot of the waiver form that 22 more completely describes the duties of the parties with regard to waiver of service of the 23 summons. If service is waived after the date provided in the Notice but before defendant has been 24 personally served, the Answer shall be due 60 days from the date on which the request for waiver 25 was sent or 20 days from the date the waiver form is filed, whichever is later. 26 3. Defendant shall answer the complaint in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil 27 Procedure. The following briefing schedule shall govern dispositive motions in this action: 1 dispositive motion, they must do so no later than 60 days from the date their answer is due. If the 2 defendant files a motion for summary judgment, it shall be supported by adequate factual 3 documentation, must conform in all respects to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, and must 4 include as exhibits all records and incident reports stemming from the events at issue. A motion 5 for summary judgment also must be accompanied by a Rand1 notice so that plaintiff will have fair, 6 timely, and adequate notice of what is required of him in order to oppose the motion. Woods v. 7 Carey, 684 F.3d 934, 935 (9th Cir. 2012) (notice requirement set out in Rand must be served 8 concurrently with motion for summary judgment). A motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust 9 available administrative remedies must be accompanied by a similar notice. However, the Court 10 notes that under the law of the circuit, in the rare event that a failure to exhaust is clear on the face 11 of the complaint, defendants may move for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), as opposed to the 12 previous practice of moving under an unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion. Albino v. Baca, 747 F.3d 13 1162, 1166 (9th Cir. 2014) (en banc) (overruling Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1119 (9th Cir. 14 2003), which held that failure to exhaust available administrative remedies under the Prison 15 Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) (“PLRA”), should be raised by a defendant as an 16 unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion). Otherwise, if a failure to exhaust is not clear on the face of the 17 complaint, Defendants must produce evidence proving failure to exhaust in a motion for summary 18 judgment under Rule 56. Id. If undisputed evidence viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff 19 shows a failure to exhaust, defendants are entitled to summary judgment under Rule 56. Id. But if 20 material facts are disputed, summary judgment should be denied and the district judge, rather than 21 a jury, should determine the facts in a preliminary proceeding. Id. at 1168. 22 If defendant is of the opinion that this case cannot be resolved by summary judgment, they 23 shall so inform the Court prior to the date the summary judgment motion is due. All papers filed 24 with the Court shall be promptly served on plaintiff. 25 b. Plaintiff’s opposition to the dispositive motion shall be filed with the Court 26 and served on defendant no later than 28 days after the date on which defendant’s motion is filed. 27 1 c. Plaintiff is advised that a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of 2 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will, if granted, end your case. Rule 56 tells you what you 3 must do in order to oppose a motion for summary judgment. Generally, summary judgment must 4 be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact—that is, if there is no real dispute about 5 any fact that would affect the result of your case, the party who asked for summary judgment is 6 entitled to judgment as a matter of law, which will end your case. When a party you are suing 7 makes a motion for summary judgment that is supported properly by declarations (or other sworn 8 testimony), you cannot simply rely on what your complaint says. Instead, you must set out specific 9 facts in declarations, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or authenticated documents, as 10 provided in Rule 56(e), that contradict the facts shown in the defendant’s declarations and 11 documents and show that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. If you do not submit 12 your own evidence in opposition, summary judgment, if appropriate, may be entered against you. 13 If summary judgment is granted, your case will be dismissed and there will be no trial. Rand, 154 14 F.3d at 962-63. 15 Plaintiff also is advised that—in the rare event that defendants argue that the failure to 16 exhaust is clear on the face of the complaint—a motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust available 17 administrative remedies under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) will, if granted, end your case, albeit without 18 prejudice. To avoid dismissal, you have the right to present any evidence to show that you did 19 exhaust your available administrative remedies before coming to federal court. Such evidence may 20 include: (1) declarations, which are statements signed under penalty of perjury by you or others 21 who have personal knowledge of relevant matters; (2) authenticated documents— documents 22 accompanied by a declaration showing where they came from and why they are authentic, or other 23 sworn papers such as answers to interrogatories or depositions; (3) statements in your complaint 24 insofar as they were made under penalty of perjury and they show that you have personal 25 knowledge of the matters state therein. As mentioned above, in considering a motion to dismiss 26 for failure to exhaust under Rule 12(b)(6) or failure to exhaust in a summary judgment motion 27 under Rule 56, the district judge may hold a preliminary proceeding and decide disputed issues of ] (The notices above do not excuse defendant’s obligation to serve similar notices again 2 || concurrently with motions to dismiss for failure to exhaust available administrative remedies and 3 || motions for summary judgment. Woods, 684 F.3d at 935.) 4 d. Defendant shall file a reply brief no later than 14 days after the 5 date plaintiffs opposition is filed. 6 e. The motion shall be deemed submitted as of the date the reply brief is due. 7 || No hearing will be held on the motion unless the Court so orders at a later date. 8 4. Discovery may be taken in this action in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil 9 || Procedure. Leave of the Court pursuant to Rule 30(a)(2) is hereby granted to defendants to depose 10 || plaintiff and any other necessary incarcerated witnesses. 11 5. All communications by plaintiff with the Court must be served on defendants or 12 || their counsel, once counsel has been designated, by mailing a true copy of the document to them. 13 6. It is plaintiffs responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the Court 14 || informed of any change of address and must comply with the Court’s orders in a timely fashion. 3 15 || Pursuant to Northern District Local Rule 3-11, a party proceeding pro se whose address changes a 16 || while an action is pending must promptly file a notice of change of address specifying the new 2 17 || address. See L.R. 3-11(a). The Court may dismiss without prejudice a complaint when: (1) mail Z 18 directed to the pro se party by the Court has been returned to the Court as not deliverable, and (2) 19 || the Court fails to receive within sixty days of this return a written communication from the pro se 20 || party indicating a current address. See L.R. 3-11(b). 21 7. Upon a showing of good cause, requests for a reasonable extension of time will be 22 || granted provided they are filed on or before the deadline they seek to extend. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 Dated: June 9, 2026 25 26 A phe artery. LISA ISNER@S 27 Unt AIS agistrate Judge 28