McCullock v. Scharr

District Court, S.D. California·Decided July 14, 2021·No. 3:19-cv-02110·Unknown

Opinion

ROBERT McCULLOCK, Case No.: 3:19-cv-2110-DMS-DEB CDCR #V-32182, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ Plaintiff, vs. JUDGMENT PURSUANT TO Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) N. SCHARR, Correctional Sergeant; H. FERREL, Correctional Lieutenant [ECF No. 35] T. MARTINEZ, Correctional Captain; J. JUAREZ, Associate Warden; SMITH, Correctional Officer; DOE -10,

Defendants. ROBERT McCULLOCK (“Plaintiff”), a prisoner currently incarcerated at the California Mens Colony located in San Luis Obispo, California, is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis (“IFP”) in this civil action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In his Complaint (“Compl.”), Plaintiff alleges Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (“RJD”) prison officials violated his Eighth Amendment rights when they failed to protect him from an attack by another inmate. See ECF No. 1 at 4-6. I. Procedural History On December 3, 2019, the Court granted Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and screened his Complaint before service as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A(b). See ECF No. 6. The Court sua sponte dismissed Defendant Covello but found Plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment failure to protect claims against Defendants Scharr, Ferrel, Martinez, Juarez, and Smith (“Defendants”) sufficient to state plausible claims upon which relief may be granted. Id. at 5-7. Defendants filed an Answer to Plaintiff’s Complaint on February 18, 2020. See ECF No. 22. On February 12, 2021, Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. See ECF No. 35. On February 16, 2021, the Court notified Plaintiff of the requirements for opposing summary judgment pursuant to Klingele v. Eikenberry, 849 F.2d 409 (9th Cir. 1988) and Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc) and set a briefing schedule. See ECF No. 36. Plaintiff filed his Opposition to Defendants’ Motion on April 2, 2021. See ECF No. 40. Defendants filed their Reply to Plaintiff’s Opposition on April 2, 2021. See ECF No. 41. The Court determined that a report and recommendation from Magistrate Judge Butcher was not necessary, no oral argument was required, and took Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment under submission for resolution on the papers pursuant to S.D. CAL. CIVLR 7.1.d. Having carefully considered the record as submitted, the Court now GRANTS Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. / / /

1 Page numbers for all documents filed in the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case File (“CM/ECF”) will refer to the pagination generated by CM/ECF as indicated on the II. Factual Background A. Plaintiff’s Claims Plaintiff alleges that he was assaulted by Inmate Anthony Muci (“Muci”) on May 16, 2019. (See Compl. at 12.) Plaintiff had returned to his cell after dinner and “sat at the table facing away from the door.” (See id.) Plaintiff claims that was the “last [he] remember[ed] until regaining consciousness approximately [six] hours later at Scripps Hospital [Emergency Room].” (Id.) Plaintiff contends Muci “has attacked elders before,” as well as having been a “general population” inmate who is “always enemy to all “SNY” (special needs yard).” (Id.) Plaintiff is seventy years old and “part deaf.” (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that the “custody staff of [RJD] knew or should have known of Musi’s combative history but chose to turn a blind eye.” (Id. at 17.) B. Defendants’ Claims On May 16, 2019, Defendant Scharr, an RJD correctional sergeant, was “directed to secure housing on Facility D for an inmate with a lower-tier/lower-bunk restriction who was a C-PAP user, but not a wheelchair user.” (Scharr Decl., ECF No. 35-4 at ¶ 2) At the time, “Housing Unit 20 on Facility D was the preferred housing unit for non-wheelchair- bound C-PAP-using inmates because most of the electrical outlet configuration in the cells provided power to C-PAP units better than those in other housing units.” (Id. at ¶ 3.) After Scharr directed staff to find the “first available cell placement that would accommodate a lower-tier/lower-bunk-restricted inmate, and to start with Housing Unit 20.” (Id.) It was discovered that Muci was a “lower-tier cell assigned to a lower bunk” but he did not have a “lower-tier restriction.” (Id.) So moving Muci to an “upper-tier” cell that accommodated a “lower-bunk restriction” would allow an inmate requiring a C- PAP to be housed in Muci’s cell. (Id.) / / / / / / It was also discovered that Plaintiff had a cell on the upper tier, no cellmate, and he had no “housing restrictions dating back to 2017, including no lower-bunk or lower-tier restriction.” (Id. at ¶ 4.) Officer Herrera, who worked second watch, “requested that [Plaintiff] be reassigned to the upper bunk in his same cell.” (Id. at ¶ 5.) Officer Erece2, who worked third watch, “requested that [Muci] be reassigned to [Plaintiff’s] cell to the lower bunk.” (Id. at ¶ 6.) Scharr “reviewed and approved this request.” (Id.) Plaintiff and Muci’s moves were finalized and the inmate requiring the C-PAP was “assigned to the lower bunk that [Muci] had occupied.” (Id. at ¶ 7.) “After reviewing housing information” for Plaintiff and Muci, Scharr “made the decision” to house Muci in Plaintiff’s cell. (Id. at ¶ 8.) Scharr maintains that Defendants Ferrel, Juarez, Martinez, and Smith “were not involved in this housing decision.” (Id.) Scharr reviewed Muci’s file and determined that on April 26, 2019 Muci had be “evaluated and cleared for double-cell housing by a committee (which included a captain) that would have thoroughly evaluated [Muci’s] background, Rules Violation Reports, and other case factors, in the process of determining his housing restrictions.” (Id.) Scharr maintains that before the “May 16, 2019 incident, [he] did not believe that [Muci] would assault [Plaintiff], or anyone else.” (Id. at ¶ 11.) His review of Muci’s file indicated that the “last incident before May 16, 2019, involving [Muci] and another inmate occurred on April 11, 2018, when [Muci] received a Rules Violation Report for fighting with his cellmate, but the cellmate admitted to hitting [Muci] first and that [Muci] was simply defending himself.” (Id. at ¶ 13.) Both inmates signed “paperwork confirming that the incident was just a misunderstanding, that no safety issues existed, and they could continue to cell together.” (Id.) Muci had another incident on April 20, 1999 which resulted in a charge of “battery on an inmate without serious injury.” (Id.) III. Motion for Summary Judgment Defendants have moved for summary judgment on the grounds that: (1) Defendants were not deliberately indifferent to Plaintiff’s safety; (2) Plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment claim should be dismissed; (3) Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity; and (4) Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) prior to filing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint in this Court. (See Defs.’ P&As in Supp. of Summ. J. Mot. [“Defs.’ P&As”], ECF No. 20 at 19- 30.) A. Legal Standards for Summary Judgment pursuant to FRCP 56 Summary judgment is appropriate when the moving party “shows that there i

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