(PC) Blair v. Viss

District Court, E.D. California·Decided September 1, 2023·No. 2:22-cv-00670·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JERMAINE BLAIR, No. 2:22-cv-0670 KJM DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER AND FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 VISS, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims defendants used excessive force, failed to protect him, and 19 retaliated against him in violation of his constitutional rights. For the reasons set forth below, the 20 undersigned will vacate the August 7, 2023, findings and recommendations and recommend that 21 defendants’ motion for summary judgment be granted. 22 BACKGROUND 23 Upon screening the complaint, the undersigned determined that the complaint contained 24 cognizable excessive force, failure to protect, and retaliation claims against defendants. (ECF No. 25 6 at 5-9.) Following service and a brief period of discovery, defendants filed a motion for partial 26 summary judgment arguing that plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies as to his 27 retaliation claim on March 29, 2023. (ECF No. 24.) By order dated June 2, 2023, the 28 undersigned directed plaintiff to file an opposition within thirty days. (ECF No. 27.) Plaintiff 1 was warned that failure to file an opposition would result in a recommendation that this action be 2 dismissed. (Id.) Plaintiff did not file an opposition, statement of no-opposition, or otherwise 3 respond to the court’s June 2, 2023, order. In light of plaintiff’s failure to respond, the 4 undersigned issued findings and recommendations recommending that defendants’ summary 5 judgment motion be denied as moot and this action be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 6 Procedure 41(b). (ECF No. 28.) 7 Plaintiff has filed objections to the findings and recommendations. (ECF No. 29.) 8 Therein, plaintiff states that he did not respond to the motion for summary judgment because he 9 does not oppose dismissal of his retaliation claim. (ECF No. 29 at 1.) However, plaintiff also 10 states that he is opposed to dismissal of his other claims in this action. (Id. at 1-2.) In light of 11 plaintiff’s intent to continue with this action, the undersigned will vacate the August 7, 2023, 12 findings and recommendations and as discussed below, recommend that the motion for partial 13 summary judgment be granted. 14 DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 15 I. Summary Judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 16 Summary judgment is appropriate when the moving party “shows that there is no genuine 17 dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. 18 Civ. P. 56(a). Under summary judgment practice, “[t]he moving party bears the burden of 19 proving the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” In re Oracle Corp. Sec. Litig., 627 F.3d 20 376, 387 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986)). The moving 21 party may accomplish this by “citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including 22 depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations 23 (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or 24 other materials” or by showing that such materials “do not establish the absence or presence of a 25 genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.” 26 Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1). 27 “Where the non-moving party bears the burden of proof at trial, the moving party need 28 only prove there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case.” Oracle 1 Corp., 627 F.3d at 387 (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(B). 2 Indeed, summary judgment should be entered, “after adequate time for discovery and upon 3 motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an 4 element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at 5 trial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322. “[A] complete failure of proof concerning an essential element 6 of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.” Id. at 323. In such 7 a circumstance, summary judgment should “be granted so long as whatever is before the district 8 court demonstrates that the standard for entry of summary judgment, as set forth in Rule 56(c), is 9 satisfied.” Id. 10 If the moving party meets its initial responsibility, the burden shifts to the opposing party 11 to establish that a genuine issue as to any material fact actually does exist. Matsushita Elec. 12 Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87 (1986). In attempting to establish the 13 existence of this factual dispute, the opposing party may not rely upon the allegations or denials 14 of its pleadings but is required to tender evidence of specific facts in the form of affidavits, and/or 15 admissible discovery material, in support of its contention that the dispute exists. See Fed. R. 16 Civ. P. 56(c). The opposing party must demonstrate that the fact in contention is material, i.e., a 17 fact “that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law,” Anderson v. Liberty 18 Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986); T.W. Elec. Serv., Inc. v. Pac. Elec. Contractors Ass’n, 809 19 F.2d 626, 630 (9th Cir. 1987), and that the dispute is genuine, i.e., “the evidence is such that a 20 reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party,” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248. 21 “In evaluating the evidence to determine whether there is a genuine issue of fact, [the 22 court] draw[s] all inferences supported by the evidence in favor of the non-moving party.” Walls 23 v. Cent. Costa Cnty. Transit Auth., 653 F.3d 963, 966 (9th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) (citation 24 omitted). It is the opposing party’s obligation to produce a factual predicate from which the 25 inference may be drawn. See Richards v. Nielsen Freight Lines, 810 F.2d 898, 902 (9th Cir. 26 1987). Finally, to demonstrate a genuine issue, the opposing party “must do more than simply 27 show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586 28 (citations omitted). “Where the record is taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to 1 find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’” Id. at 587 (quoting First Nat’l 2 Bank, 391 U.S. at 289). 3 On a motion for summary judgment, it is inappropriate for the court to weigh evidence or 4 resolve competing inferences. “In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court must 5 leave ‘[c]redibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate 6 inferences from the facts’ to the jury.” Foster v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 243 Fed.Appx. 208, 7 210 (9th Cir. 2007) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255).

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