(PC) Davis v. Kelley

District Court, E.D. California·Decided October 11, 2023·No. 2:22-cv-00773·Unknown

Opinion

JONATHAN DAVIS, No. 2:22-cv-0773 DB P Plaintiff, v. ORDER K. KELLEY, et al., Defendants. Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims that he has received inadequate medical care in violation of his rights. Presently before the court is the fourth amended complaint for screening along with plaintiff’s motion seeking relief for failing to timely file his amended complaint. (ECF Nos. 26, 27.) For the reasons set forth below, the court will grant the motion for relief, deem the complaint timely filed, and give plaintiff the option to proceed with the complaint as screened or file an amended complaint. By order dated March 27, 2023, the undersigned screened the third amended complaint, determined it stated a potentially cognizable deliberate indifference claim against defendant Drs. Kelley and Ashe, but did not state any additional claims. (ECF No. 18 at 6-7.) Plaintiff was //// given the option to proceed with the complaint as screened or file an amended complaint. (Id. at 9.) Plaintiff elected to amend the complaint. (ECF No. 22.) On May 8, 2023, the undersigned directed plaintiff to file an amended complaint within sixty days. (ECF No. 23.) Thereafter, plaintiff requested the court issue subpoenas. (ECF No. 24.) The request was denied without prejudice to its renewal at a later stage of the proceedings. (ECF No. 25.) The Fourth Amended Complaint (“FAC”) and the instant motion for relief were filed on the docket on August 11, 2023. (ECF Nos. 26, 27.) In the motion plaintiff states that he submitted the FAC “on or about April 17, 2023” contemporaneously with his request for a sixty-day extension of time that was docketed on April 19, 2023. (ECF No. 27 at 1.) Plaintiff states that he “can only render a guess that the trouble with what appears to be a missing and/or unfiled FOURTH AMENDED COMPLAINT stems from problems with the Mule Creek State Prison Mail Room.” (Id. at 2.) Plaintiff submitted his own declaration along with a declaration from an inmate who assisted in the preparation stating that the FAC was drafted during the time provided for in the May 8, 2023, extension of time. (Id. at 2, 4, 5-6.) In light of plaintiff’s pro se status and based on the arguments in the motion, the court will consider the FAC timely filed and screen it as set forth below. I. Legal Standards The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) & (2). A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227. Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell AtlanticCorp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). However, in order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555. In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the complaint in question, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hospital Trustees, 425 U.S. 738, 740 (1976), construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969). The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides as follows: Every person who, under color of [state law] . . . subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution . . . shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Here, the defendants must act under color of federal law. Bivens, 403 U.S. at 389. The statute requires that there be an actual connection or link between the actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff. See Monell v. Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976). “A person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the meaning of § 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another's affirmative acts or omits to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). //// Moreover, supervisory personnel are generally not liable under § 1983 for the actions of their employees under a theory of respondeat superior and, therefore, when a named defendant holds a supervisorial position, the causal link between him and the claimed constitutional violation must be specifically alleged. See Fayle v. Stapley, 607 F.2d 858, 862 (9th Cir. 1979); Mosher v. Saalfeld, 589 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations concerning the involvement of official personnel in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982). I. Allegations in the Amended Complaint Plaintiff alleges the events giving rise to the claim occurred while he was in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) housed at Mule Creek State Prison (“MCSP”). (ECF No. 26 at 2.) He has identified Dr. Kanwar Kelley, physician and surgeon at San Joaquin General Hospital (“SJGH”), Dr. Mariana Ashe, chief physician and surgeon at MCSP as defendants. (Id.) Plaintiff has also named John Does #1-5 and identified them

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