(PC) Evans v. Diaz

District Court, E.D. California·Decided December 5, 2022·No. 1:22-cv-00291·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DAVID ARKEEN EVANS, Case No. 1:22-cv-00291-ADA-BAM (PC) 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO DISMISS CERTAIN CLAIMS AND 13 v. DEFENDANTS 14 DIAZ, et al., (ECF No. 11) 15 Defendants. FOURTEEN (14) DAY DEADLINE 16 17 Plaintiff David Arkeen Evans (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this 18 civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff’s first amended complaint is currently before 19 the Court for screening. (ECF No. 11.) 20 I. Screening Requirement and Standard 21 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 22 governmental entity and/or against an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. 23 § 1915A(a). Plaintiff’s complaint, or any portion thereof, is subject to dismissal if it is frivolous 24 or malicious, if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or if it seeks monetary 25 relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A(b). 26 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 27 pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 28 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 1 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 2 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as 3 true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 4 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 5 To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which requires 6 sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is liable 7 for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss v. U.S. Secret 8 Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully 9 is not sufficient, and mere consistency with liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility 10 standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. 11 II. Plaintiff’s Allegations 12 Plaintiff is currently housed at California State Prison, Sacramento in Sacramento, 13 California. The events in the complaint are alleged to have occurred while Plaintiff was housed at 14 Kern Valley State Prison (“KVSP”) in Delano, California. Plaintiff names the following 15 defendants: (1) Christian Pfeiffer, Warden; (2) John Martin, Correctional Sergeant; (3) Heather 16 Diaz, Clinical Psychologist; (4) John Bradford, Psychologist; (5) Stanley, Correctional Sergeant; 17 (6) Ernesto Diaz, Correctional Officer; (7) Anthony Reed,1 Correctional Officer; (8) Cristian 18 Ramirez, Correctional Officer; (9) A. Aguilar, Correctional Officer; (10) E. Figueroa, 19 Correctional Officer; (11) Marin, Correctional Officer; (12) W. Mathews, Lieutenant; and 20 (13) Arrozola, Correctional Officer. 2 All defendants are employees of KVSP and are sued in 21 their individual capacities, with the exception of Defendant Pfeiffer, who is also sued in his 22 official capacity. 23 /// 24 ///

25 1 Although the first amended complaint lists this Defendant as “Anthony Correctional Officer,” (ECF No. 11, p. 7), it is clear from the original complaint and the allegations in the first amended complaint that Plaintiff intended to list 26 Correctional Officer Anthony Reed as a defendant in this action.

27 2 Plaintiff did not list Defendant Arrozola as a party to this action, in either the first amended complaint or the original complaint. Nevertheless, it is clear from Plaintiff’s allegations that he intended to include Correctional 28 Officer Arrozola as a defendant in this action. 1 Plaintiff alleges as follows: 2 On January 19, 2019, Plaintiff was placed in administrative segregation (“Ad-Seg”) at 3 approximately 1520 hours and placed in a Mental Health Treatment Room holding cage. The 4 unit supervisor, Defendant Sgt. Martin came into the Treatment Room and asked Plaintiff about 5 the events that brought him to Ad-Seg. Plaintiff explained his suicidal ideations and safety 6 concerns regarding his sexual orientation/identity and incriminating photos being leaked on social 7 media. Defendant Sgt. Martin shook his head and laughed and called Plaintiff a “faggot” before 8 leaving the room. 9 Plaintiff was taken by Defendant C/O Ernesto Diaz to be screened by medical staff 10 outside the Treatment Room. Plaintiff informed Defendant Psych. Tech. Mathews he was feeling 11 suicidal. Plaintiff was placed back in the Mental Health Treatment Room holding cage and left 12 handcuffed, as is proper protocol when an inmate is suicidal. Plaintiff began banging his head on 13 the holding cage door several times. 14 Without warning, asking, or ordering Plaintiff to stop, Defendant C/O E. Diaz sprayed 15 Plaintiff with his MK-9-OC spray. Defendant E. Diaz left Plaintiff alone with the door closed to 16 the Treatment Room, trapping Plaintiff inside with the fumes of the MK-9-OC pepper spray with 17 no ventilation. MK-9-OC pepper spray has several effects: swelling of mucous membranes, eyes, 18 nose and throat, nasal, and sinus discharge, coughing, shortness (difficulty) of breathing, 19 involuntary eye closure/complete blindness, painful burning of the skin, hyperventilation, and 20 psychological effects (fear, anxiety, and panic).3 21 Plaintiff started choking and yelling, “I can’t breathe! Help!” Being handcuffed, Plaintiff 22 turned to face the back of the cage and started mule kicking the cage door while continuing to yell 23 for help. 24 Plaintiff could hear the Treatment Room door opened, and upon information and belief, 25 Plaintiff was sprayed with two more cans of MK-9-OC pepper spray by both Defendants C/O E. 26 Diaz and C. Ramirez in order to subject and prolong the infliction of pain and suffering.

27 3 Plaintiff references exhibits throughout the first amended complaint. Plaintiff is informed that although no exhibits were attached to the first amended complaint filed with the Court, exhibits are also not necessary at the pleading 28 stage. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). 1 Falsely, Defendants alleged in their incident report that Plaintiff was continuing to bang 2 his head and refusing orders to stop, so they sprayed him in the “facial area,” both with only a 3- 3 second burst of MK-9-OC pepper spray. Plaintiff’s CDCR 7219 shows he was actually sprayed 4 to the back of his body and was saturated (drenched) with OC-spray. 5 Again the Treatment Room door was closed by defendants. Plaintiff could hear someone 6 in the adjacent hallway giving orders, “Let’s do this the right way, go grab your helmet, face, and 7 riot shield.” Upon information and belief, Plaintiff has ascertained that the person giving orders 8 to Defendant(s) to perform an illegal cell extraction was the unit supervisor, Defendant Sgt. 9 Martin.

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