(PC) Fletcher v. Lomeli

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 23, 2019
Docket4:18-cv-03350
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Fletcher v. Lomeli ((PC) Fletcher v. Lomeli) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
(PC) Fletcher v. Lomeli, (N.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 GREGORY L. FLETCHER, 4 Case No. 18-cv-03350-YGR (PR) Plaintiff, 5 ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ v. MOTION FOR SUMMARY 6 JUDGMENT; AND DENYING THEIR CORRECTIONAL COUNSELOR I MOTION TO DISMISS AS MOOT 7 BRENDA LOMELI, et al., 8 Defendants.

9 I. INTRODUCTION 10 Plaintiff Gregory L. Fletcher, a state prisoner currently incarcerated at California State 11 Prison – Corcoran (“CSP – Corcoran”) brings the instant pro se action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 12 § 1983, stemming from constitutional violations resulting during his previous incarceration at 13 Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”), where he claims he had safety concerns. The time frame of 14 the alleged violations is from when Plaintiff was first endorsed to be transferred from the 15 California Health Care Facility (“CHCF”) to SVSP on May 22, 2017 through December 8, 20171, 16 when Plaintiff was transferred out of SVSP to the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (“SATF”). 17 Dkt. 1 at 1.2 18 The operative pleading is Plaintiff’s original complaint (dkt. 1), in which he sought 19 monetary damages against the following Defendants at SVSP: the Warden; Correctional 20 Counselor I (“CCI”) Brenda Lomeli3; former CCI Garcia; Captain N. Gonzalez4; Sergeant R. 21 1 Initially, the Court indicated that the time frame was from May 22, 2017 to March 20, 22 2018, which is when Plaintiff claims he was informed that he was endorsed to be transferred to SATF. See Dkt. 9 at 1 (citing Dkt. 1 at 1). However, the record indicates that Plaintiff was 23 actually transferred to SATF on December 8, 2017, see Dkt. 1 at 29, and therefore the Court uses that transfer date as the end of the time frame of the alleged constitutional violation. 24

2 Page number citations refer to those assigned by the Court’s electronic case management 25 filing system and not those assigned by the parties.

26 3 Defendant Lomeli was initially sued and served as “Lemoli/Lomeli,” and the Court now uses the correct spelling of this Defendant’s name. 27 1 Gomez; and various Doe Defendants. 2 The following summary of Plaintiff’s claims is taken from the Court’s January 16, 2019 3 service order, which states as follows:

4 Plaintiff’s claims arise from Defendants’ alleged deliberate indifference to his safety needs stemming from an incident on 5 November 30, 2017 in which Plaintiff claims that he “had an attempt[ed] assassination made on his life” (apparently he suffered a 6 blow to the head, which rendered him unconscious) even after Plaintiff requested that Defendants remove him from being housed 7 SVSP because he claimed his life was in danger. Dkt. 1 at 9. Plaintiff claims that for the “next 6 1/2 to seven months [he] still suffer[red] 8 from severe pain [and] head injurie[s], blurry vision in [his] right eye, severe headaches, . . . fear for his safety, anxiety and despo[n]dency.” 9 Id. at 10. 10 Dkt. 9 at 2. The Court found that, liberally construed, Plaintiff stated a cognizable Eighth 11 Amendment claim that Defendants Garcia, Lomeli, Gonzalez, and Gomez were deliberately 12 indifferent to his safety needs. Id. The Court dismissed without prejudice Plaintiff’s remaining 13 claims of retaliation, supervisory liability against the SVSP Warden, and those against the Doe 14 Defendants. Id. at 2-4. The Court directed the Clerk of the Court to serve the complaint and 15 issued a briefing schedule for the served Defendants to file a dispositive motion. See id. at 4-7. 16 On March 19, 2019, Defendants Garcia, Lomeli, Gonzalez, and Gomez (hereinafter 17 “Defendants”) filed the instant Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion to Dismiss. Dkt. 21. 18 They argue that (1) Plaintiff’s claims fail because he only partially exhausted his administrative 19 remedies; (2) there is no evidence that Defendants violated Plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment rights; 20 and (3) Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. Id. at 6-7. Specifically, Defendants argue 21 that: (a) Plaintiff “failed to properly exhaust his available administrative remedies against 22 Defendants Lomeli and Gomez in accordance with California Code of Regulations, Title 15, § 23 3084.3(d), because he failed to identify them in his inmate appeals before filing this lawsuit”; (b) 24 Plaintiff “has failed to allege facts that would demonstrate that Defendants had sufficient 25 knowledge of any known risk”; and (c) Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity for 26 Plaintiff’s damages claims because a reasonable officer in each Defendant’s position would not 27 have believed that he had sufficient information to conclude Plaintiff faced an unreasonable risk of 1 Plaintiff filed an opposition, and Defendants filed their reply. Dkts. 24, 25. 2 For the reasons outlined below, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ motion for summary 3 judgment and DENIES their motion to dismiss as moot. 4 II. DISCUSSION 5 A. Background5 6 1. The Parties 7 At the time of the events set forth in his complaint, Plaintiff was an inmate housed in 8 SVSP. Dkt. 1 at 8. 9 Defendants Garcia, Lomeli, Gonzalez, and Gomez are, or were at the time of the events 10 alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint, members of the custody staff at SVSP. See id. at 2-3. 11 2. Relevant SVSP Policies6 12 a. Facility Security Levels 13 The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) designates “[e]ach 14 camp, facility, or area of a facility complex” “at a security level based on its physical security and 15

16 5 This Order contains many acronyms and abbreviations. Here, in one place, they are:

17 ad seg Administrative Segregation CDCR California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 18 CHCF California Health Care Facility CSR Classification Staff Representative 19 CCI Correctional Counselor I CCII Correctional Counselor II 20 DSH Department of State Hospitals EOP Enhanced Outpatient Program 21 ICC Institutional Classification Committee MCSP Mule Creek State Prison 22 PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act R&R Receiving and Release 23 SATF Substance Abuse Treatment Facility SVSP Salinas Valley State Prison 24 SLR Second Level of Review SNY Sensitive Needs Yard 25 SOMS Strategic Offender Management System SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 26 TLR Third Level of Review UCC Unit Classification Committee 27 1 housing capability.” Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3377. The classification or “security” levels are as 2 follows:

3 (a) Level I facilities and camps consist primarily of open dormitories with a low security perimeter. 4 (b) Level II facilities consist primarily of open dormitories with a 5 secure perimeter, which may include armed coverage.

6 (c) Level III facilities primarily have a secure perimeter with armed coverage and housing units with cells adjacent to exterior walls. 7 (d) Level IV facilities have a secure perimeter with internal and 8 external armed coverage and housing units described in section 3377(c), or cell block housing with cells non-adjacent to exterior 9 walls. 10 Id. 11 b. Inmate Transfers and the Classification Process 12 Because Plaintiff alleges that he was transferred from CHCF to a prison with safety 13 concerns, the Court also includes the relevant procedure relating to inmate transfers and the 14 classification process. Any inmate transferred from a facility other than a reception center shall 15 require a classification committee action and endorsement by a classification staff representative 16 (“CSR”). Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3379(a)(1). California Code of Regulations, Title 15, 17 § 3379(a)(1) states as follows:

18 (a) Transfer requirements.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Fletcher v. Lomeli, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-fletcher-v-lomeli-cand-2019.