(PC) Gaddy v. Moghaddam

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedAugust 29, 2019
Docket2:16-cv-02269
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
(PC) Gaddy v. Moghaddam, (E.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MICHAEL GADDY, No. 2:16-cv-2269 JAM AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 E. MOGHADDAM, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 I. Introduction 18 Plaintiff is a California inmate under the authority of the California Department of 19 Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Plaintiff proceeds pro se with a complaint filed pursuant 20 to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and a request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed pursuant to 28 21 U.S.C. § 1915. The complaint challenges medical care that plaintiff received while incarcerated 22 at California State Prison - Sacramento.1 23 This action is referred to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 24 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 302(c). For the following reasons, plaintiff's request to 25 proceed in forma pauperis is granted. On screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), the court 26 finds that plaintiff’s Claims One through Three (alleging deliberate indifference to plaintiff’s 27

28 1 Plaintiff is presently incarcerated at Pelican Bay State Prison. 1 broken hand by defendants Moghaddam, Spilman, Relano, Poppachan, Cho and Lim) adequate 2 for service, but that Claim Four fails to state a claim. Plaintiff will be given the choice of (1) 3 proceeding forthwith on Claims One through Three and dismissing Claim Four, or (2) amending 4 his complaint to attempt to state a claim against defendants Burnett, Lacy and Crum. 5 II. In Forma Pauperis Application 6 Plaintiff has submitted an affidavit and prison trust account statement that make the 7 showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See ECF No. 2. Accordingly, plaintiff's request to 8 proceed in forma pauperis will be granted. 9 Plaintiff must nevertheless pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 10 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By this order, plaintiff will be assessed an initial partial filing fee 11 in accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will 12 direct the appropriate agency to collect the initial partial filing fee from plaintiff's trust account 13 and forward it to the Clerk of the Court. Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated to make monthly 14 payments of twenty percent of the preceding month's income credited to plaintiff's trust account. 15 These payments will be forwarded by the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time 16 the amount in plaintiff's account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. § 17 1915(b)(2). 18 III. Screening of the Complaint 19 A. Legal Standards for Screening Prisoner Civil Rights Complaints 20 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 21 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 22 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 23 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 24 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 25 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. Neitzke v. 26 Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th Cir. 27 1984). 28 //// 1 Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain statement 2 of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair 3 notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. 4 Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). “T]he 5 pleading standard Rule 8 announces does not require ‘detailed factual allegations,’ but it demands 6 more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 7 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). To survive dismissal for failure 8 to state a claim, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 9 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. 10 at 570). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the 11 court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. 12 “A document filed pro se is ‘to be liberally construed,’ and ‘a pro se complaint, however 13 inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by 14 lawyers.’” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (quoting Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 15 106 (1976) (internal quotation marks omitted)). See also Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(e) (“Pleadings shall be 16 so construed as to do justice.”). Additionally, a pro se litigant is entitled to notice of the 17 deficiencies in the complaint and an opportunity to amend, unless the complaint’s deficiencies 18 cannot be cured by amendment. See Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987). 19 B. Plaintiff’s Allegations 20 Defendants Dr. Maghaddam and Nurses Spilman, Relano, Poppachan, Cho and Lim were 21 medical providers at CSP-SAC at the time of the events described in the complaint; Dr. 22 Maghaddam was plaintiff’s primary care physician. Plaintiff broke his hand on May 27, 2016, 23 when he fell from his bunk. The injury caused excruciating pain. An X-ray taken on June 2, 24 2016 revealed an acute and displaced fracture of the second metacarpal. Plaintiff was referred on 25 an “urgent” basis to see “ortho.” He was not taken to San Joaquin General Hospital to see 26 “ortho” until June 16, 2016. In the interim, Dr. Maghaddam and the nurse defendants ignored 27 plaintiff’s many requests for adequate pain relief and to be seen promptly by ortho. After 28 plaintiff’s return from the hospital, Dr. Maghaddam and the nurse defendants continued to ignore 1 plaintiff’s written and oral requests to for adequate pain relief, resulting in severe pain and 2 suffering.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Gaddy v. Moghaddam, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-gaddy-v-moghaddam-caed-2019.