(PC) Gosztyla v. French

District Court, E.D. California·Decided August 7, 2023·No. 2:21-cv-01403·Unknown

Opinion

RICHARD GOSZTYLA, No. 2:21-cv-1403-DJC-EFB (PC) Plaintiff, v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS MICHAEL FRENCH, et al., Defendants. Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He filed this action on August 6, 2021. ECF No. 1. On November 8, 2021, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), the court determined that plaintiff’s complaint alleged potentially cognizable Eighth Amendment claims for excessive force against defendants Michael French, Nathan Burnette, and Paul “Scott” Pfeifer. ECF No. 7. All other claims were dismissed with leave to amend, id., and plaintiff opted not to amend his complaint. ECF No. 10. Plaintiff was subsequently permitted to file an amended complaint (ECF No. 46), and the operative complaint in this action (against defendants Burnette, French, Pfeifer, and Jose “Joey” Lemus) is docketed at ECF No. 39. ///// ///// ///// Defendants now move for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff’s claims are time-barred. Defendant French also moves for summary judgment on the alternate ground that he used no force on plaintiff. For the reasons that follow, the motion for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff’s claims are time-barred must be granted. I. The First Amended Complaint Plaintiff is currently housed at Mule Creek State Prison. ECF No. 39. The alleged events underlying plaintiff’s operative complaint concern his arrest on March 9, 2018 by Detectives French, Burnette, Pfeifer, and Lemus of the Sacramento County Sherriff’s Department. Id. at 2-3. According to plaintiff’s complaint, during his arrest:

[O]ne of the officers . . . secured my wife while the other three officers proceeded to punch, kick, hit with the butt of their rifle, and generally assault me while I was on the ground. I was kicked on my left side causing serious injury to my ribs, I was kicked in the face and head multiple times, and hit with the butt of a rifle to the back of my head causing serious lacerations and bleeding, as well as many other attacks and injuries. Id. at 3. Plaintiff originally filed this action on August 6, 2021. ECF No. 1. II. Summary Judgment Standard Summary judgment is appropriate when there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Summary judgment avoids unnecessary trials in cases in which the parties do not dispute the facts relevant to the determination of the issues in the case, or in which there is insufficient evidence for a jury to determine those facts in favor of the nonmovant. Crawford-El v. Britton, 523 U.S. 574, 600 (1998); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-50 (1986); Nw. Motorcycle Ass’n v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 18 F.3d 1468, 1471-72 (9th Cir. 1994). At bottom, a summary judgment motion asks whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury. The principal purpose of Rule 56 is to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims or defenses. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24 (1986). Thus, the rule functions to “‘pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial.’” Matsushita Elec. Indus. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e) advisory committee’s note on 1963 amendments). Procedurally, under summary judgment practice, the moving party bears the initial responsibility of presenting the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record, together with affidavits, if any, that it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323; Devereaux v. Abbey, 263 F.3d 1070, 1076 (9th Cir. 2001) (en banc). If the moving party meets its burden with a properly supported motion, the burden then shifts to the opposing party to present specific facts that show there is a genuine issue for trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e); Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248; Auvil v. CBS “60 Minutes”, 67 F.3d 816, 819 (9th Cir. 1995). A clear focus on where the burden of proof lies as to the factual issue in question is crucial to summary judgment procedures. Depending on which party bears that burden, the party seeking summary judgment does not necessarily need to submit any evidence of its own. When the opposing party would have the burden of proof on a dispositive issue at trial, the moving party need not produce evidence which negates the opponent’s claim. See, e.g., Lujan v. National Wildlife Fed’n, 497 U.S. 871, 885 (1990). Rather, the moving party need only point to matters which demonstrate the absence of a genuine material factual issue. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323- 24 (“[W]here the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial on a dispositive issue, a summary judgment motion may properly be made in reliance solely on the ‘pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file.’”). Indeed, summary judgment should be entered, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. See id. at 322. In such a circumstance, summary judgment must be granted, “so long as whatever is before the district court demonstrates that the standard for entry of summary judgment, as set forth in Rule 56(c), is satisfied.” Id. at 323. ///// ///// ///// ///// To defeat summary judgment the opposing party must establish a genuine dispute as to a material issue of fact. This entails two requirements. First, the dispute must be over a fact(s) that is material, i.e., one that makes a difference in the outcome of the case. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248 (“Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.”). Whether a factual dispute is material is determined by the substantive law applicable for the claim in question. Id. If the opposing party is unable to produce evidence sufficient to establish a required element of its claim that party fails in opposing summary judgment. “[A] complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322. Second, the dispute must be genuine. In determining whether a factual dispute is genuine the court must again focus on which party bears the burden of proof on the factual issue in question. Where the party opposing summary judgment would bear the burden of proof at trial on the factual issue in dispute, that party must produce evidence sufficient to support its factual claim. Conclusory allegations, unsupported by evidence are insufficient to defeat the motion. Taylor v. Lis

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