(PC) Holguin v. Madera County Jail Captain 2015

District Court, E.D. California·Decided June 30, 2022·No. 1:21-cv-01586·Unknown

Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 FELIPE ROMAN HOLGUIN, 1:21-cv-01586-GSA-PC

12 Plaintiff, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY PLAINTIFF’S § 1983 CLAIMS SHOULD 13 vs. NOT BE DISMISSED FROM THIS CASE AS BARRED BY THE APPLICABLE 14 MADERA COUNTY JAIL CAPTAIN STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS 2015, et al., 15 30 DAY DEADLINE Defendants. 16 17 I. BACKGROUND 18 Felipe Roman Holguin (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 19 pauperis with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the Complaint 20 commencing this action on October 28, 2021. (ECF No. 1.) On January 12, 2022, the Court 21 screened the Complaint and issued an order dismissing the Complaint for failure to state a claim 22 and violation of Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, with leave to amend. (ECF No. 23 10.) On February 8, 2022, Plaintiff filed the First Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 11.) 24 II. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 25 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 26 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 27 Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 28 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 1 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 2 “Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall 3 dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that the action or appeal fails to state a claim 4 upon which relief may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 5 A complaint is required to contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that 6 the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 7 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 8 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 9 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken 10 as true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, 11 Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To state 12 a viable claim, Plaintiff must set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim 13 to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79; Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 14 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). While factual allegations are accepted as true, legal 15 conclusions are not. Id. The mere possibility of misconduct falls short of meeting this 16 plausibility standard. Id. 17 III. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS AND CLAIMS 18 A. Allegations 19 Plaintiff is presently incarcerated at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) in Delano, 20 California, in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 21 (CDCR). The events at issue in the First Amended Complaint allegedly occurred at Madera 22 County Jail in Madera, California, when Plaintiff was incarcerated there. Plaintiff names as 23 defendants Officer Luz, Officer Townsen, and Captain-2015 (“Defendants”). Defendants were 24 all members of the Madera County Jail correctional staff when the events at issue allegedly 25 occurred. 26 The gravamen of Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint is that he was denied a fair trial 27 because Officers Luz, Townsend, and Captain-2015 at the Madera County Jail refused to allow 28 him access to the law library or any legal materials. 1 A summary of Plaintiff’s allegations follow: 2 Plaintiff was incarcerated at the Madera County Jail on or about July 15, 2015. The next 3 day, he requested penal code books, lawsuit forms, and injunction forms because his wife and 4 children had been harassed by a Madera Police Officer Garribay. Defendants Luz and Townsend 5 denied Plaintiff’s requests. This was before Plaintiff had an attorney (Public Defender) for his 6 criminal trial. 7 Plaintiff was also denied access to legal materials by Defendants to assist him as a pro 8 per litigant in court proceedings, and he lost custody of his children. 9 The Public Defender requested the prosecution to disclose discovery of the case so 10 Plaintiff could see what he was facing and the evidence against him. When Plaintiff went to the 11 shower, jail staff went into Plaintiff’s cell and confiscated the discovery documents, leaving 12 Plaintiff without discovery. Plaintiff had trial the following week. Plaintiff was made an offer 13 of 14 years no life for manslaughter, but he did not have information he needed to judge whether 14 to accept the offer and later had to accept an offer of 25 years to life. 15 B. Plaintiff’s § 1983 Claims – Legal Standards1 16 1. Rights of Pretrial Detainees 17 Plaintiff was a pretrial detainee at the time of the events at issue. “[P]retrial detainees . . 18 . possess greater constitutional rights than prisoners.” Stone v. City of San Francisco, 968 F.2d 19 850, 857 n.10 (9th Cir. 1992); see also Gary H. v. Hegstrom, 831 F.2d 1430, 1432 (9th Cir. 1987). 20 “If a plaintiff “had not been convicted of a crime, but had only been arrested, [then] his rights 21 derive from the due process clause rather than the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel 22 and unusual punishment.” Gibson v. County of Washoe, 290 F.3d 1175, 1187 (9th Cir. 2002); 23 see also Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 537 n.16 (1979) (noting that “the Due Process Clause

24 1 Plaintiff also alleges that denial of his access to courts interfered with his criminal 25 proceedings, causing him to be convicted and sentenced. When a prisoner challenges the legality or duration of his custody, or raises a constitutional challenge which could entitle him to an earlier release, 26 his sole federal remedy is a writ of habeas corpus. Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973); Young v. 27 Kenny, 907 F.2d 874 (9th Cir. 1990), cert. denied 11 S.Ct. 1090 (1991). Therefore, Defendants’ interference with Plaintiff’s criminal proceedings can only be challenged in a petition for writ of habeas 28 corpus and not in this § 1983 case. 1 rather than the Eighth Amendment” is relied upon in considering claims of pretrial detainees 2 because “Eighth Amendment scrutiny is appropriate only after the State has complied with the 3 constitutional guarantees traditionally associated with criminal prosecutions”). 4 Unless there is evidence of intent to punish, then those conditions or restrictions that are 5 reasonably related to legitimate penological objectives do not violate pretrial detainees’ rights to 6 be free from punishment. See Block v.

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