(PC) Kendrid v. Osman

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedApril 24, 2020
Docket2:19-cv-02097
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Kendrid v. Osman ((PC) Kendrid v. Osman) 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) Kendrid v. Osman, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 FORREST KENDRID, No. 2:19-cv-02097-TLN-CKD 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 M. OSMAN, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a civilly committed detainee under California Penal Code § 1026 who is 18 proceeding pro se in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.1 Plaintiff has 19 requested leave to proceed in forma and has submitted a declaration that makes the showing 20 required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). ECF No 5. As a civil detainee, plaintiff need not provide 21 copies of his prison trust account statements or pay the filing fee. See Page v. Torrey, 201 F.3d 22 1136, 1139-40 (9th Cir. 2000). Accordingly, the request to proceed in forma pauperis will be 23 granted. 24 I. Screening Requirement 25 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 26 1 Although California Penal Code § 1026 provides that criminal defendants found insane at the 27 time of the offense are committed to the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) for care and treatment, plaintiff does not explain why he is currently in the custody of the California 28 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). 1 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 2 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 3 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 4 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 5 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 6 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 7 Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an 8 indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 9 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 10 pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th 11 Cir. 1989); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227. 12 In order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than 13 “naked assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause 14 of action.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-557 (2007). In other words, 15 “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 16 statements do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Furthermore, a claim 17 upon which the court can grant relief has facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A 18 claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw 19 the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. 20 at 678. When considering whether a complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted, 21 the court must accept the allegations as true, Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93-94 (2007), and 22 construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 23 U.S. 232, 236 (1974). 24 II. Allegations in the Complaint 25 At all times relevant to the allegations in the complaint, plaintiff was a civil detainee 26 housed at the California Medical Facility (“CMF”). On July 3, 2018, defendant Dr. Osman 27 ordered plaintiff to be discharged from the Correctional Treatment Center (“CTC”) with the use 28 of a trapeze in his housing unit to accommodate his disabilities. On July 9, 2018, plaintiff injured 1 himself while using the trapeze to transfer from his bed to the toilet. As treatment for the injuries 2 he sustained, defendant Osman placed 3 sutures in plaintiff’s head. 3 On July 10, 2018, according to plaintiff, defendant Osman transferred him out of the CTC 4 in retaliation for plaintiff’s filing of 602 appeals and a civil lawsuit against medical staff at the 5 facility. Defendant Ho, a registered nurse, told plaintiff that she would call defendant Osman and 6 have plaintiff transferred back to the CTC if he dropped his medical 602 appeals. Plaintiff alleges 7 that both of these defendants conspired to improperly discharge him from the CTC. 8 Plaintiff further contends that defendant Osman’s decision to discharge him from the CTC 9 was deliberately indifferent to plaintiff’s serious medical needs because plaintiff could not 10 physically care for himself. By way of relief, plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages. 11 III. Legal Standards 12 As a civil detainee, plaintiff is afforded greater constitutional protections than other 13 prisoners pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment. See Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307, 321- 14 22 (1982) (stating that “[p]ersons who have been involuntarily committed are entitled to more 15 considerate treatment and conditions of confinement than criminals whose conditions of 16 confinement are designed to punish.” (citation omitted)); Jones v. Blanas, 393 F.3d 918, 933-34 17 (9th Cir. 2004). Courts have commonly applied Eighth Amendment standards to claims made by 18 civil detainees under the Fourteenth Amendment. See, e.g., Frost v. Agnos, 152 F.3d 1124, 1128 19 (9th Cir. 1998) (applying Eighth Amendment standards to evaluate pretrial detainees' Fourteenth 20 Amendment claims). 21 Denial or delay of medical care for a prisoner’s serious medical needs may constitute a 22 violation of the prisoner’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 23 97, 104-05 (1976). An individual is liable for such a violation only when the individual is 24 deliberately indifferent to a prisoner’s serious medical needs. Id.; see Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 25 1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2006); Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732, 744 (9th Cir. 2002); Lopez v. 26 Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1131-32 (9th Cir. 2000). 27 In the Ninth Circuit, the test for deliberate indifference consists of two parts. Jett, 439 28 F.3d at 1096, citing McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050 (9th Cir. 1991), overruled on other 1 grounds by WMX Techs., Inc. v. Miller, 104 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir. 1997) (en banc). First, the 2 plaintiff must show a “serious medical need” by demonstrating that “failure to treat a prisoner’s 3 condition could result in further significant injury or the ‘unnecessary and wanton infliction of 4 pain.’” Id., citing Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104. “Examples of serious medical needs include ‘[t]he 5 existence of an injury that a reasonable doctor or patient would find important and worthy of 6 comment or treatment; the presence of a medical condition that significantly affects an 7 individual’s daily activities; or the existence of chronic and substantial pain.’” Lopez, 203 F.

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(PC) Kendrid v. Osman, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-kendrid-v-osman-caed-2020.