(PC) McCoy v. Massey

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJanuary 10, 2022
Docket2:18-cv-02180
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) McCoy v. Massey ((PC) McCoy v. Massey) 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) McCoy v. Massey, (E.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JASON MCCOY, No. 2:18-cv-2180 WBS AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 SKY MASSEY, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The case 18 is referred to a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local 19 Rule 302. The Third Amended Complaint, ECF No. 23, is now before the court for screening. 20 Two previous versions of the complaint were screened and found not to state a claim for relief; 21 plaintiff has twice been granted leave to amend. ECF Nos. 14, 17. For the reasons explained 22 below, the undersigned recommends that this case proceed on Claim One of the Third Amended 23 Complaint against defendants Massey and Canello only, and that all other claims and defendants 24 be dismissed. 25 I. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 26 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 27 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 28 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are 1 “frivolous, malicious, or fail[] to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” or that “seek[] 2 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 3 A claim “is [legally] frivolous where it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” 4 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 5 Cir. 1984). “[A] judge may dismiss . . . claims which are ‘based on indisputably meritless legal 6 theories’ or whose ‘factual contentions are clearly baseless.’” Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 7 640 (9th Cir. 1989) (quoting Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327), superseded by statute on other grounds as 8 stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th Cir. 2000). The critical inquiry is whether a 9 constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. 10 Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227-28 (citations omitted). 11 “Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the 12 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of 13 what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 14 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (alteration in original) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). 15 “Failure to state a claim under § 1915A incorporates the familiar standard applied in the context 16 of failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).” Wilhelm v. Rotman, 17 680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). In order to survive dismissal for failure 18 to state a claim, a complaint must contain more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 19 cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the 20 speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citations omitted). “‘[T]he pleading must contain 21 something more . . . than . . . a statement of facts that merely creates a suspicion [of] a legally 22 cognizable right of action.’” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting 5 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur 23 R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1216 (3d ed. 2004)). 24 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to 25 relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting 26 Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual 27 content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 28 misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). In reviewing a complaint under this 1 standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the complaint in question, Hosp. Bldg. 2 Co. v. Trs. of the Rex Hosp., 425 U.S. 738, 740 (1976) (citation omitted), as well as construe the 3 pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor, 4 Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969) (citations omitted). 5 II. THE THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 6 Plaintiff brings suit against twelve defendants, eight of whom are members of the medical 7 staff at Mule Creek State Prison, three of whom are doctors at San Joaquin General Hospital, and 8 one of whom is a correctional officer at MCSP. ECF No. 23 at 1-2. The Third Amended 9 Complaint presents five claims, all alleging deliberate indifference to plaintiff’s serious medical 10 needs, and all arising from the aftermath of an inmate assault on plaintiff on March 17, 2018, 11 which broke plaintiff’s jaw. Plaintiff alleges in sum as follows. 12 Claim One is stated against MCSP defendants Massey, a nurse; Canello, a correctional 13 officer; and Horowitz, a doctor. Immediately following the assault plaintiff was taken to the 14 Triage Treatment Area (TTA) and seen by Nurse Massey. Plaintiff realized from past experience 15 that his jaw was broken. Plaintiff told Massey that his jaw was broken in the location of a 16 previous fracture, that he was in extreme pain, and that he needed an x-ray, to see a doctor, and to 17 be given pain medicine. These are “required” procedures when a broken bone is suspected. 18 Defendant Massey failed to provide these things after being told by Officer Canello to only treat 19 plaintiff for swelling. Officer Canello said that if Massey diagnosed a broken bone, they would 20 have to write up the other inmate for assault which custody staff did not want to do “because the 21 other inmate had did them a favor by assaulting [plaintiff].” Massey then ordered plaintiff 22 returned to his cell. Thirteen hours later, plaintiff was returned to the TTA with even worse 23 swelling and pain. RN Massey finally agreed to consult the on-call doctor and have plaintiff sent 24 to an outside hospital for evaluation and treatment. Plaintiff claims that Massey delayed 25 medically necessary evaluation and treatment, and that Dr. Horowitz, the on-call physician, had a 26 duty to evaluate plaintiff personally rather than just relying on Massey’s report and sending him 27 to SJGH on that basis. These actions caused plaintiff unnecessary pain and suffering util he 28 received fentanyl at the hospital thirteen hours after the assault. His pain was so severe that he 1 needed two doses of fentanyl. ECF No. 23 at 4-9. 2 Claim Two is brought against SJGH doctors Willett, Kelly, and Lerokamos and Dr. 3 Horowitz of MCSP.

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(PC) McCoy v. Massey, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-mccoy-v-massey-caed-2022.