(PC) Robinson v. Leyva

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedDecember 18, 2020
Docket1:20-cv-01090
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Robinson v. Leyva ((PC) Robinson v. Leyva) 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) Robinson v. Leyva, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 LEONARD SHAWN ROBINSON, Case No. 1:20-cv-01090-EPG (PC)

11 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS,

12 v. RECOMMENDING THAT THIS ACTION BE DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE 13 I. LEYVA, et al., (ECF No. 11) 14 Defendants. OBJECTIONS, IF ANY, DUE WITHIN 15 TWENTY-ONE DAYS 16 ORDER DIRECTING CLERK TO ASSIGN 17 DISTRICT JUDGE 18 Leonard Robinson (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 19 pauperis in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 Plaintiff filed the complaint commencing this action on August 6, 2020. (ECF No. 1). 21 On September 22, 2020, the Court screened Plaintiff’s complaint and found that it did not 22 comply with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a), 18, and 20. (ECF No. 7). The Court gave 23 Plaintiff thirty days to either “a. File a First Amended Complaint, which the Court will screen 24 in due course; or b. Notify the Court in writing that he wants to stand on his complaint, in 25 which case this Court will issue findings and recommendations to a district judge consistent 26 with this order or screen Plaintiff’s first claim and recommend that the rest of Plaintiff’s claims 27 be dismissed as unrelated.” (Id. at 12). 28 On December 7, 2020, Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 11). The 1 Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint, and for the reasons described in this 2 order will recommend that this action be dismissed without prejudice. 3 Plaintiff has twenty-one days from the date of service of these findings and 4 recommendations to file his objections. 5 I. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 6 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 7 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). 8 The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are 9 legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or 10 that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. 11 § 1915A(b)(1), (2). As Plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis (ECF No. 5), the Court may 12 also screen the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. “Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any 13 portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court 14 determines that the action or appeal fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” 15 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 16 A complaint is required to contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing 17 that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are 18 not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 19 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 20 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). A plaintiff must set forth “sufficient 21 factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. 22 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). The mere possibility of misconduct falls short of meeting 23 this plausibility standard. Id. at 679. While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as true, courts 24 “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 25 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Additionally, a 26 plaintiff’s legal conclusions are not accepted as true. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. 27 Pleadings of pro se plaintiffs “must be held to less stringent standards than formal 28 pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010) (holding that 1 pro se complaints should continue to be liberally construed after Iqbal). 2 II. SUMMARY OF PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT 3 In Plaintiff’s initial complaint, filed on August 6, 2020, Plaintiff sued twenty-nine 4 defendants. The complaint is approximately forty pages. 5 Plaintiff brought three claims. Plaintiff’s first claim appears to revolve around an 6 allegedly biased and prejudiced supervisor, Henry Ortiz, who falsified a Rules Violation Report 7 (“RVR”) against Plaintiff in order to terminate Plaintiff’s work assignment. 8 Plaintiff’s second claim appears to revolve around his complaints against two dental 9 assistants, who are allegedly biased and prejudiced against black inmates. These two dental 10 assistants continuously fabricate complaints against Plaintiff, his coworkers, and Supervisor D. 11 Patterson. Additionally, the Associate Warden took Plaintiff’s gate pass from him without 12 providing him with due process, and would not return Plaintiff’s gate pass, even after he 13 received a not guilty decision at the hearing for his RVR. Plaintiff was eventually fired from 14 his job assignment, in retaliation for the complaint he had filed regarding the falsification of 15 documents. Plaintiff also alleges that, after he filed a grievance, two lieutenants agreed to 16 remove the 128G out of his file. However, they did not do so. 17 Plaintiff’s third claim revolves around an allegedly false RVR for not reporting to a 18 family relationship class that a lieutenant assigned Plaintiff to without telling Plaintiff. 19 III. FIRST SCREENING ORDER 20 The Court analyzed Plaintiff’s original complaint as follows: 21 As set forth above, Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires a complaint to contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 22 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Although a complaint is not required to include detailed factual allegations, it must set forth “sufficient 23 factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its 24 face.’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). Plaintiff must demonstrate that each named defendant personally participated in the 25 deprivation of his rights. Id. at 676-77. 26 A complaint must also comply with the requirements of Federal Rules of Civil 27 Procedure 18 and 20. Under these rules, a plaintiff may not proceed on a myriad of unrelated claims against different defendants in a single action. Fed. R. Civ. 28 P. 18(a), 20(a)(2). “The controlling principle appears in Fed. R. Civ. P. 18

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(PC) Robinson v. Leyva, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-robinson-v-leyva-caed-2020.