(PC) Turley, Jr. v. Lopez

District Court, E.D. California·Decided September 8, 2023·No. 1:23-cv-00100·Unknown

Opinion

MACEY E. TURLEY, JR., Case No. 1:23-cv-00100-BAM (PC) Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT JUDGE v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS LOPEZ, et al., REGARDING DISMISSAL OF CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEFENDANTS Defendants. FOURTEEN-DAY DEADLINE

Plaintiff Macey E. Turley, Jr. (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action was initiated on October 31, 2022, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. (ECF No. 1.) The action was transferred to the Eastern District of California on January 24, 2023. (ECF No. 5.) On March 9, 2023, the Court granted Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint, (ECF No. 16), and Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint on March 23, 2023 (ECF No. 17). On June 2, 2023, the Court screened Plaintiff’s first amended complaint and granted him leave to file a second amended complaint. (ECF No. 18.) Plaintiff’s second amended complaint, filed on June 12, 2023, is currently before the Court for screening. (ECF No. 19.) I. Screening Requirement and Standard The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity and/or against an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). Plaintiff’s complaint, or any portion thereof, is subject to dismissal if it is frivolous or malicious, if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or if it seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A(b). A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which requires sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss v. U.S. Secret Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully is not sufficient, and mere consistency with liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. II. Plaintiff’s Allegations Plaintiff is currently housed at California State Prison, Corcoran, where the events in the second amended complaint are alleged to have occurred. Plaintiff names the following correctional officers as defendants: Lopez, Rocha, Garcia, Coyle, and Gamboa. Plaintiff generally contends that defendants acted with deliberate indifference and deliberately subjected a mentally ill patient to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that on October 6, 2022, he told Defendant Lopez that his power was out. Defendants Lopez and Coyle both have a prior history that Plaintiff has visions of his daughter being victimized and a doctor informed all the correctional officers, including Defendants Lopez and Coyle, that TV and other activities would distract Plaintiff’s mind. Defendants Lopez and Coyle deliberately ignored Plaintiff’s plea to move or to turn his power back on for hours. Later that night, when Plaintiff’s mental health got so bad that he started cutting on himself, Defendants Coyle and Lopez started taunting and making fun of Plaintiff’s mental break down. Defendants Coyle and Lopez knew that Plaintiff was suffering because they both told Plaintiff to stop crying and started calling him names. Defendants Coyle and Lopez never took Plaintiff to medical when he cut on himself. Plaintiff contends that they did not care about him and his mental illness. The next day, on October 7, 2022, Lieutenant Stanley saw the cuts on Plaintiff’s arm and sent him to get a mental health evaluation. Plaintiff contends it was then that they put him on suicide watch by lying to him and telling him they were not going to do that to him. Plaintiff came back to the building expecting to go back to his cell. When he tried to go to his cell, Defendant Gamboa told Plaintiff that he was going to medical. Plaintiff told them that he was not going. Defendant Garcia told Plaintiff that he was, so Plaintiff stepped toward Defendant Garcia, and because of Defendant Garcia, Plaintiff ended up with a busted eye. Defendant Gamboa tripped Plaintiff from behind, slammed Plaintiff on his face, and busted Plaintiff’s eye. Plaintiff claims that he was not a threat to anyone. On October 8, 2022, Defendant Rocha, “showing out in front of a female c/o,” threatened Plaintiff’s safety by saying he was going to swell Plaintiff’s eye. Defendant Rocha put Plaintiff’s life in danger by saying over the tier that Plaintiff was an “SNY inmate” when that statement was not true. Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant Rocha yelled this over the tier so other inmates could hear and he could get Plaintiff hurt or killed. Plaintiff claims this “messed with” his mental health. As relief, Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages, along with staff retraining. III. Discussion A. Linkage Requirement The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides:

Every person who, under color of [state law] ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States ... to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution ... shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.

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