Perez v. Ryan

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedJanuary 21, 2020
Docket2:19-cv-05602
StatusUnknown

This text of Perez v. Ryan (Perez v. Ryan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perez v. Ryan, (D. Ariz. 2020).

Opinion

1 WO MH 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Eric Perez, No. CV 19-05602-PHX-MTL (JFM) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 Charles L. Ryan, et al., 13 Defendants.

14 15 On November 8, 2019, Plaintiff Eric Perez, who is in the custody of the Arizona 16 Department of Corrections (ADC) and is represented by counsel, filed a civil rights 17 Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On January 15, 2020, he filed a Motion for 18 Preliminary Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. 4). Plaintiff has paid the 19 filing and administrative fees. 20 I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 21 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 22 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 23 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 24 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which 25 relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from 26 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 27 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 28 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 1 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 2 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 3 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 4 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 5 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 6 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 7 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 8 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 9 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 10 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 11 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 12 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 13 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 14 II. Complaint 15 In his three-count Complaint, Plaintiff sues former ADC Director Charles L. Ryan; 16 current ADC Director David Shinn; Arizona State Prison Complex (ASPC)-Lewis Warden 17 Berry Larson; ASPC-Lewis Assistant Deputy Warden Lindsay Chavez; Correctional 18 Officers (COs) Denault, Palomino, Coscorelli, Hill, Wickware, Reyes, and Soliz; Sergeants 19 Fink, Aven, and Parra; and Nurse Raymond Ramirez for violations of the Eighth 20 Amendment. Plaintiff is seeking money damages, along with attorney’s fees and costs. 21 The following factual summary derives from Plaintiff’s Complaint and is taken as true 22 solely for the purposes of the statutory screening process. 23 Plaintiff states that he had a history of assisting the Tucson Police Department 24 (“TPD”) prior to entering Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) custody in March 25 2015. (Doc. 1 at 6.) A TPD Lieutenant and the Assistant Legal Defender wrote letters to 26 the Judge, recommending that Plaintiff be housed in protective custody due to Plaintiff’s 27 purported role as a confidential informant. (Id. at 7.) 28 Plaintiff was housed at the Arizona State Prison Complex (ASPC)-Lewis. On 1 November 9, 2017, when Plaintiff returned to his cell after showering, Plaintiff alleges that 2 Defendant Denault opened all the cell doors in Plaintiff’s pod, “knowing that [Plaintiff] 3 would be assaulted as a result.” (Id.) Two inmates, “Monster” and “Insane,” proceeded to 4 run into Plaintiff’s cell; assault him by punching him in the face; and leave, locking the cell 5 door behind them. (Id.) 6 Later that day, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Fink and Aven escorted him to 7 speak with Defendant Chavez, leaving Plaintiff’s cell door open so that, as Plaintiff claims, 8 other prisoners could steal his belongings. (Id. at 8-9.) Defendant Chavez told Plaintiff 9 that the CO who had been working in the control room had alleged that Plaintiff exposed 10 himself to her while he was in the shower. (Id. at 9.) Plaintiff denied the accusation and 11 suggested that Defendant Chavez “check the pod camera recording.” (Id.) Plaintiff was 12 then escorted by Defendants Fink and Aven to the Inmate Movement Office to receive a 13 change in housing. (Id.) 14 After being rehoused,1 Plaintiff explained his situation to his new inmate, “Mono.” 15 Both Mono and Plaintiff believed they had been housed together so that Mono could assault 16 Plaintiff. (Id.) Mono allegedly sent another inmate, “30,” to Plaintiff’s former pod; 30 17 reported to Plaintiff that inmates in Plaintiff’s former pod were circulating rumors that 18 Plaintiff was a confidential informant and had exposed himself to Defendant Denault. (Id. 19 at 10.) 20 After lunch the next day, Defendant Palomino allegedly opened all the pod’s doors 21 by using the “security override” feature. (Id.) At that point, 30 entered Plaintiff’s cell and 22 assaulted him, punching him in the face and body. (Id.) Plaintiff says that 30 told him the 23 “‘staff’ wanted [Plaintiff] to get ‘f---ed up’ in retaliation for exposing himself to another 24 CO” and that after he had been assaulted, he would be forgiven. (Id. at 10-11.) Later that 25 day, Plaintiff was moved to a new cell in the Buckley Unit. (Id. at 11.) There, one of the 26 inmates allegedly told Plaintiff that the COs had announced during mealtime that Plaintiff

27 1 It appears Plaintiff was moved to ASPC-Lewis’s Buckley Unit. 28 1 had exposed himself to a female CO. (Id.) Plaintiff was then transferred to the Refuse to 2 House (“RTH”) Unit. (Id.) 3 On November 16, 2017, Plaintiff was told by two inmates who had heard he was 4 coming from the RTH Unit, “You better not come out, if you do you’re getting f---ed up.” 5 (Id.) Plaintiff asked a CO who had witnessed the exchange if he would write an Incident 6 Report. (Id.) The CO agreed. (Id.) Later that day, Plaintiff received a letter from an 7 inmate in 4-D pod who stated that Plaintiff “had better not go to 4-D Pod” or he would get 8 “smashed.” (Id.) The letter also stated that people were “waiting for [Plaintiff] and that 9 CO ‘Costco’”—Defendant Coscorelli—“had already filled everyone in about [Plaintiff] 10 having exposed himself to [Defendant] Denault.” (Id.) That night, Plaintiff’s mother 11 advised Defendant Chavez that her son was in a dangerous situation because staff and 12 inmates had been “spreading rumors about him and allowing assaults.” (Id. at 12.) 13 On November 17, 2017, Defendants Hill and Wickware allegedly allowed an inmate 14 to enter the RTH Unit and announce to several cells that Plaintiff was an “S.O.,” or sex- 15 offender, and that inmates would be compensated with drugs if they “smash[ed]” him. (Id.) 16 At 11:30 that night, Defendant Reyes and another CO allegedly opened the cell doors of 17 four inmates who then entered Plaintiff’s cell, assaulted him, and left, locking the door 18 behind them.

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Bluebook (online)
Perez v. Ryan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perez-v-ryan-azd-2020.