Saddozai v. Atchley

District Court, N.D. California·Decided August 25, 2023·No. 5:20-cv-07534·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 8 SHIKEB SADDOZAI, 9 Case No. 20-cv-07534 BLF (PR) Plaintiff, 10 ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS CLAIMS 2 AND 3; v. 11 SETTING BRIEFING SCHEDULE

ON REMAINING CLAIM;

12 GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE M. B. ATCHLEY, et al., SUPPLEMENTAL PLEADING TO 13 ADD NEW DEFENDANTS; Defendants. DENYING OTHER MOTIONS 14 (Docket Nos. 49, 62, 63, 68) 15 16 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, filed the instant pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 17 U.S.C. § 1983, against defendants at Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”). The third 18 amended complaint (“TAC”) is the operative complaint. Dkt. No. 38. The Court found 19 the TAC stated three cognizable claims. Dkt. No. 40. Defendant S. Tomlinson filed a 20 motion to dismiss two of the claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the 21 grounds that Plaintiff fails to state a claim for relief. Dkt. No. 49. Plaintiff filed an 22 opposition, Dkt. No. 51,1 and Defendant filed a reply, Dkt. No. 55. Plaintiff also filed the 23 following motions: (1) motion to correct an error in a claim, Dkt. No. 62; (2) motion for 24 leave to add defendants, Dkt. No. 63; and (3) motion for a court order, Dkt. No. 68. 25 For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED. 26 1 Plaintiff also filed an “affidavit” in support of his response, but it is identical to the 27 affidavit submitted with the TAC. Compare Dkt. No. 38-1 at 2-3 with Dkt. No. 52 at 2-3. 2 I. Motion to Dismiss 3 The Court found the TAC stated the following cognizable claims against Defendant 4 Tomlinson: (1) First Amendment freedom of speech claim for removing Plaintiff from the 5 library for complaining; (2) an excessive force claim based on supervisor liability for 6 having Plaintiff handcuffed to cause pain and suffering; and (3) a due process claim for the 7 withholding of legal papers. Dkt. No. 40 at 4, 7. Defendant asserts that claims two and 8 three must be dismissed because they fail to state a claim for which relief can be granted. 9 Failure to state a claim is grounds for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). Dismissal for 10 failure to state a claim is a ruling on a question of law. See Parks School of Business, Inc., 11 v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1483 (9th Cir. 1995). “The issue is not whether plaintiff will 12 ultimately prevail, but whether he is entitled to offer evidence to support his claim.” Usher 13 v. City of Los Angeles, 828 F.2d 556, 561 (9th Cir. 1987). 14 “While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need 15 detailed factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds of his 16 ‘entitle[ment] to relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic 17 recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.... Factual allegations must be 18 enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. 19 Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 553-56 (2007) (citations omitted). A motion to dismiss should be 20 granted if the complaint does not proffer “enough facts to state a claim for relief that is 21 plausible on its face.” Id. at 570. To state a claim that is plausible on its face, a plaintiff 22 must allege facts that “allow[] the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant 23 is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). From 24 these decisions, the following “two principles” arise: “First to be entitled to the 25 presumption of truth, allegations in a complaint or counterclaim may not simply recite the 26 elements of a cause of action but must contain sufficient allegations of underlying facts to 1 factual allegations that are taken as true must plausibly suggest an entitlement to relief, 2 such that it is not unfair to require the opposing party to be subjected to the expense of 3 discovery and continued litigation.” Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1216 (9th Cir. 2011). 4 Review is limited to the contents of the complaint, see Clegg v. Cult Awareness 5 Network, 18 F.3d 752, 754-55 (9th Cir. 1994), including documents physically attached to 6 the complaint or documents the complaint necessarily relies on and whose authenticity is 7 not contested. See Lee v. County of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 688 (9th Cir. 2001). In 8 addition, the court may take judicial notice of facts that are not subject to reasonable 9 dispute. See id. at 688 (discussing Fed. R. Evid. 201(b)). Allegations of fact in the 10 complaint must be taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the non- 11 moving party. See Symington, 51 F.3d at 1484. 12 A. Excessive Force Claim 13 Plaintiff claims that his Eighth Amendment rights were violated when he was 14 removed from the library in painful handcuffs. Plaintiff’s allegations indicated that 15 Defendant Tomlinson was in a supervisory position at the time and that officers applied 16 excessive force under his direction. Liberally construed, the Court found Plaintiff stated a 17 cognizable supervisor liability claim against Defendant based on the allegation that 18 excessive force was applied by subordinates at his direction. 19 The treatment a convicted prisoner receives in prison and the conditions under 20 which he is confined are subject to scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment. Helling v. 21 McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 31 (1993). “After incarceration, only the unnecessary and wanton 22 infliction of pain . . . constitutes cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the Eighth 23 Amendment.” Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 319 (1986) (ellipsis in original) (internal 24 quotation and citation omitted). The core judicial inquiry in an excessive force claim is 25 whether force was applied in a good-faith effort to maintain or restore discipline, or 26 maliciously and sadistically to cause harm. Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 6-7 (1992); 1 A supervisor may be liable under section 1983 upon a showing of (1) personal 2 involvement in the constitutional deprivation or (2) a sufficient causal connection between 3 the supervisor’s wrongful conduct and the constitutional violation. Henry A. v. Willden, 4 678 F.3d 991, 1003-04 (9th Cir. 2012). 5 Defendant argues that Plaintiff fails to state a claim for supervisory liability because 6 he does not allege that Defendant Tomlinson had any involvement or even knowledge of 7 the purported excessive force alleged. Dkt. No. 49 at 4. Defendant asserts that the 8 complaint must plead facts supporting a plausible inference that Defendant Tomlinson 9 personally directed the officers to take those steps against Plaintiff which themselves 10 violated the Constitution in some way. Id. at 4-5. Defendant asserts that Plaintiff asserts 11 supervisory liability solely on the fact that Defendant Tomlinson “sounded the alarm.” Id. 12 at 5, citing Dkt. No. 38 at 4 ¶ 3.

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