Solomon J. Andrews v. Chad Bianco

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedMarch 27, 2023
Docket5:22-cv-02006
StatusUnknown

This text of Solomon J. Andrews v. Chad Bianco (Solomon J. Andrews v. Chad Bianco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Solomon J. Andrews v. Chad Bianco, (C.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ) SOLOMON J. ANDREWS, ) Case No. EDCV 22-2006-DSF (JEM) 12 ) Plaintiff, ) 13 ) MEMORANDUM AND ORDER v. ) DISMISSING COMPLAINT WITH 14 ) LEAVE TO AMEND CHAD BIANCO, et al., ) 15 ) Defendants. ) 16 ) 17 On November 10, 2022, Solomon J. Andrews (“Plaintiff”), a state prisoner 18 proceeding pro se, filed a Complaint alleging violations of his civil rights pursuant to 28 19 U.S.C. § 1983. On March 1, 2023, Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis was 20 granted. 21 SCREENING STANDARDS 22 In accordance with the provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the 23 Court must screen the Complaint to determine whether the action: (1) is frivolous or 24 malicious; (2) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (3) seeks monetary 25 relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b); 42 26 U.S.C. § 1997e(c)(1). This screening is governed by the following standards: 27 A complaint may be dismissed as a matter of law for failure to state a claim for two 28 1 alleged insufficient facts under a cognizable legal theory. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 2 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). In determining whether a complaint states a claim on 3 which relief may be granted, allegations of material fact are taken as true and construed in 4 the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Love v. United States, 915 F.2d 1242 Plaintiff has 5 now submitted the necessary paperwork and the initial partial filing fee, and the Court has 6 granted him permission to proceed in forma pauperis. 1245 (9th Cir. 1988). However, “the 7 liberal pleading standard . . . applies only to a plaintiff’s factual allegations.” Neitzke v. 8 Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 330 n.9 (1989). “[A] liberal interpretation of a civil rights complaint 9 may not supply essential elements of the claim that were not initially pled.” Ivey v. Bd. of 10 Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982). 11 Although a complaint "does not need detailed factual allegations" to survive 12 dismissal, a plaintiff must provide “more than mere labels and conclusions, and a formulaic 13 recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 14 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (rejecting the traditional “no set of facts” standard set forth in 15 Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957)). The complaint must contain factual allegations 16 sufficient to rise above the “speculative level,” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, or the merely 17 possible or conceivable. Id. at 557, 570. 18 Simply put, the complaint must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is 19 plausible on its face." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. A claim has facial plausibility when the 20 complaint presents enough facts “to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is 21 liable.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). This standard is not a probability 22 requirement, but “it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted 23 unlawfully.” Id. A complaint that pleads facts that are merely consistent with liability stops 24 short of the line between possibility and plausibility. Id. 25 In a pro se civil rights case, the complaint must be construed liberally to afford 26 plaintiff the benefit of any doubt. Karim-Panahi v. Los Angeles Police Dept, 839 F.2d 621, 27 623 (9th Cir. 1988). Unless it is clear that the deficiencies in a complaint cannot be cured, 28 1 opportunity to amend prior to the dismissal of an action. Id. at 623. Only if it is absolutely 2 clear that the deficiencies cannot be cured by amendment should the complaint be 3 dismissed without leave to amend. Id.; Weilburg v. Shapiro, 488 F.3d 1202, 1205 (9th Cir. 4 2007). 5 After careful review and consideration of the Complaint under the relevant standards 6 and for the reasons discussed below, the Court finds that the Complaint must be 7 DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. 8 ALLEGATIONS OF THE COMPLAINT 9 At all relevant times, Plaintiff was detained at the Robert Presley Detention Center in 10 Riverside County, California. (Complaint at 2.)1 He names Sheriff Chad Bianco and the 11 Robert Presley Detention Center (the “Jail”) as Defendants. (Id. at 3-4.) 12 Plaintiff alleges the following: 13 On October 28, 2021, Plaintiff had finished showering and was walking down the 14 stairs. When he reached the third stair, he slipped and fell. The paint and slip-resistant 15 surface of the stairs had deteriorated. The deputy who witnessed the fall sent Plaintiff to 16 medical, where he was treated for his injuries. Later that day, Deputy Johnson and an 17 unknown deputy called Plaintiff out of his cell to make an incident report with a video 18 statement because they had seen the surveillance video from the day room, which had 19 recorded the slip and fall. After the interview, Plaintiff was sent for x-rays at the hospital. 20 (Id. at 5.) 21 Plaintiff seeks damages. (Id. at 6.) 22 PLAINTIFF’S CLAIM 23 Plaintiff alleges that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to his safety in violation 24 of the Eighth Amendment when they failed to properly maintain the stairs. (Id. at 5.) 25 26 27 28 1 DISCUSSION 2 I. THE COMPLAINT FAILS TO STATE AN EIGHTH AMENDMENT CLAIM 3 The Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment imposes 4 duties on prison officials to “provide humane conditions of confinement.”2 Farmer v. 5 Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832 (1994). Although prison conditions may be restrictive and 6 harsh, “prison officials must ensure that inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter, 7 and medical care, and must take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of the 8 inmates.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted); see also Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 9 U.S. 337, 347 (1981). When a prisoner alleges injuries stemming from unsafe conditions of 10 confinement, prison officials may be held liable only if they acted with “deliberate 11 indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm.” Frost v. Agnos, 152 F.3d 1124, 1128 (9th 12 Cir. 1998). 13 Establishing deliberate indifference under the Eighth Amendment requires a two-part 14 showing. First, the alleged deprivation must be, in objective terms, “sufficiently serious.” 15 Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834 (citing Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298 (1991)). A deprivation 16 is sufficiently serious when the prison official’s act or omission results “in the denial of ‘the 17 minimal civilized measure of life's necessities.’” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834 (quoting Rhodes, 18 452 U.S. at 347); see also Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 9 (1992). Second, the prison 19 official must “know [ ] of and disregard[ ] an excessive risk to inmate health or safety.” 20 Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837; see also Foster v. Runnels, 554 F.3d 807, 812 (9th Cir. 2009).

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Bluebook (online)
Solomon J. Andrews v. Chad Bianco, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/solomon-j-andrews-v-chad-bianco-cacd-2023.