Thyrone Ryan Stewart v. Borders

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedAugust 9, 2019
Docket5:19-cv-01369
StatusUnknown

This text of Thyrone Ryan Stewart v. Borders (Thyrone Ryan Stewart v. Borders) 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
Thyrone Ryan Stewart v. Borders, (C.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

2 4 6 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 || THYRONE STEWART, NO. EDCV 19-1369-MWFE (KS) 12 Plaintiff, ) MEMORANDUM AND ORDER 13 v. DISMISSING COMPLAINT 14 ) WITH LEAVE TO AMEND 15 || BORDERS, et al, 16 Defendant. ) 17 18 19 I INTRODUCTION 20 21 On July 25, 2019, Plaintiff, a California state prisoner who is proceeding pro se and in 22 || forma pauperis, filed a civil rights complaint (“Complaint”) and a request to proceed in forma 23 || pauperis (“IFP”). (Dkt. Nos. 1, 2.) In civil rights actions brought by prisoners, Congress 24 || requires district courts to dismiss the complaint if the court determines that the complaint, or 25 || any portion thereof: (1) is frivolous or malicious; (2) fails to state a claim upon which relief 26 27 28

1 || can be granted; or (3) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.’ 2 || See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915A. 4 In determining whether a complaint should be dismissed at screening, the Court applies 5 || the standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6): “[a] complaint must contain 6 || sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” 7 || Rosati v. Igbinoso, 791 F.3d 1037, 1039 (9th Cir. 2015). Thus, the plaintiffs factual 8 || allegations must be sufficient for the court to “draw the reasonable inference that the defendant 9 || is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Cook v. Brewer, 637 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2011) 10 || (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); see also Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 11 |] U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (“Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the 12 || speculative level.”). 13 14 When a plaintiff appears pro se in a civil rights case, the court must construe the 15 || pleadings liberally and afford the plaintiff the benefit of any doubt. Akhtar v. Mesa, 698 F.3d 16 || 1202, 1212 (9th Cir. 2012); see also Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (“A document 17 || filed pro se is to be liberally construed, and a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, 18 || must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” (citations 19 || and internal quotation marks omitted)). In giving liberal interpretation to a pro se complaint, 20 || however, the court may not supply essential elements of a claim that were not initially pled, 21 || Byrd v. Maricopa County Sheriff's Dep’t, 629 F.3d 1135, 1140 (9th Cir. 2011), and the court 22 || need not accept as true “allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions of 23 24 25 □ 1 Even when a plaintiff is neither a prisoner nor proceeding in forma pauperis, Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules 26 || of Civil Procedure permits a trial court to dismiss a claim sua sponte and without notice “where the claimant cannot possibly win relief.” Omar v. Sea-Land Serv., Inc., 813 F.2d 986, 991 (9th Cir. 1987); see also Sparling v. Hoffman 27 || Constr. Co., 864 F.2d 635, 638 (9th Cir. 1988) (same); Baker v. Director, U.S. Parole Comm’n, 916 F.2d 725, 726 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (per curiam) (adopting Ninth Circuit’s position in Omar and noting that in such circumstances a sua sponte 28 || dismissal “is practical and fully consistent with plaintiffs’ rights and the efficient use of judicial resources”).

1 || fact, or unreasonable inferences,” Sprewell v. Golden State Warriors, 266 F.3d 979, 988 (9th 2 || Cir. 2001). 4 If the court finds that a pro se complaint fails to state a claim, the court must give the 5 || pro se litigant leave to amend the complaint unless “it is absolutely clear that the deficiencies 6 || of the complaint could not be cured by amendment.” Akhtar, 698 F.3d at 1212 (internal 7 || quotation marks omitted); Lira v. Herrera, 427 F.3d 1164, 1176 (9th Cir. 2005). However, if 8 || amendment of the pleading would be futile, leave to amend may be denied. See Gonzalez v. 9 || Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, 759 F.3d 1112, 1116 (9th Cir. 2014) (‘Futility of 10 || amendment can, by itself, justify the denial of a motion for leave to amend,’ Bonin v. Calderon, 11 || 59 F.3d 815, 845 (9th Cir. 1995), [a]nd the district court’s discretion in denying amendment is 12 || ‘particularly broad’ when it has previously given leave to amend.”). 13 14 For the following reasons, the Court finds that the Complaint fails to state a cognizable 15 || claim for relief and must be dismissed.? However, leave to amend is granted. 16 17 Il. ALLEGATIONS OF THE COMPLAINT 18 19 Plaintiff sues the following California Institute for Men (“CIM”) employees: Muratet, 20 || a correctional counselor, in his individual capacity; Bluford, a correctional counselor and 21 || Defendant Muratet’s supervisor, in his individual capacity; and Warden Borders, in his 22 || individual and official capacity. (Complaint at 3.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Muratet 23 || refused to refer Plaintiff for a parole hearing pursuant to Proposition 57, and Defendant 24 || Bluford failed to provide Plaintiff with a “due process hearing” before Plaintiff was 25 || “depriv[ed] of [his] liberty.” (Complaint at 4.) Plaintiff asserts that his primary prison term 26 || was a one-year term for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse (California Penal Code § 273.5), 27 28 ||? Magistrate judges may dismiss a complaint with leave to amend without approval of the district judge. See McKeever v. Block, 932 F.2d 795, 798 (9th Cir. 1991).

1 || and he has now served 19 years in state prison. (See Complaint at 5.) Plaintiff alleges that 2 || Defendant Borders “has allowed unlawful limitations on [Plaintiffs] right to be provided with 3 || areferral to the [Parole] Board, violating [his] constitutional rights to be released due to [him] 4 || not having a violent crime as [his] primary offense.” (Complaint at 4.) Specifically, Plaintiff 5 || alleges violations of his rights under the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of 6 || the U.S. Constitution. (Complaint at 4.) Based on these allegations, Plaintiff seeks the 7 || following relief: (1) to be released as soon as possible; and (2) the punitive and compensatory 8 || damages. (Complaint at 5.) 10 Il. DISCUSSION 11 12 || A. Background 13 14 Shortly after Plaintiff was paroled from prison on April 22, 2000, he was arrested and 15 || charged with, inter alia, assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury 16 || (California Penal Code (“Penal Code’) § 245(a)(1)) and two counts of inflicting corporal 17 || punishment on a spouse (Penal Code § 273.5(a)). People v. Stewart, No. E058988, 2014 Cal. 18 |} App. Unpub. LEXIS 5293, at *1-3 (July 29, 2014).? The amended information also alleged 19 || that Plaintiff had two prior strike convictions (Penal Code §§ 667(c), (e), 1170.12(c)), had two 20 || prior serious felony convictions (Penal Code § 667(a)(1)), and had served a prior prison term 21 || (Penal Code § 667.5(b)). 7d. A jury found Plaintiff guilty of: assault by means of force likely 22 || to cause great bodily injury; misdemeanor battery; and both counts of inflicting corporal 23 || punishment on a spouse. /d.

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Thyrone Ryan Stewart v. Borders, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thyrone-ryan-stewart-v-borders-cacd-2019.