Woods v. Shinn

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedAugust 31, 2020
Docket2:20-cv-01530
StatusUnknown

This text of Woods v. Shinn (Woods v. Shinn) 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
Woods v. Shinn, (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 Adam Kristopher Woods, No. CV 20-01530-PHX-JAT (CDB) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 David Shinn, et al., 13 Defendants.

14 15 Plaintiff Adam Kristopher Woods, who is confined in the Arizona State Prison 16 Complex-Lewis, has filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 17 § 1983 (Doc. 1) and an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2). The Court will 18 order Defendant Centurion to answer Count One of the Complaint and will dismiss the 19 remaining claims and Defendants without prejudice. 20 I. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Filing Fee 21 The Court will grant Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. 28 22 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Plaintiff must pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00. 28 U.S.C. 23 § 1915(b)(1). The Court will assess an initial partial filing fee of $31.22. The remainder 24 of the fee will be collected monthly in payments of 20% of the previous month’s income 25 credited to Plaintiff’s trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00. 26 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The Court will enter a separate Order requiring the appropriate 27 government agency to collect and forward the fees according to the statutory formula. 28 . . . . 1 II. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 2 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 3 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 4 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 5 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which 6 relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from 7 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 8 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 9 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 10 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 11 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 12 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 13 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 14 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 15 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 16 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 17 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 18 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 19 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 20 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 21 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 22 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 23 But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts 24 must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 25 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent 26 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 27 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). 28 . . . . 1 III. Complaint 2 In his Complaint, Plaintiff asserts a single claim for inadequate medical care. 3 Plaintiff names Arizona Department of Corrections Director David Shinn, contracted 4 medical provider Centurion Medical, Nursing Director Donna Mendoza, and Dr. Bake as 5 Defendants. Plaintiff is seeking monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief.1 6 Plaintiff alleges that he has suffered “unnecessary & wanton” pain “as a direct result 7 of [Defendant] Shinn’s systemic deficiencies in staffing, facilities, and procedures.” (Doc. 8 1 at 3.)2 Plaintiff claims that after suffering a “significant blow to [his] jaw,” he could 9 hardly eat or drink and could not move his jaw without severe pain. (Id.) Plaintiff 10 submitted a Health Needs Request form, but the medical staff member he saw failed to 11 conduct an adequate examination or “ask basic questions.” (Id.) On February 7, 2020, 12 Defendant Bake x-rayed Plaintiff’s jaw and told him it was broken. Bake advised Plaintiff 13 that he could suffer long-term or permanent damage if his injury was not addressed but 14 “adamantly refus[ed] to take immediate action.” (Id. at 3-4.) Plaintiff was then sent back 15 to his unit, where Defendant Mendoza “callously informed [him] that [Defendant] 16 Centurion’s policy prevented immediate medically corrective action.” (Id. at 4.) 17 According to Mendoza, a request for a consultation would first have to be submitted. If 18 the request was approved, Plaintiff might see an oral surgeon within three to four weeks. 19 Plaintiff was “arbitrarily” given only ten days’ worth of Tylenol 3, and had to “fight 20 for both 5[-]day[-]long prescriptions.” (Id.) On March 4, 2020, Plaintiff was taken to an 21 oral surgeon, who told Plaintiff that, “because of the delay[,] there was nothing he could 22 do.” (Id.) The surgeon said that Plaintiff’s broken jaw was healing improperly, resulting 23 in a significant decrease in mobility.

24 1 To the extent Plaintiff seeks preliminary injunctive relief, this request will not be 25 addressed in the absence of a motion addressing the relevant factors. See Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008) (to obtain preliminary injunctive relief, a 26 plaintiff must show “that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his 27 favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest”). 28 2 The citation refers to the document and page number generated by the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Filing system. 1 IV. Failure to State a Claim 2 To prevail in a § 1983 claim, a plaintiff must show that (1) acts by the defendants 3 (2) under color of state law (3) deprived him of federal rights, privileges or immunities and 4 (4) caused him damage. Thornton v. City of St. Helens, 425 F.3d 1158, 1163-64 (9th Cir. 5 2005) (quoting Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. Idaho Fish & Game Comm’n, 42 F.3d 1278, 6 1284 (9th Cir. 1994)). In addition, a plaintiff must allege that he suffered a specific injury 7 as a result of the conduct of a particular defendant and he must allege an affirmative link 8 between the injury and the conduct of that defendant. Rizzo v.

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Bluebook (online)
Woods v. Shinn, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woods-v-shinn-azd-2020.