Demetrius Hill v. Terry O'Brien

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--granting Motion to remand case [998356740-2] Originating case number: 7:08-cv-00283-jct-mfu Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998377300] [09-6823]

Demetrius Hill v. Terry O'Brien

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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-6823 DEMETRIUS HILL, Plaintiff ­ Appellant, v. TERRY O'BRIEN, Warden; MR. STRICKLAND, Associate Warden; MR. WILSON, Captain; LIEUTENANT STIGER; NURSE MEADE; DOCTOR ALLRED; DOCTOR ROFF, Health Administrator, Defendants ­ Appellees, and COUNSELOR PULIVAR; COUNSELOR MULLINS; Manager; CORRECTIONAL OFFICER TAYLOR, Defendants. MS. HALL, Case

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke. James C. Turk, Senior District Judge. (7:08-cv-00283-jct-mfu) Submitted: June 30, 2010 Chief Judge, NIEMEYER, Decided: and July 12, 2010 Circuit

Before TRAXLER, Judges.

GREGORY,

Affirmed in part, vacated and remanded in part by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Dockets.Justia.com

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Demetrius Hill, Appellant Pro Se. Thomas Linn Eckert, Assistant United States Attorney, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellees. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM: In incarcerated April during 2008, the Demetrius relevant Hill, period a at federal United inmate States

Penitentiary Lee ("USP Lee"), filed a civil action pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), alleging various prison officials at USP Lee used excessive force against him, subjected him to cruel and unusual conditions of confinement, retaliated against him,

obstructed his ability to file administrative grievances, and denied him adequate rights. medical Upon care, in an violation initial of his

constitutional

conducting

screening

under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (2006), the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim all but one of Hill's excessive force claims and his medical indifference claims. By subsequent

order, the district court granted summary judgment to Defendants on the remaining claims. Hill appeals both orders challenging

the denial of relief on his claims.

I. Allegations in a complaint are to be liberally

construed, and a court should not dismiss an action for failure to state a claim "`unless after accepting all well-pleaded

allegations in the plaintiff's complaint as true and drawing all reasonable factual inferences 3 from those facts in the

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plaintiff's favor, it appears certain that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts in support of his claim entitling him to relief.'" 2003) De'Lonta v. Angelone, 330 F.3d 630, 633 (4th Cir. Veney are v. Wyche, 293 that F.3d pro 726, se 730 (4th Cir.

(quoting Courts

2002)).

instructed

filings

"however Noble v.

unskillfully pleaded, must be liberally construed."

Barnett, 24 F.3d 582, 587 n.6 (4th Cir. 1994) (citing Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519 (1972); Vinnedge v. Gibbs, 550 F.2d 926, 928 (4th Cir. 1977)). "to and However, raise a the right a complaint to must contain the is

sufficient speculative

facts level"

relief to

above that

"state

claim

relief

plausible on its face." 544, 555, 570 (2007).

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. A claim having no arguable basis in law Neitzke v. Williams, 490

or fact may be dismissed as frivolous.

U.S. 319, 325 (1989); see also 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B), 1915A (2006) (outlining screening process for indigent or prisoner

complaints). This court reviews de novo a district court's

dismissal for failure to state a claim pursuant to § 1915A. Slade v. Hampton Rds. Reg'l Jail, 407 F.3d 243, 248 (4th Cir. 2005) (citation omitted). Pursuant to § 1915A, a district court

shall dismiss a case at any time if it determines that the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon

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which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from suit. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1).

Relying on our decision in Norman v. Taylor, 29 F.3d 1259, 1263 (4th Cir. 1994) (en banc), the district court noted that, absent the most extraordinary circumstances, an inmate

cannot prevail on an excessive force claim unless he proves more than de minimis pain or injury. Finding Hill failed to show

more than de minimis injury, the district court dismissed two of Hill's excessive force claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In Wilkins v. Gaddy, 130 S. Ct.

1175 (2010), the Supreme Court recently overruled Norman and clarified that the extent of any resulting injury, while

material to the question of damages and informative as to the likely degree of force applied, is not in and of itself a

threshold requirement for proving this type of Eighth Amendment claim. 130 S. Ct. at 1175. In doing so, the Court expressly

rejected the theory that lower courts may dismiss such claims based solely on the de minimis nature of the resulting injury. Id. at 1177-78. The Court emphasized that, "[t]he `core

judicial inquiry' . . . is not whether a certain quantum of injury was sustained, but rather `whether force was applied in a good-faith maliciously effort and to maintain to or restore harm." discipline, Id. or

sadistically

cause

(quoting

Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 7 (1992)). 5

In other words,

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because "not . . . every malevolent touch by a prison guard gives rise to of a federal will cause not of action," in a a de minimis

application violation.

force

result

constitutional

Hudson, 503 U.S. at 9; see also Wilkins, 130 S. Ct.

at 1177-78 ("An inmate who complains of a push or a shove that causes no discernible injury almost certainly fails to state a valid excessive Where force the claim.") (internal is quotation marks a

omitted).

force

applied

excessive,

however,

constitutional claim may survive summary dismissal even if the resulting injury is de minimis. Wilkins, 130 S. Ct. at 1180.

Because the district court did not have the benefit of the Wilkins decision, we vacate the district court's judgment dismissing Hill's excessive force claims for failure to state a claim and remand to the district court for consideration of

Hill's claims in light of Wilkins.

We affirm, however, the

district court's dismissal under § 1915A of Hill's other claims for the reasons stated by the district court.

II. In ruling on Defendants' motion for summary judgment, the district court concluded that Hill failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to his medical indifference claims, November i.e., 1, that 2007, he and received that USP 6 inadequate Lee medical care on

provided

insufficient

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treatment of his asthma condition on a day-to-day basis.

The

Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA") requires a prisoner to properly exhaust available administrative remedies prior to 42 84

filing an action challenging his conditions of confinement. U.S.C. (2006) § 1997e(a) (requiring (2006); Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81,

"proper"

exhaustion

of

administrative

remedies); Moore v. Bennette, 517 F.3d 717, 725 (4th Cir. 2008) (discussing exhaustion "availability" requirement is of remedies). Anderson "[T]he v. XYZ PLRA's Corr.

mandatory,"

Health Servs., Inc., 407 F.3d 674, 677 (4th Cir. 2005), and "applies to all inmate suits about prison life, whether they involve whether Porter general they v. circumstances excessive U.S. or particular or some episodes, other and

allege

force 532

wrong." to

Nussle,

534

516,

(2002).

Pursuant

§ 1997e(a), the exhaustion requirement is applicable to Bivens claims. See Steele v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 355 F.3d 1204,

1214 (10th Cir. 2003), abrogated on other grounds by Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199 (2007); Booth v. Churner, 206 F.3d 289, 291 (3d Cir. 2000). This court reviews a district court's order granting summary judgment de novo. *
*

Jennings v. Univ. of N.C., 482 F.3d

Defendants' motion was styled "Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment." However, Hill received notice pursuant to Roseboro v. Garrison, 528 F.2d 309, (Continued) 7

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686, 694 (4th Cir. 2007).

"At the summary judgment stage, facts

must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party only if there is a `genuine' dispute as to those facts." Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380 (2007) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)). Summary judgment "should be rendered if the

pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." employees bear Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2). the burden on exhaustion Because the prison in this case, see

Bennette, 517 F.3d at 725, they must show that the evidence is so one-sided that no reasonable factfinder could find that Hill was prevented from exhausting his administrative remedies. See

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52 (1986). An otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment will not be defeated by the existence of some factual dispute;

rather, only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment. Id. at 248. Indeed, to withstand a

310 (4th Cir. 1975), of his right to file material responsive to the Defendants' dispositive motion. Hill availed himself of this opportunity, and because the district court considered materials other than the complaint, the district court's order is best deemed a grant of summary judgment. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). 8

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motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must produce competent evidence sufficient to reveal the existence of a

genuine issue of material fact for trial.

Fed. R. Civ. P.

56(e)(2); see Thompson v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., 312 F.3d 645, 649 (4th Cir. 2002) ("Conclusory or speculative allegations do not suffice, nor does a `mere scintilla of evidence' in support of [the non-moving party's] case.") (citation omitted). Hill does not contest that he failed to exhaust his administrative rise to his remedies medical with respect to the incidents Rather, he giving argues

indifference

claims.

Defendants hindered his ability to exhaust his administrative remedies. In support of their motion for summary judgment based

on Hill's failure to exhaust administrative remedies, Defendants submitted an affidavit from Sharon Wahl, a paralegal with the Bureau of Prisons, who noted that Hill has filed 229

administrative remedies since his incarceration and fourteen of those related to his confinement at USP Lee. Defendants further

argued that Hill's assertions that he was denied forms or that the forms were destroyed were nothing more than self-serving statements. In fact, they pointed to Hill's administrative

remedy history as proof that Hill's assertions that his access to the administrative remedy process has been obstructed is

belied by the record.

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In judgment, failed to

response

to

Defendants' that and his failed

motion

for

summary often proper

Hill do

responded his rounds

assigned to give

counselor him the

grievance forms in some cases and that, in other cases, Hill was informed that he could only file one remedy form at a time and was then required to wait for a response before another could be filed. only As he noted in his complaint, Hill maintained he was able to exhaust some remedies because his assigned

counselor was on vacation and another counselor acting in his capacity provided some forms. "[A]n administrative remedy is not considered to have been available if a prisoner, through no fault of his own, was prevented from availing himself of it." Thus, "when prison officials prevent Moore, 517 F.3d at 725. inmates from using the

administrative process . . ., the process that exists on paper becomes unavailable in reality." Kaba v. Stepp, 458 F.3d 678,

684 (7th Cir. 2006); see also Dole v. Chandler, 438 F.3d 804, 811 (7th Cir. 2006) (holding that, because Dole properly

followed procedure and prison officials were responsible for the mishandling of his grievance, it cannot be said that Dole failed to exhaust his administrative remedies); Mitchell v. Horn, 318 F.3d 523, 529 (3d Cir. 2003) (holding that district court erred in failing to consider prisoner's claim that he was unable to submit a grievance, and 10 therefore lacked available

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administrative

remedies,

because

prison

employees

refused

to

provide him with the necessary forms); Miller v. Norris, 247 F.3d 736, 740 (8th Cir. 2001) (stating administrative remedy rendered unavailable when prison officials prevent prisoner from using it). Accordingly, the district court is "obligated to

ensure that any defects in exhaustion were not procured from the action or inaction of prison officials." Aquilar-Avellaveda v.

Terrell, 478 F.3d 1223, 1225 (10th Cir. 2007). We find there are genuine issues of material fact as to the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies, thereby precluding summary judgment. he requested BP-8 forms Hill's main allegations are that his counselor and that the

from

counselor refused to provide them, destroyed them, or failed to respond to them after requiring Hill to wait until he received a response to a claim before filing a new one. There is no

affidavit from Hill's counselor or the other named Defendants who allegedly obstructed Hill's administrative remedy process. See Kaba, 458 F.3d at 686 (finding affidavits of the prison officials factual and Kaba's other grievances the and filings to showed a

dispute,

requiring

factfinder

evaluate

the

credibility of the witnesses and other evidence in the record); see also Lewis v. Washington, 300 F.3d 829, 831-32 (7th Cir. 2002) (deemed administrative remedies exhausted when prison

officials failed to respond to inmate grievances because those 11

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remedies had become "unavailable"); Foulk v. Charrier, 262 F.3d 687, 698 (8th Cir. 2001) (same). We further find Defendants' reliance on Hill's highvolume filings specious. First, the fact that Hill filed a

large number of complaints in other prisons is irrelevant to whether his efforts to file grievances were obstructed upon his arrival at USP Lee. Second, the fact that Hill successfully

filed many grievances in the past suggests that Hill is familiar with the requirements of the administrative process and is not purposefully attempting to evade them. Third, the ability to

take advantage of administrative grievances is not an "eitheror" proposition. See Kaba, 458 F.3d at 685 ("Sometimes

grievances are clearly available; sometimes they are not; and sometimes prisoner topics."). We conclude Hill has sufficiently shown genuine issues of material fact as to whether Defendants hindered his ability to exhaust administrative remedies and therefore the district court erred in granting summary judgment. Accordingly, we there may is a be middle able ground to file where, for example, on a

only

grievances

certain

vacate the court's judgment and remand for a determination of whether the grievance procedure was "available" to Hill within the meaning of § 1997e(a) so that he could administratively

exhaust his medical claims. 12

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III. The district court also granted summary judgment to Defendants on Hill's excessive force claim based on events on November 1, 2007, in which restraints were used. Hill's claim, the district court, relying In assessing on then-

again

controlling Fourth Circuit law, found that Hill's injuries were de minimis and did not amount to a constitutional violation. Although the district court also found that Hill could not show that Defendants' use of force was applied maliciously and

sadistically to cause harm, because the district court did not have the benefit we of Wilkins the at the time it rendered on its this

decision,

vacate

district

court's

judgment

excessive force claim and afford the court an opportunity to consider the claim in light of Wilkins. Accordingly, we grant Hill's motion to remand, vacate the district court's judgments as to all of Hill's excessive force claims to and remand to allow claims the in district of court an

opportunity

consider

the

light

the

Supreme

Court's decision in Wilkins. court's judgment dismissing for

We further vacate the district without prejudice exhaust Hill's medical

indifference

claims

failure

to

administrative

remedies and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We affirm the district court's dismissal of Hill's 13

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remaining claims. facts and legal before

We dispense with oral argument because the contentions the court are and adequately argument presented not in aid the the

materials

would

decisional process. AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART

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