Marcus Thomas v. M. Younce

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 7:14-cv-00510-JPJ-RSB Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999602560]. Mailed to: Marcus Thomas. [14-7856]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-7856

MARCUS DALE THOMAS,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
M. YOUNCE, Unit Manager; A. MULLIN, LT; Building (LT) A; D.
BARTON, SGT, Building (SGT) A,
Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Roanoke.
James P. Jones, District
Judge. (7:14-cv-00510-JPJ-RSB)

Submitted:

May 29, 2015

Decided:

June 16, 2015

Before NIEMEYER, SHEDD, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by unpublished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

Marcus D. Thomas, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Marcus Dale Thomas, a Virginia inmate, filed a 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 (2012) complaint alleging that Defendant prison officials
were deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious
harm when they ignored a doctor’s order directing that he be
assigned to a bottom bunk on the bottom tier for one year.

As a

result of this deliberate indifference, Thomas alleged that he
fell

down

the

compensatory

stairs

and

damages

injured

and,

preliminary injunction.

later,

his

knee.

filed

Thomas

a

sought

motion

for

a

The district court denied the motion

for a preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint sua
sponte

for

failure

§ 1915A(b)(1)
established

to

state

(2012).

that

The

a

claim,

court

Defendants’

pursuant

found

deliberate

that

to

28

U.S.C.

Thomas

had

not

indifference

was

the

cause of his injury or that the injury was sufficiently serious
to support a claim.

Thomas appeals the district court’s order

denying his motion for a preliminary injunction and dismissing
his

complaint

reconsideration.

and

the

order

denying

his

motion

for

We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand

for further proceedings.
We review de novo a district court’s dismissal for failure
to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, accepting all wellpled factual allegations in the complaint as true and drawing
all

reasonable

inferences

in
2

favor

of

the

nonmoving

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party.

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Slade v. Hampton Roads Reg’l Jail, 407 F.3d 243, 248

(4th Cir. 2005).

While a pro se plaintiff’s pleadings are to be

liberally construed, id. at 252, a pro se complaint must still
contain sufficient facts “to raise a right to relief above the
speculative

level”

and

“state

plausible on its face.”

a

claim

to

relief

that

is

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S.

544, 555, 570 (2007).
The

Eighth

Amendment’s

prohibition

against

cruel

and

unusual punishment “protects inmates from inhumane treatment and
Williams v. Benjamin, 77 F.3d

conditions while imprisoned.”
756, 761 (4th Cir. 1996).
obligated
safety.”

to

take

Makdessi

“Prison officials are, therefore,

reasonable
v.

measures

Fields,

___

to

F.3d

1062747, at *5 (4th Cir. Mar. 12, 2015).

guarantee

___,

___,

inmate
2015

WL

“For a claim based on

a failure to prevent harm, the [prisoner] must [first] show that
he was incarcerated under conditions posing a substantial risk
of

serious

harm.”

Id.

(internal

quotation

marks

omitted).

Next, the prisoner must establish that the prison official had
“a sufficiently culpable state of mind,” that is, “deliberate
indifference

to

[the]

inmate[’s]

health

or

Id.

safety.”

(internal quotation marks omitted).
A

prison

official

“is

deliberately

indifferent

to

a

substantial risk of harm to a [prisoner] when that [official]
knows of and disregards the risk.”
3

Parrish ex rel. Lee v.

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Cleveland, 372 F.3d 294, 302 (4th Cir. 2004) (internal quotation
marks omitted).

However, “prison officials may not simply bury

their heads in the sand and thereby skirt liability” by claiming
that they were not aware of the risk.
___,

2015

establish

WL
that

1062747,
the

caused his injury.

at

prison

*6.

Makdessi, ___ F.3d at

Finally,

official’s

the

prisoner

deliberate

must

indifference

See Caldwell v. Warden, FCI Talladega, 748

F.3d 1090, 1099 (11th Cir. 2014) (stating elements of deliberate
indifference to substantial risk of serious harm claim).
Thomas alleged that, after he showed Younce the doctor’s
order for the special bunk assignment on at least two occasions,
Younce refused to move him to a bottom bunk on the bottom tier.
Instead, Younce told Thomas that he did not have time to change
Thomas’ bunk assignment and gave him the choice of staying in
the top tier cell or being moved to segregation.
reasonably

inferred

from

Thomas’

complaint

It could be
that

Younce

deliberately denied Thomas’ request to be moved to a bottom bunk
on the bottom tier, in contravention of the doctor’s order.

To

silence Thomas’ complaints, Younce threatened to place him in
segregation if he did not agree to stay in the top tier cell.
Accepting these allegations as true, as we must, we conclude
that Thomas alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate that Younce

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was deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious
harm to Thomas. *
We also conclude that the district court erred by finding
that Thomas placed himself at risk by not accepting Younce’s
offer to be moved to segregation.

Thomas did not voluntarily

place himself at risk; rather, he refused Younce’s objectionable
offer to place him in segregation (presumably without committing
an infraction) in lieu of his staying on the top tier, where he
faced a substantial risk of serious injury.

The court also

erred by concluding that Thomas stated no facts to support the
allegation that his medications played any role in causing his
fall, as Thomas specifically alleged that he was still sedated
from his medication when he caught his shower shoe on the stair
and fell.

Finally, the court erred by finding that Thomas could

not state a claim because he failed to show that the injury to
his

knee

was

significant
challenged

physical

v.

omitted),

incarcerated

or

conditions”

case, Shakka
marks

serious.

Smith,
a

under

While

“evidence

emotional

injury

may
71

aid
F.3d

prisoner
conditions

a

need

posing

*

166

a

a

serious

resulting

prisoner

162,

only

of

in

from

the

making

his

(internal
“show

or

that

substantial

quotation
he
risk

was
of

Of course, Younce is free to dispute these allegations and
raise legal challenges to Thomas’ complaint in a motion to
dismiss or for summary judgment.

5

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serious harm.”

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Makdessi, ___ F.3d at ___, 2015 WL 1062747, at

*5; cf. Wilkins v. Gaddy, 559 U.S. 34, 38-39 (2010) (holding
that there is no de minimis injury threshold for excessive force
claim

because

focus

is

on

prevention

malicious and sadistic use of force).

of

prison

officials’

Although Thomas may have

suffered a relatively minor injury to his knee, the risk of more
significant harm from a fall down the stairs (or out of an upper
bunk) is obvious.
Accordingly, we vacate the portion of the district court’s
orders dismissing Thomas’ claim that Younce exhibited deliberate
indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm when Younce
ignored a doctor’s order directing that Thomas be assigned to a
bottom bunk on the bottom tier for one year.

However, we find

no error in the district court’s dismissal of the claims against
the

remaining

Defendants

and

the

court’s

motion for a preliminary injunction.

denial

of

Thomas’

Accordingly, we affirm

those portions of the district court’s orders.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions

are

adequately

presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED IN PART,
VACATED IN PART,
AND REMANDED

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