Pratt v. Carroll et al
Filing
69
ORDER ACCEPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION 60 - Plaintiff Michael Jeffrey Pratt's Motion to Amend Pleading (Doc. 51 ) is DENIED. The docket shall reflect that the Court certifies, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) and Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 24(a)(3)(A), that any appeal of this decision would not be taken in good faith. (See document for further details). Signed by Judge G Murray Snow on 1/27/15. (LAD)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Michael Jeffrey Pratt,
Plaintiff,
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ORDER
v.
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No. CV-13-01605-PHX-GMS (MEA)
Bradley Carroll, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Pending before the Court is Plaintiff Michael Jeffrey Pratt’s Motion to Amend
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Pleading. (Doc. 51.) On November 5, 2014, Magistrate Judge Mark E. Aspey issued a
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Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) recommending that the Motion be denied. (Doc.
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60.) Plaintiff filed objections to the R & R. (Doc. 63.) For the following reasons, the
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Court adopts the R & R of Magistrate Aspey and denies the Motion.
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BACKGROUND
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The facts of this case are outlined in this Court’s previous orders. Relevant to the
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current Motion, Plaintiff has filed a proposed Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”),
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alleging that, following his arrest, medical staff at the Chandler Regional Hospital,
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including Dr. Keith Butler and nurses Sandra Sovereign, Wilma Egan, and John
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Plummer, inserted two separate catheters in Plaintiff to run a urinalysis while he was
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restrained by Officer John Lucas, Officer Brian Morganthaler, and one unknown
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Chandler police officer. (Doc. 52.) In the proposed SAC, Plaintiff seeks to join the
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medical staff as Defendants to his suit and claims that they violated his constitutional
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rights and performed an illegal search by inserting the catheters after he refused medical
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treatment. (Id.)
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DISCUSSION
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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2) states that a court should “freely give
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leave” to amend pleadings “when justice so requires.” The Ninth Circuit has further held
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that requests for leave are generally granted with “extreme liberality.” Rosenberg Bros. &
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Co. v. Arnold, 283 F.2d 406, 406 (9th Cir. 1960) (per curiam). In addition, “[t]he
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Supreme Court has instructed the federal courts to liberally construe the ‘inartful
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pleading’ of pro se litigants.” Eldridge v. Block, 832 F.2d 1132, 1137 (9th Cir. 1987)
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(quoting Boag v. MacDougall, 454 U.S. 364, 365 (1982) (per curiam)). However, “a
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party is not entitled to an opportunity to amend his complaint if any potential amendment
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would be futile.” Mirmehdi v. United States, 689 F.3d 975, 985 (9th Cir. 2012). A
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proposed amended complaint is futile if it fails to state a claim for which relief may be
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granted. See Kest v. Kest, 132 F.3d 39 (9th Cir. 1997); 42 U.S.C. § 1997e (also requiring
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dismissal a prisoner’s complaint that “fails to state a claim upon which relief can be
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granted”).
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To sufficiently plead section 1983 claims, “a plaintiff must both (1) allege the
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deprivation of a right secured by the federal Constitution or statutory law, and (2) allege
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that the deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law.”
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Anderson v. Warner, 451 F.3d 1063, 1067 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing West v. Atkins, 487 U.S.
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42, 48 (1988)). In cases where plaintiffs bring section 1983 claims based on the Fourth
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Amendment against private actors, they must also allege that the private actor was an
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“‘instrument or agent’ of the state in effecting a search or seizure.” United States v.
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Walther, 652 F.2d 788, 791 (9th Cir. 1981) (quoting Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403
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U.S. 443, 487 (1971)). To allege that medical personnel are instruments or agents of the
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state when they perform medical procedures, plaintiffs must allege that they acted for
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some purpose other than “medical purposes.” United States v. Chukwubike, 956 F.2d 209,
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212 (9th Cir. 1992) (holding that doctors removing balloons from the plaintiff’s stomach
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and intestines without consent of the patient was not a search or seizure).
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In the proposed SAC, Plaintiff makes no mention of who ordered the urinalysis to
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be conducted or the catheters to be placed. (See Doc. 52.) In the current Motion, Plaintiff
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concedes that “to the best of [his] knowledge,” the catheters were placed at the doctor’s
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orders and that “it was done by [the] doctor’s O.K.” (Doc. 51.) But in his objections to
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this Motion, Plaintiff questions the motives of the doctors, who placed the catheters after
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Plaintiff’s heart rate had returned to a moderate level, and suggests that the police officers
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had “something to do with” the catheterization. (Doc. 63.) These potentially conflicting
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accounts of the officers’ role in ordering the catheterization do not sufficiently plead that
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any of the medical staff at Chandler Regional Hospital acted for any purpose other than
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“medical purposes.” Chukwubike, 956 F.2d at 212. Thus, Plaintiff has failed to
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sufficiently allege that the doctors acted as instruments or agents of the state and that they
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acted under color of state law. See Walther, 652 F.2d at 791.1 Plaintiff’s proposed SAC
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fails, under section 1983, to state a claim for which relief may be granted.
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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:
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1. Magistrate Judge Aspey’s R & R (Doc. 60) is ACCEPTED.
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2. Plaintiff Michael Jeffrey Pratt’s Motion to Amend Pleading (Doc. 51) is
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DENIED.
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3. The docket shall reflect that the Court certifies, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
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§ 1915(a)(3) and Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 24(a)(3)(A), that any appeal of
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this decision would not be taken in good faith.
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Dated this 27th day of January, 2015.
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Honorable G. Murray Snow
United States District Judge
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In addition, in their depositions, the medical staff stated that they inserted the
catheters because Plaintiff refused to provide a urine sample and they performed the
urinalysis because Plaintiff’s heart rate was abnormally high and Plaintiff was
experiencing an altered level of consciousness. (Doc. 66, Ex. C.)
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