Mulugeta v. Price et al

Filing 5

ORDER, Plaintiff's Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 2 is granted; the Complaint 1 is dismissed for failure to state a claim; the Clerk must enter judgment accordingly; the Clerk must make an entry on the docket stating that the dismi ssal for failure to state a claim may count as a "strike" under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); 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. Signed by Senior Judge Stephen M McNamee on 5/9/14. (REW)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Micael Yemane Mulugeta,

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Plaintiff,

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No. CV 14-00120-PHX-RCB (MEA)

vs.

ORDER

C. Price, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff Micael Yemane Mulugeta, who is confined in the Maricopa County

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Fourth Avenue Jail, has filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983

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(Doc. 1) and an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2). The Court will

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dismiss this action.

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I.

Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Filing Fee

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Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis will be granted. 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(a). Plaintiff must pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).

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The Court will not assess an initial partial filing fee. Id. The statutory filing fee will be

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collected monthly in payments of 20% of the previous month’s income credited to

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Plaintiff’s trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00. 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(b)(2). The Court will enter a separate Order requiring the appropriate government

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agency to collect and forward the fees according to the statutory formula.

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....

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....

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II.

Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints

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The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief

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against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28

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U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff

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has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon

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which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is

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immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2).

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A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the

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pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8

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does not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the-

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defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.”

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(2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere

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conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id.

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678

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“[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a

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claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly,

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550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual

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content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable

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for the misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible

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claim for relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw

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on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s

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specific factual allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must

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assess whether there are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id.

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at 681.

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But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed,

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courts must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338,

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342 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less

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stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v.

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Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)).

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If the Court determines that a pleading could be cured by the allegation of other

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facts, a pro se litigant is entitled to an opportunity to amend a complaint before dismissal

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of the action. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127-29 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). The

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Court should not, however, advise the litigant how to cure the defects. This type of

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advice “would undermine district judges’ role as impartial decisionmakers.” Pliler v.

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Ford, 542 U.S. 225, 231 (2004); see also Lopez, 203 F.3d at 1131 n.13 (declining to

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decide whether the court was required to inform a litigant of deficiencies). Plaintiff’s

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Complaint will be dismissed for failure to state a claim, without leave to amend because

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the defects cannot be corrected.

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III.

Complaint

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In his three-count Complaint, Plaintiff sues the following Defendants: Maricopa

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County Sheriff’s Office Intake Sergeant C. Price and Maricopa County Superior Court

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Commissioner Ronald J. Stien.

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In Count One, Plaintiff alleges that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to a

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fair and impartial jury of his peers. Plaintiff contends that Defendant Price engaged in

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“extreme extreme misconduct” when he “stood, pointed, and made discriminating,

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prejudicial, and bias[ed] statements.”

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stated that he was a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office sergeant, that he worked at the

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maximum security facility at the Fourth Avenue Jail, and that he knew Plaintiff from

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“having interactions with him.” Plaintiff contends this was done to mislead people to

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have a negative impression of Plaintiff. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Stien did not

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dismiss the entire jury pool and that allowing the potential jurors to hear this statement

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deprived Plaintiff of a “fair opportunity” and a jury of his peers.

Specifically, Plaintiff claims Defendant Price

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In Count Two, Plaintiff alleges that he was denied his Fourth Amendment right

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“securing saf[et]y of papers.” Plaintiff contends that his legal paperwork was withheld

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from him. Specifically, he claims he was told that his legal paperwork had been given to

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Defendant Price, but his legal paperwork was not provided to him and he attended jury

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selection and his trial without his legal paperwork. He claims that “the acts leading to the

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conviction or verdict were highly inappropriate.” He also contends that Defendant Stien

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“ordered sealing some material as well.”

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In Count Three, Plaintiff alleges that he was subjected to cruel and unusual

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punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. He asserts that Defendant Price “used

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knowledge of medical information relating to [Plaintiff’s] psychological profile as a

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foundation to perform misconduct on his behalf.” Plaintiff claims he is “unstable due to

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improper treat[]ment” and Defendant Price “attacks [Plaintiff’s] mental disabilities by

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making misleading comments [about Plaintiff] to over sixty people.” Plaintiff alleges

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that the comments were “very damaging” because “the sixty people for a majority are

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unknow[]n to [Plaintiff]” and “[a] first impression could not even be made on [Plaintiff’s]

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own behalf from [Defendant] Price behaving in gross misconduct with support from

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[Defendant] Stien.” Plaintiff claims the remarks gave a “premature convincing effect to a

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jury pool of potential jurors to not become a jury of [his] peers and of being guilty

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because of [Plaintiff’s] presence and appe[a]rance.” Plaintiff contends that Defendant

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Stien “continued the misconduct by not releasing that jury pool and using a different jury

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pool.”

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In his Request for Relief, Plaintiff seeks an “order vacating [his] second trial,” an

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“order for a new trial,” and for his Complaint to be referred to the United States Attorney

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General and an unidentified United States “Secr[eta]ry.”

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IV.

Failure to State a Claim

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“Federal law opens two main avenues to relief on complaints related to

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imprisonment: a petition for habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and a complaint under . . .

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42 U.S.C. § 1983. Challenges to the validity of any confinement or to particulars

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affecting its duration are the province of habeas corpus; requests for relief turning on

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circumstances of confinement may be presented in a § 1983 action.” Muhammad v.

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Close, 540 U.S. 749, 750 (2004) (citation omitted); see also Badea v. Cox, 931 F.2d 573,

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574 (9th Cir. 1991). Moreover, “a state prisoner’s § 1983 action is barred (absent prior

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invalidation)–no matter the relief sought (damages or equitable relief), no matter the

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target of the prisoner’s suit (state conduct leading to conviction or internal prison

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proceedings)–if success in that action would necessarily demonstrate the invalidity of

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confinement or its duration.” Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 81-82 (2005).

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Plaintiff’s Complaint fails to state a claim because Plaintiff is either challenging

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the validity of his confinement or conduct leading to his conviction. This is not the

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proper subject matter for a § 1983 action. Thus, the Court will dismiss this action.

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IT IS ORDERED:

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(1)

Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2) is granted.

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(2)

As required by the accompanying Order to the appropriate government

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agency, Plaintiff must pay the $350.00 filing fee and is not assessed an initial partial

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filing fee.

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(3)

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The Complaint (Doc. 1) is dismissed for failure to state a claim pursuant to

28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), and the Clerk of Court must enter judgment accordingly.
(4)

The Clerk of Court must make an entry on the docket stating that the

dismissal for failure to state a claim may count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
(5)

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 9th day of May, 2014.

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