Carroll v. Yates et al
Filing
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FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS Recommending Defendant Dutra's 29 Motion to Dismiss be Denied, signed by Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto on 11/28/11. Referred to Judge O'Neill. Twenty-Day Objection Deadline. (Gonzalez, R)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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ARVIE B. CARROLL,
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Plaintiff,
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CASE NO. 1:10-cv-00623-LJO-SKO PC
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDING DEFENDANT DUTRA’S
MOTION TO DISMISS BE DENIED
v.
JAMES A. YATES, et al.,
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(Doc. 29)
Defendants.
TWENTY-DAY OBJECTION DEADLINE
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Findings and Recommendations Addressing Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss
I.
Procedural History
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Plaintiff Arvie B. Carroll, a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this
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civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on April 9, 2010. This action is proceeding on
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Plaintiff’s amended complaint, filed on April 12, 2011, against Defendants Dutra and Soto for acting
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with deliberate indifference to Plaintiff’s serious medical needs, in violation of the Eighth
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Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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On July 25, 2011, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
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Defendant Dutra (Defendant) filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and on the ground
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of qualified immunity.1 Plaintiff filed an opposition on August 5, 2011, and Defendant filed a reply
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on August 15, 2011.
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Defendant Soto has not yet been located and served with process.
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II.
Discussion
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A.
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A motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of a claim,
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and dismissal is proper if there is a lack of a cognizable legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts
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alleged under a cognizable legal theory. Conservation Force v. Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1241-42 (9th
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Cir. 2011) (quotation marks and citations omitted). In resolving a 12(b)(6) motion, the Court’s
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review is generally limited to the operative pleading. Daniels-Hall v. National Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d
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992, 998 (9th Cir. 2010); Sanders v. Brown, 504 F.3d 903, 910 (9th Cir. 2007); Huynh v. Chase
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Manhattan Bank, 465 F.3d 992, 1003-04 (9th Cir. 2006); Schneider v. California Dept. of Corr., 151
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Legal Standard
F.3d 1194, 1197 n.1 (9th Cir. 1998).
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To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted
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as true, to state a claim that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, __, 129 S.Ct.
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1937, 1949 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1964-
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65 (2007)) (quotation marks omitted); Conservation Force, 646 F.3d at 1242; Moss v. U.S. Secret
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Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The Court must accept the well-pleaded factual
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allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Daniels-
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Hall, 629 F.3d at 998; Sanders, 504 F.3d at 910; Huynh, 465 F.3d at 996-97; Morales v. City of Los
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Angeles, 214 F.3d 1151, 1153 (9th Cir. 2000). Further, although the pleading standard is now
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higher, prisoners proceeding pro se in civil rights actions are still entitled to have their pleadings
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liberally construed and to have any doubt resolved in their favor. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342
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(9th Cir. 2010) (citations omitted).
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B.
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Defendant argues that he is entitled to dismissal of Plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claim
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against him because Plaintiff alleges no facts showing that he forced Plaintiff to wait outside in the
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cold or that he refused Plaintiff’s request for medical treatment for his eye. Defendant also argues
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that there is no plausible factual basis for Plaintiff’s claim that the exposure to cold weather harmed
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his eye or that he suffered any harm as a result of his cancelled lab appointment.
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Cognizablility of Plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment Medical Care Claim
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The Court has already screened Plaintiff’s amended complaint for claim cognizability and
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in doing so, it issued a thorough, detailed order explaining the bases for its findings. 28 U.S.C. §
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1915A; Doc. 23. The screening standard is the same standard which governs Rule 12(b)(6) motions,
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and in moving to dismiss, Defendant makes no effort to distinguish the grounds for his motion from
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those set forth in the previously-issued screening order or to otherwise articulate where the Court
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erred. Indeed, the motion is devoid of any recognition that the amended complaint was screened and
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a ruling issued on the cognizability of Plaintiff’s claim.
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The Court takes a dim view of motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim under these
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circumstances, and given that Defendant’s motion fails to set forth any new or different grounds not
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previously considered by the Court, it declines to “rethink what it has already thought.’” Sequoia
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Forestkeeper v. U.S. Forest Service, No. CV F 09-392 LJO JLT, 2011 WL 902120, at *6 (E.D.Cal.
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Mar. 15, 2011) (quoting United States v. Rezzonico, 32 F.Supp.2d 1112, 1116 (D.Ariz.1998)).2
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Accordingly, the Court recommends that Defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim
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be denied, with prejudice.
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C.
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Qualified Immunity
1.
Legal Standard
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Defendant also argues that he is entitled to qualified immunity, which shields government
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officials from civil damages unless their conduct violates “clearly established statutory or
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constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457
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U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738 (1982). “Qualified immunity balances two important interests -
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the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need
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to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties
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reasonably,” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231, 129 S.Ct. 808, 815 (2009), and it protects “all
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but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law,” Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S.
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335, 341, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1096 (1986).
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An exhaustive recitation of the facts set forth in Plaintiff’s amended complaint and the Court’s analysis
may be found in the screening order.
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In resolving a claim of qualified immunity, courts must determine whether, taken in the light
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most favorable to the plaintiff, the defendant’s conduct violated a constitutional right, and if so,
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whether the right was clearly established. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 2156
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(2001); Mueller v. Auker, 576 F.3d 979, 993 (9th Cir. 2009). While often beneficial to address
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qualified immunity claims in that order, courts have discretion to address the two-step inquiry in the
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order they deem most suitable under the circumstances. Pearson, 555 U.S. at 236, 129 S.Ct. at 818
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(overruling holding in Saucier that the two-step inquiry must be conducted in that order, and the
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second step is reached only if the court first finds a constitutional violation); Mueller, 576 F.3d at
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993-94.
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2.
Conduct Which Violated the Eighth Amendment
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The Court previously considered whether Plaintiff stated a claim for violation of the Eighth
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Amendment and it concluded he did. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A; Court Doc. 20. Prison officials are liable
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under the Eighth Amendment if they knowingly disregard an excessive risk of harm to a prisoner’s
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health or safety, Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 1979 (1994), and Plaintiff
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alleges Defendant knew that he had just had eye surgery and that the cold, outdoor conditions in
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which Plaintiff was forced to wait for his medical appointment were causing Plaintiff’s eye to tear
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up and hurt. Plaintiff complained to Defendant about the effect of the weather on his eye three times
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over the course of approximately forty-five minutes before giving up his appointment and returning
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to his cell, at which time he noted there was blood in the white of his eye and yellow discharge
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oozing from the corner. What the admissible evidence will ultimately reveal is unknown at this
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juncture, but at the pleading stage, Plaintiff’s allegations are accepted as true and are sufficient to
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support a viable claim for relief under the Eighth Amendment.
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3.
Clearly Established Right
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Having determined Defendant’s conduct violated the Eighth Amendment, the Court must
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determine whether the right was clearly established. “For a constitutional right to be clearly
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established, its contours must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable officer would understand that
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what he is doing violates that right.” Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 739, 122 S.Ct. 2508, 2515
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(2002). While the reasonableness inquiry may not be undertaken as a broad, general proposition,
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neither is official action entitled to protection “unless the very action in question has previously been
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held unlawful.” Hope, 536 U.S. at 739. “Specificity only requires that the unlawfulness be apparent
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under preexisting law,” Clement v. Gomez, 298 F.3d 898, 906 (9th Cir. 2002) (citation omitted), and
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prison personnel “can still be on notice that their conduct violates established law even in novel
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factual circumstances,” Hope, 536 U.S. at 741. The salient question is whether the state of the law
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in 2008 gave Defendant fair warning that his alleged treatment of Plaintiff was unconstitutional.
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Hope, 536 U.S. at 741 (quotation marks omitted).
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By 2008, “[t]he general law regarding the medical treatment of prisoners was clearly
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established,” and “it was also clearly established that [prison staff] could not intentionally deny or
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delay access to medical care.” Clement, 298 F.3d at 906 (quotation marks and citations omitted);
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see also Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104-05, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291 (1976). Defendant’s arguments
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that he acted reasonably under the circumstances by allowing Plaintiff to return to his housing unit
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as long as he signed a refusal of treatment form; that he did not force Plaintiff to endure harsh
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weather but instead was merely enforcing the outdoor staging policy; and that Plaintiff chose to wait
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outside are not supported by a fair reading of Plaintiff’s complaint.
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Plaintiff had recently had cataract surgery on his left eye, and he was at the medical clinic for
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a scheduled blood draw.3 Notably, Plaintiff’s allegations do not indicate that Defendant
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misunderstood him or was unaware of his condition. Rather, Defendant was aware of the eye injury,
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having been told about it three times within forty-five minutes, and Defendant was told twice that
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Plaintiff’s injured eye was hurting and tearing up from the cold. During their second conversation,
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Plaintiff requested that he be allowed to return to his housing unit until the lab technician was ready
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to draw his blood. Defendant told Plaintiff he would have to sign a refusal of treatment form if he
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wanted to return to his housing unit. In the alternative, he could go back outside and wait, which he
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did. During the third conversation, Plaintiff again requested to wait inside in the holding cell and
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when his request was denied, he asked for his ID back so he could go to his housing unit. Defendant
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refused to give the ID back unless Plaintiff signed a refusal of treatment form, which he did and
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Despite Defendant’s contention to the contrary, Plaintiff’s claim arises out of the injury to his eye, not that
he suffered an injury because he missed a blood draw.
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which he specifically alleges was done under duress.
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Neither party disputes the existence of the prison’s outdoor staging policy for medical
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appointments, but Defendant may not rely on the policy to excuse his own failure “to take reasonable
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measures to abate” the risk of harm to Plaintiff, having been placed on notice of the problem.
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Farmer, 511 U.S. at 847. The law was sufficiently clear that a reasonable officer would have known
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that he could not ignore complaints of eye pain and tearing from an inmate waiting outside for a
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medical appointment when that inmate had an eye injury, and the eye pain and tearing were
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attributed to the outdoor weather conditions in which the inmate was being forced to wait. What the
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evidence will show remains to be seen, but under the circumstances as alleged at the pleading stage,
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Defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity. The Court recommends that Defendant’s motion
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to dismiss on the ground of qualified immunity be denied, with prejudice to being raised in a
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12(b)(6) motion.4
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III.
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Recommendation
For the reasons set forth herein, the Court RECOMMENDS that Defendant Dutra’s motion
to dismiss, filed on July 25, 2011, be DENIED, with prejudice.
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These Findings and Recommendations will be submitted to the United States District Judge
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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within twenty (20)
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days after being served with these Findings and Recommendations, the parties may file written
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objections with the Court. The document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s
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Findings and Recommendations.” The parties are advised that failure to file objections within the
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specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d
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1153 (9th Cir. 1991).
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:
ie14hj
November 28, 2011
/s/ Sheila K. Oberto
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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Defendant is free to raise qualified immunity again, but not at the pleading stage in a motion to dismiss.
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