Klein v. Conanan

Filing 24

ORDER Denying Motion For Access To Medical Records As Moot (Doc. 19 ), signed by Magistrate Judge Gary S. Austin on 6/16/2014. (Fahrney, E)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11

MICHAEL KLEIN,

12

Plaintiff,

13
14

vs.
CONANAN,

15

1:13-cv-00600-GSA-PC
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
ACCESS TO MEDICAL RECORDS
AS MOOT
(Doc. 19.)

Defendant.

16
17
18
19

I.

BACKGROUND

20

Michael Klein (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis

21

with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the Complaint

22

commencing this action on April 25, 2013. (Doc. 1.) This case now proceeds on the initial

23

Complaint against defendant Dr. Conanan (“Defendant”) for inadequate medical care in

24

violation of the Eighth Amendment. (Id.) Plaintiff is presently incarcerated at Avenal State

25

Prison in Avenal, California.

26

On May 19, 2014, Plaintiff filed a motion to be provided with access to his medical files

27

at Avenal State Prison. (Doc. 19.) On May 21, 2014, Defendant filed an opposition to the

28

motion. (Doc. 21.) Plaintiff did not file a reply.
1

1

II.

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION

2

Plaintiff asserts that his appointment to review his medical records at Avenal State

3

Prison (ASP) was cancelled by prison officials based on a letter to the Case Records Manager

4

at ASP from Defendant’s counsel, Deputy Attorney General Kelly A. Samson (“Counsel”),

5

which directed that “[n]othing should be removed, destroyed, or purged from [Michael Klein’s’

6

prison records, including the central file and medical records] without conferring with me.”

7

(Exhibit to Motion, Doc. 19 at 2-3.) Plaintiff requests access to his medical records to enable

8

him to respond to Defendant’s motion to dismiss of March 13, 2014.1 (Doc. 13.)

9

In opposition, Defendant argues that Counsel did not prevent Plaintiff from reviewing

10

his medical files. Counsel declares that on February 19, 2014, she sent a standard document

11

retention letter to the Case Records Manager at Avenal State Prison. (Declaration of Kelly A.

12

Samson, Doc. 21 ¶2.) The letter is not designed to prevent inmates from reviewing their central

13

or medical files, and merely instructs the prison not to remove or destroy any documents from

14

the inmate’s records due to pending litigation. (Id. ¶¶3,4.) On May 20, 2014, Counsel

15

contacted the litigation coordinator at ASP to ensure that the letter was not being used to

16

prevent Plaintiff from reviewing his medical file. (Id. ¶5.) The litigation coordinator informed

17

Counsel that Plaintiff had failed to appear at the time scheduled for review of his file, and the

18

review had been re-scheduled for May 22, 2014. (Id. ¶6.)

19

III.

DISCUSSION

20

More than three weeks have passed since Defendant filed his opposition to Plaintiff’s

21

motion, and Plaintiff has not filed a reply or challenged Counsel’s assertion that Plaintiff’s

22

review of his medical file was re-scheduled for May 22, 2014. Moreover, on May 27, 2014,

23

five days after the date of the re-scheduled review, Plaintiff filed his opposition to Defendant’s

24

motion to dismiss, without any indication that he was denied access to the medical records he

25

///

26
27
28

1

On March 13, 2014, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss this case as barred by the statute of limitations.
(Doc. 13.) On April 25, 2014, the court issued an order requiring Plaintiff to file an opposition to the motion to
dismiss within thirty days. (Doc. 18.)
2

1

needed. Based on these facts, the court finds good cause to deny Plaintiff’s motion for access

2

to his medical file as moot.

3

IV.

4
5

CONCLUSION
Accordingly, good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion

for access to his medical filed, filed on May 19, 2014, is DENIED as moot.

6
7

8
9

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

June 16, 2014

/s/ Gary S. Austin
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

23
24
25
26
27
28
3