Evans v. Solano County Sheriff

Filing 33

ORDER and FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 07/18/19 ORDERING the Clerk of the Court shall randomly assign a U.S. District Judge to this case. Also, RECOMMENDING that plaintiff's second amended complai nt 28 be dismissed without leave to amend for failure to state a claim and failure to comply with the court's instructions and that all pending motions 29 , 30 be denied as moot. Motions 29 and 30 assigned and referred to Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Objections due within 14 days. (Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RICHARD ANTHONY EVANS,

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No. 2:17-cv-0020-EFB P

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER AND FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

SOLANO COUNTY SHERIFF.
Defendant.

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this action brought pursuant to

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42 U.S.C. § 1983. After filing his initial complaint, he filed various “supplements” to it. ECF

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Nos. 8, 9, 10. Thereafter, the court instructed plaintiff that he could not supplement his complaint

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in a piecemeal fashion by filing separate documents that are intended to be read together as a

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single complaint. ECF No. 13. Plaintiff was granted leave to file an amended complaint, but was

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cautioned that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not permit raising unrelated claims against

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different defendants in a single action. Id. at 4. The court also informed plaintiff that any

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amended complaint must contain a caption including the names of all defendants and a short and

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plain statement of the claim showing he is entitled to relief. Id. at 2, 3.

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Plaintiff filed his first amended complaint (ECF No. 17) which, on screening, the court

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determined did not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8. ECF No. 20. Specifically,

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the court concluded that: (1) it was not clear from the complaint who the defendants were; (2) that
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if the defendant was meant to be the Solano County Sheriff, there were no allegations showing

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how he was personally involved in any violation of plaintiff’s rights; and (3) the complaint

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included multiple claims (33 in total) that could not be properly joined in a single action. Id. at 2-

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3; see also ECF No. 17 (asserting claims regarding (1) the denial of television, Kosher meals,

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clean blankets, and grievance forms; (2) the frequent and inadvertent opening of plaintiff’s cell

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door and food port; (3) a two-day period in which plaintiff was housed in a cold, dirty cell; (4)

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incidents in which plaintiff’s legal mail has been delayed or read; (5) an unsafe van transport; and

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(6) several occasions on which meetings with plaintiff’s attorney were cut short). Plaintiff was

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again granted leave to amend to remedy these deficiencies. ECF No. 20 at 3-4.

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After several extensions of time, plaintiff filed a second amended complaint, which the

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court must now screen. ECF No. 28. He has also filed a request for “federal protection,”

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“release” from custody, and for judicial notice of other cases he is litigating. ECF No. 29. His

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most recent filing requests access to his personal laptop computer. ECF No. 30.

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Screening

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I.

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Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek

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redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915A(a). The court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion

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of the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which

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relief may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such

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relief.” Id. § 1915A(b).

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Legal Standards

A pro se plaintiff, like other litigants, must satisfy the pleading requirements of Rule 8(a)

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of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 8(a)(2) “requires a complaint to include a short and

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plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, in order to give the

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defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Bell Atl. Corp. v.

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Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 554, 562-563 (2007) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957)).

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While the complaint must comply with the “short and plaint statement” requirements of Rule 8,

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its allegations must also include the specificity required by Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556

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U.S. 662, 679 (2009).

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To avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than “naked

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assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of

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action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555-557. In other words, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of

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a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at

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678.

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Furthermore, a claim upon which the court can grant relief must have facial plausibility.

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Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual

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

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misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. When considering whether a complaint states a

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claim upon which relief can be granted, the court must accept the allegations as true, Erickson v.

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Pardus, 551 U.S. 89 (2007), and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the

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plaintiff, see Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974).

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II.

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Like its immediate predecessor, the second amended complaint fails to clearly identify the

Analysis

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defendants, fails to allege how the Sheriff was personally involved in any violation of plaintiff’s

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rights, and once again, lists 33 claims that cannot be properly joined together in a single lawsuit.

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The caption identifies “Solano County Sheriff” as the sole defendant, but alleges that the

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Sheriff “and his immediate subordinates (captains, lieutenants, sergeants, etc.) are directly

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responsible and accountable for the prejudicial acts and outrageous conduct of their officers while

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[plaintiff] was incarcerated in Fairfield and Stanton Jails.” ECF No. 28 at 1 (emphasis added).

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Plaintiff then includes another summary of 33 separate grievances he filed against numerous

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officers at the Stanton County Jail between July of 2016 and April 2017. Id. at 2-6. Despite

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alleging that the Sheriff’s subordinates are also responsible for this laundry list of wrongs,

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plaintiff does not name any captains, lieutenants, or sergeants as defendants. More importantly,

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plaintiff again fails to allege that the Sheriff, as the only named defendant, had any personal
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involvement in any of the 33 alleged wrongs. The Sheriff’s role as a supervisor is not a sufficient

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basis for imposing § 1983 liability. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). Further, the

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court previously warned plaintiff that he could not proceed with multiple, factually distinct claims

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against multiple defendants in contravention of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 18. See Fed. R.

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Civ. P. 18(a); see also George v. Smith, 507 F. 3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007) (holding that

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“unrelated claims against different defendants belong in different suits. . . .”). This action simply

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cannot proceed with the various claims impermissibly joined in the complaint. This practical

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impossibility, coupled with plaintiff’s obvious failure to comply with the court’s prior screening

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order and failure to assert a cognizable claim against the Sheriff, warrants dismissal of the

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complaint without leave to amend. See Destfino v. Reiswig, 630 F.3d 952, 959 (9th Cir. 2011)

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(affirming district court’s power to dismiss complaint without leave to amend where claimants

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failed to comply with court’s instructions as to correcting deficiencies in their complaint).

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Conclusion
Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Clerk shall randomly assign a United States District

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Judge to this case. Further, it is RECOMMENDED that plaintiff’s second amended complaint

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(ECF No. 28) be dismissed without leave to amend for failure to state a claim and failure to

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comply with the court’s instructions and that all pending motions (ECF Nos. 29 & 30) be denied

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as moot.

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These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge

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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Within fourteen days

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after being served with these findings and recommendations, any party may file written

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objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be captioned

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“Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Failure to file objections

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within the specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Turner v.

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Duncan, 158 F.3d 449, 455 (9th Cir. 1998); Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991).

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DATED: July 18, 2019.

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