Watkins v. Law et al
Filing
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ORDER OF DISMISSAL. Signed by Judge Lucy H. Koh on 3/6/13. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate/Proof of Service)(mpb, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/7/2013)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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NOEL K. WATKINS,
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Plaintiff,
v.
BOB LAW, District Attorney’s Office, et
al.,
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Defendants.
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No. C 12-6051 LHK (PR)
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
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Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed the instant civil rights complaint
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pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis in a
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separate order. For the reasons stated below, the Court DISMISSES the complaint without
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prejudice.
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BACKGROUND
In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges that on February 22, 1985, he was convicted by a jury
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of second degree murder, and sentenced to a term of fifteen years to life for the murder, plus
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additional time for related enhancements. (Compl. at ¶ 28.) The California Court of Appeal
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affirmed the judgment. Watkins v. White, No. 93-4035 CAL, 1994 WL 478913, at *1 (N.D. Cal.
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Aug. 23, 1994). Petitioner did not file a petition for review in the California Supreme Court. Id.
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Petitioner then filed two unsuccessful petitions in the California Court of Appeal, and two in the
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California Supreme Court. Id. Thereafter, Petitioner filed a federal habeas petition, which was
Order of Dismissal
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denied for failure to exhaust. Id. After Petitioner filed one more state habeas petition in
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California Supreme Court, he filed a second federal habeas petition. Id. In that federal petition,
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Petitioner argued that police intentionally destroyed evidence, and the State failed to gather
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exculpatory evidence. Id. The petition was denied, id. at *2-3, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed.
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Watkins v. White, No. 96-16218, 1997 WL 157573 (9th Cir. April 1, 1997) (unpublished
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memorandum disposition).
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Petitioner filed the underlying federal petition on November 29, 2012.
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DISCUSSION
A.
Standard of Review
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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). In its review the Court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any claims
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that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek
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monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C § 1915A(b)(1), (2).
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Pro se pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696,
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699 (9th Cir. 1990).
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To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that a person acting under
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the color of state law committed a violation of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the
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United States. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988).
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B.
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Plaintiff’s Claims
Plaintiff asserts that his 1985 conviction is invalid because investigating officers and
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other state officials failed to preserve evidence at the crime scene. He requests money damages
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and a new trial.
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Plaintiff’s complaint must be dismissed for several reasons. First, Plaintiff concedes that
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he failed to exhaust his claim. (Compl. at 2.) A prisoner’s concession to nonexhaustion is a
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valid ground for dismissal, so long as no exception to exhaustion applies. Wyatt v. Terhune, 315
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F.3d 1108, 1120 (9th Cir. 2003). Exhaustion is mandatory and no longer left to the discretion of
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the district court. Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 84 (2006) (citing Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S.
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731, 739 (2001)). Even when the relief sought cannot be granted by the administrative process,
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i.e., monetary damages, a prisoner must still exhaust administrative remedies. Id. at 85-86
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(citing Booth, 532 U.S. at 734). Plaintiff does not claim that any exception to exhaustion applies
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to him.
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Second, at most, Plaintiff states that these Defendants acted negligently in their duties.
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However, neither negligence nor gross negligence is actionable under Section 1983 in the prison
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context. See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 835-36 & n.4 (1994). Nor is negligence
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actionable under § 1983 outside of the prison context. The Constitution does not guarantee due
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care on the part of state officials; liability for negligently inflicted harm is categorically beneath
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the threshold of constitutional due process. See County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833,
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849 (1998). Plaintiff does not assert that the harm purportedly inflicted by Defendants rose to
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the conscience-shocking level required to support a substantive due process claim under Section
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1983. See id.
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Finally, Plaintiff’s complaint is barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486-487
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(1994). The United States Supreme Court has held that to recover damages in a suit under
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Section 1983 for an allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment, or for other harm
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caused by actions whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a plaintiff
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must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by
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executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or
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called into question by a federal court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. Id. A claim for
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damages arising from a conviction or sentence that has not been so invalidated is not cognizable
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under Section 1983. Id. If Plaintiff’s claim that state officials failed to properly preserve
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exculpatory evidence is proven true, this would call into question the validity of his sentence,
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and continued incarceration. Thus, Plaintiff cannot proceed with this claim pursuant to Section
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1983. Instead, Plaintiff’s exclusive remedy, one to which he has unsuccessfully resorted in the
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past, see Watkins v. White, No. 96-16218, 1997 WL 157573 (9th Cir. April 1, 1997), is habeas
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corpus. See Ybarra v. Reno Thunderbird Mobile Home Village, 723 F.2d 675, 682 (9th Cir.
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1984) (concluding that § 1983 action seeking declaratory judgment based on the prosecutor’s
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alleged failure to preserve exculpatory evidence required dismissal because “in order to prevail
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on this claim, [plaintiff] must collaterally void his state court conviction”) (citing Preiser v.
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Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 500 (1973).)
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CONCLUSION
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For the foregoing reasons, this case is DISMISSED without prejudice.
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The clerk shall enter judgment and close the file.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED:
3/6/13
LUCY H. KOH
United States District Judge
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Order of Dismissal
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