Mizzoni v. State of Nevada ex rel Nevada Department of Corrections et al
Filing
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ORDER that Magistrate Judge Valerie P. Cooke's Report and Recommendation ECF No. 123 is accepted and adopted; Plaintiff's objection ECF No. 129 and Defendants' objection ECF No. 126 are overruled; plaintiff's spoliation motion ECF No. 91 is granted in part and denied in part. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 5/14/2018. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - KW)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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JOSEPH MIZZONI,
Case No. 3-15-cv-00313-MMD-VPC
Plaintiff,
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ORDER
v.
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C/O ALLISON, et al.,
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Defendants.
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I.
SUMMARY
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Before the Court is the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) of United States
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Magistrate Judge Valerie P. Cooke (ECF No. 123) relating to Plaintiff Joseph Mizzoni’s
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motion seeking permission to file a spoliation/destruction of video tape evidence against
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defendants for relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 6 (“Spoliation Motion”) (ECF No. 91).
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Defendants Joseph Allison, Robert Ardinger, Nathan Garnica, Lee Grider, Sgt. John
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Henley, Joel Hightower, John Hill, Sgt. Juliette Roberson, Chris Smith, and Steven
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Crowder responded to Plaintiff’s Spoliation Motion (ECF No. 102), and Plaintiff replied
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(ECF No. 103). The Magistrate Judge held a hearing on the Spoliation Motion on January
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11, 2018 (ECF No. 109) and issued her R&R on April 4, 2018. Defendants filed an
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objection (ECF No. 126), as did Plaintiff (ECF No. 129). The Court has reviewed the
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parties’ respective responses. (ECF Nos. 134, 135.) For the reasons discussed below, the
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Court accepts and adopts the R&R in its entirety.
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II.
BACKGROUND
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Plaintiff is an inmate in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections
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(“NDOC”). (See ECF No. 91 at 1.) Proceeding pro se and pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983,
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Plaintiff brings claims for First Amendment retaliation and Eighth Amendment excessive
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force against several NDOC and Northern Nevada Correctional Center (“NNCC”) officials.
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(ECF No. 41 at 1.) Plaintiff’s claims concern his involvement in a physical altercation with
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multiple correctional officers at NNCC. (See id. at 4.)
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Plaintiff alleges that he confronted Defendant Chris Smith on March 28, 2015, in
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the rotunda of housing Unit 5 about a cell search. (Id.) Smith allegedly ordered Plaintiff to
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put his hands on the wall, and although Plaintiff complied, Smith forcefully wrestled Plaintiff
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to the ground and handcuffed him. (Id.) Plaintiff contends that there were inmates present
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during this physical altercation and that there is a video camera in Unit 5 that would have
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captured the incident. (See ECF No. 40 at 5.)
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Officers allegedly arrived shortly after and dragged Plaintiff to another area in the
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rotunda, which Plaintiff speculates was out of view of both the Unit 5 camera and inmates
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in the vicinity. (See id.) Plaintiff alleges that the officers beat him so badly that he lost
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consciousness twice. (Id. at 6.) Plaintiff believes that Defendant Roberson “took pictures
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and video of the whole in[c]ident in Unit 5” because he saw her point the camera at him
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while the other defendant officers beat him. (Id. at 12.) Finally, Plaintiff alleges that he
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suffered further physical abuses while being escorted to the infirmary in Unit 8 and back
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to his cell. (ECF No. 41 at 4-5.) Defendants dispute Plaintiff’s version of events. (See, e.g.,
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ECF No. 52 at 3.)
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Plaintiff requested video footage and photographs of the incident in the weeks
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following the incident. (See, e.g., ECF No. 91 at 2.) Plaintiff requested all video footage
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and still pictures “from inside Unit 5 to 7-A-38” that were recorded on the date of the
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physical altercation. (Id. at 8.) Plaintiff did not receive any such footage.
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Plaintiff filed his Spoliation Motion on September 5, 2017. (ECF No. 91.) Plaintiff
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argued that Defendants engaged in intentional spoliation of video footage from Units 4, 5,
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7, and 8 as well as handheld footage that would have been incriminating to Defendants.
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(See id. at 3.)
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The Magistrate Judge held a hearing and issued an R&R imposing sanctions on
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Defendants for spoliation of the video footage from the Unit 5 camera. (ECF No. 123 at 8.)
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Regarding the handheld camera footage, the Magistrate Judge found that sanctions could
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not issue because no handheld footage ever existed. (Id. at 6.) Regarding the footage
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from surveillance cameras in Units 4, 7, and 8, the Magistrate Judge found that Plaintiff
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failed to establish that Defendants had a duty to preserve such footage. Plaintiff did not
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offer any evidence or argument that these cameras captured images of potential witnesses
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or the officers’ alleged use of force. (Id. at 7.)
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The Magistrate Judge recommended permitting the parties to present evidence and
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argument to the jury that Plaintiff asked for this video footage; that the prison had a duty
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to preserve the footage; and that the video would have shown there were other inmates
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present in the wings of the Unit 5 rotunda that may have witnessed the incident between
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Plaintiff and Smith. (Id. at 15-16.)
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III.
LEGAL STANDARD
Review of the Magistrate Judge’s Recommendations
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A.
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This Court “may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or
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recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Where a party
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timely objects to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, then this Court is
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required to “make a de novo determination of those portions of the [report and
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recommendation] to which objection is made.” Id. Mindful of the fact that the Supreme
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Court has “instructed the federal courts to liberally construe the ‘inartful pleading’
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of pro se litigants,” Eldridge v. Block, 832 F.2d 1132, 1137 (9th Cir. 1987) (citing Boag v.
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MacDougall, 454 U.S. 364, 365 (1982) (per curiam)), the Court will view Plaintiff’s
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pleadings with the appropriate degree of leniency.
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B.
Spoliation
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The Court adopts the standard for evaluating spoliation of evidence described in
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the R&R. (ECF No. 123 at 4.)
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IV.
DISCUSSION
Defendant’s Objections
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A.
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Defendants object that the Unit 5 footage is not relevant to this case because there
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has never been evidence that the footage depicts the incident itself. (ECF No. 126 at 7.)
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Whether the footage depicts the incident itself is beside the point—it is relevant to
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Plaintiff’s claims because it depicts witnesses to the incident, witnesses whom Plaintiff
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might have called to testify on his behalf at trial. Consequently, Defendants’ first objection
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will be overruled.
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Defendants further object that any prejudice Plaintiff has suffered results from this
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Court’s order denying discovery, not the lack of Unit 5 footage. (See id. at 8-9; ECF
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No. 109 (denying Defendants’ motion for limited expedited discovery).) Defendants argue
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that Plaintiff could have identified witnesses to the incident even without the Unit 5 footage
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by making discovery requests for NDOC records showing which individuals were housed
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in Unit 5 at the time of the incident. (Id. at 9.) Defendants’ argument is unpersuasive
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because Plaintiff is under no obligation to prosecute his case in such a way as to render
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Defendants’ spoliation harmless. Moreover, the video footage could have helped Plaintiff
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verify whether he had correctly identified all the witnesses to the incident. While
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Defendants may have litigated Plaintiff’s case differently, the fact remains that Plaintiff has
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been prejudiced in the absence of the Unit 5 footage.
PLAINTIFF’S OBJECTIONS
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B.
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Plaintiff objects that the Magistrate Judge’s finding regarding the relevance of the
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video footage from the handheld camera and Units 4, 7, and 8. (ECF No. 129 at 3, 7.)
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Plaintiff does not explain how the video footage from Units 4, 7, and 8 are relevant and
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does not provide any evidence to rebut Defendants’ assertion that those videos do not
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depict the incident or any witnesses. With respect to the handheld camera footage, Plaintiff
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does not explain how the Court can sanction spoliation of evidence that never existed in
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the first place, though the Court recognizes Plaintiff’s frustration with NNCC’s alleged
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failure to follow its own protocols. Accordingly, the Court does not find that the Magistrate
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Judge erred in concluding that footage from the handheld camera and Units 4, 7, and 8
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was not relevant.
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V.
CONCLUSION
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The Court notes that the parties made several arguments and cited to several cases
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not discussed above. The Court has reviewed these arguments and cases and determines
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that they do not warrant discussion as they do not affect the outcome of the motion before
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the Court.
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It is therefore ordered that Magistrate Judge Valerie P. Cooke’s Report and
Recommendation (ECF No. 123) is accepted and adopted in its entirety.
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It is further ordered that Plaintiff’s objection (ECF No. 129) is overruled.
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It is further ordered that Defendants’ objection (ECF No. 126) is overruled.
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It is further ordered that Plaintiff’s Spoliation Motion (ECF No. 91) is granted in part
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and denied in part. It is denied to the extent that Plaintiff requests some sort of dismissal
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sanction or per se adverse inference instruction. It is granted in that the spoliation of the
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video evidence may be imputed to Defendants and that as a sanction Plaintiff is permitted
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to present evidence and argument to the jury that he asked for this video footage; that the
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prison had a duty to preserve the footage, and that the video would have shown there
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were other inmates present in the wings of the Unit 5 Rotunda who may have witnessed
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the incident between Plaintiff and Smith.
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DATED THIS 14th day of May 2018.
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MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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