Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_10-cv-01804/USCOURTS-azd-2_10-cv-01804-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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The remaining Defendants were dismissed on screening. (Doc. 9.)

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The Court sent the Notice required under Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1120

n.14 (9th Cir. 2003). (Doc. 16.)

WO SVK

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Dean Thomas Tousignant, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Raymond Bergman,

Defendant. 

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No. CV 10-1804-PHX-GMS (ECV)

ORDER

 Plaintiff Dean Thomas Tousignant filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

against Detention Officer Raymond Bergman, an employee of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s

Office (MCSO). (Doc. 8.) Plaintiff alleged that Defendant1

 refused to loosen tightly

clamped handcuffs that were applied for 9-12 hours, which caused abrasions and breaking

of skin, creating an open wound that became infected. (Id.) Defendant moves to dismiss on

the ground that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as required by the

Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).2

 (Doc. 15.) 

The Court will grant the motion and dismiss the case.

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MCSO Policy DJ-3, Inmate Grievance Procedure, was not, in fact, attached to the

motion.

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I. Motion to Dismiss

A. Legal Standard

 Under the PLRA, a prisoner must exhaust available administrative remedies before

bringing a federal action concerning prison conditions. See 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); Griffin v.

Arpaio, 557 F.3d 1117, 1119 (9th Cir. 2009). Exhaustion is required for all suits about

prison life, Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 523 (2002), regardless of the type of relief offered

through the administrative process, Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 741 (2001). And a

prisoner must complete the administrative review process in accordance with the applicable

rules. See Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 92 (2006). 

Exhaustion is an affirmative defense. Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 212 (2007). Thus,

the defendant bears the burden of raising and proving the absence of exhaustion. Wyatt v.

Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1119 (9th Cir. 2003). Because exhaustion is a matter of abatement

in an unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion, a court may look beyond the pleadings to decide

disputed issues of fact. Id. at 1119-20. Further, a court has broad discretion as to the

method to be used in resolving the factual dispute. Ritza v. Int’l Longshoremen’s &

Warehousemen’s Union, 837 F.2d 365, 369 (9th Cir. 1988) (quotation omitted).

B. Parties’ Contentions

1. Defendant

In support of his motion, Defendant submits the declaration of Selethia Down, a

Sergeant assigned to the Inmate Hearing Unit; her duties include receipt, processing,

tracking, and storage of inmate grievances. (Doc. 15, Ex. 1, Down Decl. ¶¶ 1-2.) She

describes the MCSO grievance procedures, which are set out in Policy DJ-3, Inmate

Grievance Procedure. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 7.) According to Down, it is a multi-tiered grievance

system, which includes (1) the initial grievance and ultimate decision by the Bureau Hearing

Officer; (2) the institutional appeal; and (3) the external appeal. (Id. ¶ 7, Ex. B, Policy DJ3.3

) The procedure provides time frames for filing and responding to each step of the

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process; the initial grievance must be filed within 48 hours of the event being grieved. (Id.)

She also attests that inmates receive the MCSO Rules and Regulations for Inmates and that

the grievance form itself contains language explaining the steps in the grievance process. (Id.

¶¶ 4, 7, Ex. A.) 

Down attests that she searched the grievance database and found no grievance from

Plaintiff regarding being left in handcuffs for 9 to 12 hours or that any detention officer,

including Defendant, failed to loosen the handcuffs. (Id. ¶ 11.)

Defendant argues that Plaintiff admitted in his First Amended Complaint that he failed

to submit a grievance, claiming that staff would not provide one. (Doc. 15 at 3, ref. Doc. 8

at 3.) Defendant asserts that the claim is clearly subject to the grievance procedure. (Id.)

He also contends that if Plaintiff had a problem obtaining a grievance form, he could use the

MCSO direct grievance process, which is initiated by the jail commander on any complaint

of an inmate, including verbal complaints, and which does not require the inmate himself to

submit the standard grievance form. (Id., Ex. 1, Down Decl. ¶ 13.)

2. Plaintiff

Plaintiff alleges that no administrative remedies were available or warranted because

the specific injury and damage occurred beyond 48 hours from the event. (Doc. 17 at 1.) He

argues that when he was arrested on June 10, 2009, he had no physical problems. (Id. at 2.)

On June 17 and 18 he was transported to and from court. He appears to argue that one of

these two days would be the day of the “event” for purposes of the rule cited by Defendant

regarding timing of the initial grievance. A week later, he was diagnosed by medical staff

as having MRSA, then treated for about three weeks. (Id.)

Plaintiff further contends that the grievance form requires that a reasonable solution

be proposed. (Id. at 3.) “What in this case would constitute ‘reasonable,’ sanitized cuffs and

limited population in waiting cells are solutions that would be readily responded to. Beyond

the (48) hours of the event was an apparent presumption by staff as being outside time limits

and/or an issue as non grievable.” (Id.) 

Plaintiff concludes that he did not fail to exhaust administrative remedies because

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none were available according to MCSO policy and support staff. If applicable, the time

limits had expired, and the matter is and was non-grievable; rather, it is a judicial matter

based on personal injuries. (Id.)

3. Reply

 In reply, Defendant argues that it is apparent from Plaintiff’s original and amended

complaints that he understood he had been injured while he was handcuffed, not several days

later, and that whether the full extent of Plaintiff’s injuries was evident on the date of the

actual event is irrelevant. (Doc. 18 at 2.) Plaintiff should have requested a grievance form

within 48 hours of being restrained in tight cuffs for too long. (Id. at 2.) Defendant notes

that Plaintiff also appears to argue that he was not able to file a grievance, but Defendant

asserts that it is unclear whether Plaintiff is alleging that MCSO actively prevented him filing

a grievance. (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff provides no evidence to support the allegation. (Id.)

Defendant argues that it appears that Plaintiff decided for himself that he was not able to file

a grievance regarding this condition of confinement. (Id. at 4.)

Defendant further contends that although Plaintiff argues that he did not file a

grievance because there was no available remedy for him through the grievance process, the

PLRA does not condition the exhaustion requirement on the effectiveness of the

administrative remedy. (Id. at 5.) Defendant contends that whether a proposed resolution

is reasonable is a function of the grievance process itself. That process must be initiated in

order for the determination of reasonableness to be made. (Id.)

 4. Sur-reply

Plaintiff also files a response to the reply, which Defendant moves to strike. (Docs.

21, 22.) Plaintiff insists that his claim is outside the grievance process; “as in the case of

death occurring in MCSO at the hands of its officers’ treatment or negligence, no such low

level prompt response, corrective action or reasonable resolution is or would be available.”

(Id. at 1-2.) He argues that the PLRA provides no remedy for the death of a prisoner and no

remedy existed here for actual physical injury. (Id. at 2.) Conditions of confinement were

not at issue. (Id.) Plaintiff asserts that the issue is not his knowledge of the injuries but about

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being handcuffed excessively tightly for two days. (Id. at 3.) If a grievance was necessitated

every time handcuffing creates chafing, the system would be overrun. (Id. at 3-4.) 

C. Analysis

Defendant has met his burden to establish the existence of a grievance procedure and

that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his remedies under it. See Wyatt, 315 F.3d at 1119; see also

Brown, 422 F.3d at 936-37. Although the Inmate Grievance Procedure is not annexed to the

motion, the Rules and Regulations for Inmates are, and they set forth the grievance process

and time lines. Plaintiff fails to establish that he was excused from filing a grievance. 

First, because Plaintiff’s sur-reply is not proper, see Ekweani v. Maricopa County

Sheriff’s Office, 2009 WL 976520, at *1 (D. Ariz. 2009), the Court will grant Defendant’s

Motion to Strike. The Court notes that even if it were to consider the arguments, Plaintiff

has not established that he was excused from exhausting his administrative remedies. 

As to the merits of the exhaustion argument, the Court rejects Plaintiff’s claim that the

issue was not a “condition of confinement” within the meaning of the PLRA. That argument

has been foreclosed by Porter. 534 U.S. at 527. In Porter, the Supreme Court held that

exhaustion was required where the inmate claimed that he was beaten by guards; the PLRA

mandates exhaustion whether the circumstances or occurrences are general circumstances

of incarceration or specific episodes. Id.

Likewise, the Court rejects Plaintiff’s suggestion that the grievance procedure offered

no appropriate remedy. In Booth, the inmate had alleged that he was beaten by corrections

officers, suffered bruising on his wrists as a result of tightening and twisting handcuffs, and

was denied medical attention. 532 U.S. at 734. Plaintiff argued that he did not need to

exhaust his administrative remedies because the grievance procedure did not provide for

money damages, which was the remedy he wanted. Id. The Court reasoned that “one

‘exhausts’ processes, not forms of relief. . . .” Id. at 739. It concluded that Congress

mandated exhaustion regardless of the relief offered through administrative procedures. Id.

at 741. Here, Plaintiff fails to show that no relief was available through the MCSO grievance

process. 

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Plaintiff also argues that he could not file a grievance because the grievance should

have been initiated within 48 hours of the event—the handcuffing—but the infection did not

occur until later. In Woodford, the Supreme Court held that “[p]roper exhaustion demands

compliance with an agency’s deadlines and other critical procedural rules.” Woodford, 548

U.S. at 90. The exhaustion requirement is not satisfied by filing an untimely or otherwise

procedurally defective appeal. The Ninth Circuit has applied statute-of-limitations analysis

to administrative-remedy issues of timeliness. See Ngo v. Woodford, 539 F.3d 1108, 1109-

10 (9th Cir. 2008). Under federal law, a claim accrues “when the plaintiff knows or has

reason to know of the injury which is the basis of the action.” TwoRivers v. Lewis, 174 F.3d

987, 991 (9th Cir. 1999); Kimes v. Stone, 84 F.3d 1121, 1128 (9th Cir. 1996). Furthermore,

the claim accrues “even though the full extent of the injury is not then known or predictable”

because otherwise “the statute would begin to run only after a plaintiff became satisfied that

he had been harmed enough, placing the supposed statute of repose in the sole hands of the

party seeking relief.” Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384, 391 (2007).

It would appear that Plaintiff was required to file his initial grievance within 48 hours

of the handcuffing that resulted in cuts and abrasions. Plaintiff does not claim that he was

physically unable to do so or that he was prevented from doing so by jail officials.

But, here, the Court need not reach the issue of the timeliness of an initial grievance

because it is undisputed that Plaintiff failed to file any grievance at all. Plaintiff merely

assumes that a later grievance would have been rejected as untimely. Even assuming that

rejection of a later grievance would have been improper, Plaintiff cannot benefit from any

such exception to the exhaustion requirement if he never attempted to exhaust. See Sapp v.

Kimbrell, 623 F. 3d 813, 823 (9th Cir. 2010). In Sapp, for example, the Ninth Circuit

recognized an exception to the PLRA exhaustion requirement where prison officials render

the administrative remedies process effectively unavailable by improperly screening

grievances. Id. But the Court held that to fit within this exception, the prisoner must show,

inter alia, that he attempted to exhaust his remedies—especially that he actually filed a

grievance or grievances. Id. at 823-24.

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Finally, although the law does not require exhaustion if Plaintiff was unable to file

grievances, Plaintiff fails to establish that he was, in fact, unable to do so. In his First

Amended Complaint, Plaintiff asserted that he did not exhaust his administrative remedies

due to “lack of cooperation; failure by staff to provide necessary documents for remedy

administratively.” (Doc. 8 at 3.) Plaintiff offers no evidence to support this allegation;

indeed, in his opposition to the Motion to Dismiss, he offers entirely different reasons for

failing to exhaust.

 Defendant has carried his burden by showing that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his

administrative remedies. Plaintiff has not responded by demonstrating that his failure to

exhaust should be excused because the administrative procedures were unavailable or

because prison officials effectively obstructed his ability to pursue his grievance through the

third formal level. 

 The Court will grant Defendant’s motion and dismiss the claim without prejudice.

IT IS ORDERED:

(1) The reference to the Magistrate Judge is withdrawn as to Defendant’s Motion to

Dismiss (Doc. 15) and Motion to Strike (Doc. 22). 

(2) Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Doc. 22) is granted.

(3) Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 15) is granted.

(4) The claims are dismissed without prejudice, and the Clerk of Court must enter

judgment accordingly.

DATED this 30th day of June, 2011.

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