Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_24-cv-01258/USCOURTS-caed-2_24-cv-01258-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

KYLE ALEXANDER FREEMAN, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

DUDLEY et al, 

Defendants. 

No. 2:24-cv-1258 AC P 

ORDER 

 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 

has requested leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 

I. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 

 Plaintiff has submitted a declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a). ECF Nos. 2, 7. Accordingly, the request to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted. 

 Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. 

§§ 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By this order, plaintiff will be assessed an initial partial filing fee in 

accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will direct 

the appropriate agency to collect the initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account and 

forward it to the Clerk of the Court. Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments 

of twenty percent of the preceding month’s income credited to plaintiff’s prison trust account. 

These payments will be forwarded by the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time 

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the amount in plaintiff’s account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(b)(2). 

II. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 

The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against “a 

governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). 

The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are 

“frivolous, malicious, or fail[] to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” or that “seek[] 

monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 

 A claim “is [legally] frivolous where it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” 

Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 

Cir. 1984). “[A] judge may dismiss . . . claims which are ‘based on indisputably meritless legal 

theories’ or whose ‘factual contentions are clearly baseless.’” Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 

640 (9th Cir. 1989) (quoting Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327), superseded by statute on other grounds as 

stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th Cir. 2000). The critical inquiry is whether a 

constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. 

Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227-28 (citations omitted). 

“Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the 

claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of 

what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 

U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (alteration in original) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). 

“Failure to state a claim under § 1915A incorporates the familiar standard applied in the context 

of failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).” Wilhelm v. Rotman, 

680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). In order to survive dismissal for failure 

to state a claim, a complaint must contain more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 

cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the 

speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citations omitted). “[T]he pleading must contain 

something more . . . than . . . a statement of facts that merely creates a suspicion [of] a legally 

cognizable right of action.” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting 5 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur 

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R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1216 (3d ed. 2004)). 

“[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to 

relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting 

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

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

misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). In reviewing a complaint under this 

standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the complaint in question, Hosp. Bldg. 

Co. v. Trs. of the Rex Hosp., 425 U.S. 738, 740 (1976) (citation omitted), as well as construe the 

pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor, 

Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969) (citations omitted). 

III. Complaint 

The complaint sets forth three separate claims for relief and alleges that defendants 

Dudley, Tardd, Singh, Rivera, Moreno, Hernandez, Jew, Alvares, and Chao violated plaintiff’s 

rights under the Eighth Amendment. ECF No. 1. 

In Claim I, plaintiff alleges that on January 28, 2024, he informed defendant Dudley that 

he was suicidal. In response, Dudley told him to pack his property and move to another cell and 

began to search through his property “in a hostile way.” Id. at 3. At this point, defendant Tardd 

handcuffed plaintiff and attempted to escort him out of the cell. Id. When plaintiff attempted to 

stay in the cell to watch the search, both Dudley and Tardd used “excessive force” to “maliciously 

cause harm” even though plaintiff was already handcuffed and on the floor, not resisting. Id. As 

a result of the incident, plaintiff sustained bleeding, abrasions, bruises, and pain. Id. After 

moving cells, no nurses came to watch plaintiff while on suicide watch. Id. 

Claim II alleges that plaintiff was taken to emergency medical services following the 

incident, and defendant Jew and two nurses were in the area.1 Id. at 4. While there, plaintiff’s 

vitals were not taken “due to the defendants[’] desire of not leaving a paper trail.” Id. He also 

alleges that defendants wanted him to move around in order to take his vitals, but he was unable 

1

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to move around on the gurney properly as a result of the pain he felt. Id. Plaintiff was then 

cleared and sent back to his housing even though he had a “medical need, that if left unattended, 

pose[d] a substantial risk of serious harm.” Id. 

Finally, in Claim III, plaintiff broadly states that “all defendants” violated his Eighth 

Amendment rights because their actions “seriously affected [his] health & safety” and that “the 

use of force caused [him] identifiable harm.” Id. at 5. 

IV. Failure to State a Claim 

A. Personal Involvement 

“Liability under § 1983 must be based on the personal involvement of the defendant,” 

Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 (9th Cir. 1998) (citing May v. Enomoto, 633 F.2d 

164, 167 (9th Cir. 1980)), and “[v]ague and conclusory allegations of official participation in civil 

rights violations are not sufficient,” Ivey v. Bd. of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982) 

(citations omitted). Plaintiff does not make any allegations regarding the specific actions of 

defendants Singh, Rivera, Moreno, Hernandez, Alvares, or Chao, and therefore fails to state any 

claims against these defendants. 

B. Excessive Force 

“[W]henever prison officials stand accused of using excessive physical force in violation 

of the [Eighth Amendment], the core judicial inquiry is . . . whether force was applied in a goodfaith effort to maintain or restore discipline, or maliciously and sadistically to cause harm.” 

Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 6-7 (1992). Although plaintiff states that Dudley and Tardd 

maliciously used “excessive force” and “physical contact” in an attempt to harm him, there is no 

mention of what specific, individual conduct the defendants participated in which constituted this 

“excessive force.” Conclusory allegations of excessiveness are not sufficient to state a claim. 

Moreover, plaintiff states that he attempted to stay in the cell despite orders to leave, which 

supports an inference that at least some force may have been warranted. Accordingly, the facts 

alleged are insufficient to demonstrate that the force used by Dudley and Tardd was sufficient to 

rise to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation. 

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C. Medical Deliberate Indifference 

“[T]o maintain an Eighth Amendment claim based on prison medical treatment, an inmate 

must show ‘deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.’” Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 1091, 

1096 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976)). This requires plaintiff 

to show (1) “a ‘serious medical need’ by demonstrating that ‘failure to treat a prisoner’s condition 

could result in further significant injury or the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain,’” and 

(2) “the defendant’s response to the need was deliberately indifferent.” Id. (some internal 

quotation marks omitted) (quoting McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050, 1059-60 (9th Cir. 1992)). 

Deliberate indifference is established only where the defendant subjectively “knows of and 

disregards an excessive risk to inmate health and safety.” Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1057 

(9th Cir. 2004) (emphasis added) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Deliberate 

indifference “may appear when prison officials deny, delay or intentionally interfere with medical 

treatment.” Hutchinson v. United States, 838 F.2d 390, 394 (9th Cir. 1988) (citation omitted). 

Although plaintiff alleges that he had a “serious medical need” that needed attention, he 

does not state what the need was or the harm that it could have caused him. Plaintiff therefore 

fails to allege sufficient facts to state a claim. Further, plaintiff names defendant Jew as being 

present at emergency medical services but does not describe any individual action taken by Jew, 

referring only to action taken by “defendants.” Without any specificity as to what individual 

action Jew did or did not take that constituted deliberate indifference, plaintiff fails to state a 

claim against Jew. 

Plaintiff also alleges that after Dudley moved him to a suicide watch cell, no nurses came 

by to observe him while on suicide watch. Although the failure to properly supervise plaintiff 

while on suicide watch states a claim of deliberate indifference, plaintiff fails to identify the 

defendant responsible for this failure and thus fails to state a claim. Plaintiff makes no allegations 

showing that Dudley or Tardd’s conduct was the cause of the lack of supervision or otherwise 

interfered with his medical treatment, and he therefore fails to state a claim against them. 

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V. Leave to Amend 

The complaint does not state any cognizable claims for relief and plaintiff will be given an 

opportunity to file an amended complaint. If plaintiff chooses to file a first amended complaint, 

he must demonstrate how the conditions about which he complains resulted in a deprivation of his 

constitutional rights. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 370-71 (1976). Also, the complaint must 

allege in specific terms how each named defendant is involved. Arnold v. Int’l Bus. Machs. 

Corp., 637 F.2d 1350, 1355 (9th Cir. 1981). There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 

unless there is some affirmative link or connection between a defendant’s actions and the claimed 

deprivation. Id.; Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Furthermore, “[v]ague and 

conclusory allegations of official participation in civil rights violations are not sufficient.” Ivey v. 

Bd. of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982) (citations omitted). 

 Plaintiff is also informed that the court cannot refer to a prior pleading in order to make 

his first amended complaint complete. Local Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be 

complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This is because, as a general rule 

, an amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th 

Cir. 1967) (citations omitted), overruled in part by Lacey v. Maricopa County, 693 F.3d 896, 928 

(9th Cir. 2012) (claims dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend do not have to be repled in subsequent amended complaint to preserve appeal). Once plaintiff files a first amended 

complaint, the original complaint no longer serves any function in the case. Therefore, in an 

amended complaint, as in an original complaint, each claim and the involvement of each 

defendant must be sufficiently alleged. 

I. Plain Language Summary of this Order for a Pro Se Litigant 

Your request to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. That means you do not have to pay 

the entire filing fee now. You will pay it over time, out of your trust account. 

Your complaint will not be served because the facts you alleged are not enough to state a 

claim. You must explain and provide specific detail of the individual conduct of each defendant 

which you believe violated your constitutional rights. It is not enough to claim generally that all 

defendants violated your rights, or to state only that a defendant used excessive force or ignored 

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your serious medical need. Instead you must describe each defendant’s specific actions that you 

believe were excessively forceful, and describe the medical need or risk of harm they ignored. 

You may amend your complaint to try to fix these problems. Be sure to provide facts that 

show exactly what each defendant did to violate your rights or to cause a violation of your rights. 

If you choose to file a first amended complaint, it must include all claims you want to 

bring. Once an amended complaint is filed, the court will not look at any information in the 

original complaint. Any claims and information not in the first amended complaint will not 

be considered. 

CONCLUSION

 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 

1. Plaintiff’s request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is GRANTED. 

2. Plaintiff is obligated to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. Plaintiff 

is assessed an initial partial filing fee in accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(b)(1). All fees shall be collected and paid in accordance with this court’s order to the 

appropriate agency filed concurrently herewith. 

3. Plaintiff’s complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, see 28 

U.S.C. § 1915A, and will not be served. 

4. Within thirty days from the date of service of this order, plaintiff may file an amended 

complaint that complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure, and the Local Rules of Practice. The amended complaint must bear the docket 

number assigned this case and must be labeled “First Amended Complaint.” Failure to file an 

amended complaint in accordance with this order will result in a recommendation that this action 

be dismissed. 

5. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff a copy of the prisoner complaint 

form used in this district. 

DATED: June 25, 2024 

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