Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-01001/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-01001-12/pdf.json

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

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

WO JWB

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Allan S. MacDonald, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Dora Schriro, et al., 

Defendants. 

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

No. CV 04-1001-PHX-SMM (MHB)

ORDER

On July 17, 2008, the Court denied Defendant Jabczenski’s Motion for Summary

Judgment. (Doc. # 249.) Before the Court is Jabczenski’s Motion for Reconsideration of

that Order (Doc. # 251.) The Court will deny the motion.

I. Background

Plaintiff alleged that Jabczenski was deliberately indifferent to his serious medical

need—Plaintiff’s knee injury. Plaintiff further claimed that Jabczenski’s actions constituted

medical malpractice. Jabczenski moved for summary judgment on the grounds that he did

not act with deliberate indifference, he did not commit medical malpractice, and that Plaintiff

suffered no harm as a result of Jabczenski’s actions. (Doc. # 110.) 

In ruling on the motion, the Court found that material issues of fact precluded

summary judgment for Jabczenski on the claims of deliberate indifference and medical

malpractice. Specifically, the Court determined that a reasonable jury could conclude that

in November 2003, Jabczenski purposefully refused to listen to Plaintiff’s reported symptoms

and refused to read his June 2003 MRI report, even after Plaintiff told him about it and tried

Case 2:04-cv-01001-SMM Document 255 Filed 09/18/08 Page 1 of 3
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

- 2 -

to read it to him. (Doc. # 249 at 6.) Moreover, the Court concluded that a reasonable jury

could find that when Jabczenski decided in May 2006 that Plaintiff needed surgery, he relied

on information readily available to him in November 2003. (Id. at 7.) And finally, the Court

determined that Plaintiff could proceed with his medical malpractice claim without expert

testimony because a lay person could comprehend the issues. (Id. at 9.) 

Jabczenski seeks reconsideration of the Court’s Order on the grounds that expert

testimony is required to prove medical malpractice under A.R.S. § 12-563. (Doc. # 251.) 

The Local Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for a response to a motion for

reconsideration unless specifically ordered by the Court. LRCiv 7.2(g). Here, no response

was ordered. 

II. Motion for Reconsideration

Motions for reconsideration should be granted only in rare circumstances. Defenders

of Wildlife v. Browner, 909 F. Supp. 1342, 1351 (D. Ariz. 1995). Mere disagreement with

a previous order is an insufficient basis for reconsideration. See Leong v. Hilton Hotels

Corp., 689 F. Supp. 1572, 1573 (D. Haw. 1988). Reconsideration is only appropriate if the

district court “(1) is presented with newly discovered evidence, (2) committed clear error or

the initial decision was manifestly unjust, or (3) if there is an intervening change in

controlling law.” School Dist. No. 1J, Multnomah County v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255,

1263 (9th Cir. 1993). “No motion for reconsideration shall repeat in any manner any oral or

written argument made in support of or in opposition to the original motion.” Motorola, Inc.

v. J.B. Rogers Mechanical Contractors, Inc., 215 F.R.D. 581, 586 (D. Ariz. 2003). 

III. Analysis

Jabczenski places great emphasis on the argument that this case will require a jury to

understand complex medical evidence, thereby requiring expert testimony pursuant to A.R.S.

§ 12-563. But this argument ignores the critical element of the Court’s ruling—the Court

determined that a reasonable jury could conclude that Jabczenski deliberately ignored the

medical evidence available to him in November 2003 and relied on that same evidence in

May 2006 when scheduling Plaintiff’s surgery. Consequently, it is irrelevant that the

Case 2:04-cv-01001-SMM Document 255 Filed 09/18/08 Page 2 of 3
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

- 3 -

substance of the medical evidence is complex. Moreover, to the extent that Jabczenski

argues the Court “assume[d] that the 2003 MRI was the basis for [the] decision to perform

surgery,” that argument is flawed because Jabczenski did not present any other probative

evidence to suggest that anything other than the 2003 MRI was the impetus behind Plaintiff’s

2006 surgery. At trial, Jabczenski is free to argue that other factors influenced his decision

to recommend surgery in 2006. But on summary judgment, the evidence did not support

such a conclusion. Finally, to the extent that Jabczenski again claims that Plaintiff did not

suffer harm as a result of a three year delay in surgery, that contention has been addressed.

(Doc. # 249 at 7-8.) Ultimately, Jabczenski is merely requesting the Court to rethink what

it already thought through. United States v. Rezzonico, 32 F. Supp. 2d 1112, 1116 (D. Ariz.

1998). These arguments were presented and rejected on summary judgment. The motion

for reconsideration will be denied. Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant Jabczenski’s Motion for

Reconsideration (Doc. # 251) is denied.

DATED this 17th day of September, 2008.

Case 2:04-cv-01001-SMM Document 255 Filed 09/18/08 Page 3 of 3