Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_10-cv-02799/USCOURTS-azd-2_10-cv-02799-4/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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Upon screening, the Court dismissed Sheriff Arpaio, Correctional Health Services,

and John Does 2, 3, and 4 as Defendants (Doc. 12).

WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Harvey Deon Kendrick, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Joseph Arpaio, et al.,

Defendants.

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No. CV 10-2799-PHX-RCB (LOA)

ORDER

 AND

 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

Plaintiff Harvey Deon Kendrick brought this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983 against Maricopa County (County), the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

(Board), and three John Doe Defendants (Doc. 11).1

 Before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss

filed by the County and the Board (Doc. 19).

The Court will grant the motion and dismiss Count VII and issue an Order to Show

Cause why the John Doe Defendants and Counts I and VIII should not be dismissed.

I. Background 

Plaintiff’s negligence and medical-care claims arose during his confinement at the

Maricopa County Fourth Avenue Jail (Doc. 11 at 1). In Counts I and VIII, Plaintiff brought

negligence claims against three John Doe Defendants. He alleged that John Doe 1

negligently released Plaintiff even though the court found him to be “non-bondable” (id. at

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3). Plaintiff stated that as a result, California authorities contacted the Maricopa County

Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), who negligently informed them that Plaintiff had escaped, thereby

causing California to file an arrest warrant with the U.S. Marshal’s Office (id. at 3.5).

Plaintiff claimed that these negligent acts caused the Marshal’s Office to “hunt” him as if a

dangerous escapee, caused him to miss court and trial dates, and altered his plea agreement

(id.). In Count VIII, Plaintiff averred that John Does 5 and 6 negligently breached security

procedures, which led to Plaintiff’s exit from the visitation room through an unlocked door

and the assault on Plaintiff by four individuals (id. at 10).

In Count VII, Plaintiff alleged that the County and the Board established a policy that

restricted necessary medical procedures based on budgetary considerations and that, pursuant

to this policy, Plaintiff was denied shoulder surgery (id. at 9). 

Although Plaintiff stated negligence claims in Counts I and VIII against John Does

1, 5, and 6, the Court could not direct service on the unknown defendants (Doc. 12 at 7).

The Court declined to dismiss the Counts and, instead, directed that if Plaintiff discovers the

identity of the unknown defendants, he should seek to amend his pleading appropriately (id.

at 7-8). The Court directed the County and the Board to answer Count VII (id. at 9). 

The County and the Board (hereinafter “Defendants”) then filed their Motion to

Dismiss (Doc. 19).

II. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss

A. Defendants’ Contentions

Defendants move to dismiss on the ground that Plaintiff failed to exhaust

administrative remedies as required under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42

U.S.C. § 1997e(a) (id.). In support, Defendants submit the affidavit of Selethia Down, a

Sergeant assigned to the Inmate Hearing Unit (id., Ex. 1, Down Aff. ¶ 1). Down explains the

three-tiered system that governs medical grievances at the jail: (1) the initial grievance and

decision by the Bureau Hearing Officer; (2) the Institutional appeal; and (3) the External

appeal (id. ¶ 4). Down asserts that all inmates are notified of the grievance procedure when

they receive a copy of “MCSO Rules and Regulations for Inmates” upon their arrival at the

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jail (id.).

Down avers that a search of the inmate grievance records maintained by MCSO for

Plaintiff reflect that he filed 33 grievances concerning various conditions of incarceration (id.

¶¶ 6-7). According to Down, none of these 33 grievances related to the denial of shoulder

surgery (id. ¶ 8). 

Defendants rely on this affidavit and the attached copies of Plaintiff’s grievances to

argue that Plaintiff was familiar with the administrative procedure at the jail (Doc. 19 at 2-3).

They note that some of Plaintiff’s grievances concerned medical issues; however, none

concerned the claim in this lawsuit (id. at 3). Defendants submit that just two grievances

refer to his shoulder; copies of both are attached to Down’s affidavit (id., Ex. 1, Attachs. 6,

8). The first was a grievance filed on January 29, 2009, and states that Plaintiff saw a

physician about his neck, shoulder, back, and chest but that the physician only addressed his

shoulder and referred him to an orthopedic specialist; Plaintiff requests that he be seen by a

physician and “seriously examined in those other areas” (id.; Ex. 1, Attach. 6). Defendants

state that Plaintiff appealed this grievance to the Bureau Hearing Officer and indicated at that

level that he sought to appeal the issue further; however, Plaintiff did not file an appeal to the

next level (id. at 3-4).

The second grievance was filed on June 12, 2009, and states that Plaintiff had a

separated shoulder and complained that he had not been provided his shoulder brace (id., Ex.

1, Attach. 8). Defendants assert that this grievance was resolved informally by the Shift

Supervisor (Doc. 19 at 4). Defendants contend that Plaintiff’s failure to appeal any grievance

related to his shoulder issue to the highest level of the grievance procedure constitutes a

failure to exhaust the administrative remedies provided by the jail’s grievance process (id.

at 6-8). They state that, as a result, they never had an opportunity to address Plaintiff’s issue

and the action should be dismissed (id. at 8).

Defendants also move for dismissal of the Board for the reason that it is a nonjural

entity and the Court does not have jurisdiction over it (id. at 8-10).

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The Court issued an Order with a Notice advising Plaintiff of his obligation to

respond to the motion and present evidence regarding the exhaustion of administrative

remedies (Doc. 20). See Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1120 n. 14 (9th Cir. 2003).

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B. Plaintiff’s Response2

Plaintiff opposes the motion and argues that there were no administrative remedies

available (Doc. 25 at 2). He relies on the “MCSO Rules and Regulations for Inmates,” which

includes language stating that inmates “cannot grieve a request for health care that is not

medically necessary . . . .” (id., citing Ex. A). Plaintiff maintains that his shoulder condition

was not diagnosed as serious or as one that required treatment nor was it obvious that it

required medical attention (id. at 2). Plaintiff also asserts that jail medical staff informed him

that he could not grieve his medical issue unless it was life threatening (id. at 3). Plaintiff

appears to suggest that his grievances nonetheless include requests to see a medical provider

for his shoulder (id. at 2-3).

Plaintiff agrees with Defendants’ argument for dismissal of the Board as a Defendant

(id. at 3).

C. Defendant’s Reply

In reply, Defendants argue that Plaintiff effectively changes his claim, which was

originally a claim that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical need,

and now asserts that his medical need was not serious and thus was not grievable (Doc. 28).

They suggest that any claim that his shoulder condition was not serious justifies dismissal

since he must show a serious medical need to support a constitutional claim (id. at 2, 4).

As to exhaustion, Defendants contend that Plaintiff failed to file a grievance regarding

alleged budget constraints; thus, their motion should be granted (id. at 2-3). They add that

Plaintiff did not file any grievances that surgery was not medically necessary or that he was

prevented from following the administrative procedures (id. at 3). Defendants reiterate that,

as demonstrated by the number of grievances Plaintiff filed during his incarceration, he was

aware of the process available to address any issue (id.). And they note that as to the January

2009 grievance that referenced Plaintiff’s shoulder condition, he failed to appeal it and that

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constitutes failure to exhaust (id.).

III. Exhaustion Legal Standard

Under the PLRA, an inmate must exhaust available administrative remedies before

bringing a federal action. 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 or jail 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). An inmate 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).

Therefore, the defendant bears the burden of raising and proving the absence of exhaustion.

Wyatt, 315 F.3d at 1119. Because exhaustion is a matter in 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. When doing so, 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). If a court finds that the plaintiff failed to

exhaust administrative remedies, the proper remedy is dismissal without prejudice. Wyatt,

315 F.3d at 1120.

IV. Analysis

As stated, Defendants must demonstrate that there were remedies available to

Plaintiff. See id. at 1119; see also Brown v. Valoff, 422 F.3d 926, 936-37 (9th Cir. 2005).

Defendants submit evidence that the Fourth Avenue Jail had established grievance

procedures and that Plaintiff used those procedures to complain about various issues (Doc.

19, Ex. 1, Down Aff. ¶¶ 3-4, 7 & Attach. 3).

Plaintiff does not dispute that he failed to file a grievance specific to the claim herein;

namely, that he was denied shoulder surgery for budgetary reasons or even that he was

denied surgery. To the extent that either of his two grievances that mention his shoulder

relate to this claim, he did not exhaust either grievance to the highest level.

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With respect to Plaintiff’s claim that he could not grieve his issue under the MCSO

policy, the relevant policy states only that inmates may not grieve a request “for health care

that is not medically necessary” (Doc. 19, Ex. 1, Attach. 2). The Court finds that “medically

necessary” does not equate to life threatening. Moreover, as argued by Defendants, if

Plaintiff’s need for shoulder surgery was not medically necessary, then the allegations in

Count VII fail to support a constitutional claim. As to Plaintiff’s claim that medical staff also

informed him that he could not grieve his medical issue, he fails to identify who gave him

this information or when he was told he could not grieve. Thus, his general claim that he was

verbally informed that he could not grieve his claim is insufficient to overcome Defendants’

specific evidence that there was a grievance process established to address medical issues and

that this process was available to Plaintiff.

On the record before the Court, Defendants have met their burden to show that

administrative remedies were available for the claim in Count VII but Plaintiff failed to

properly exhaust those remedies. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss will be granted on this

basis, and the Court need not address the Board’s other argument for dismissal. 

V. Order to Show Cause

As mentioned above, the Court did not dismiss Counts I and VIII even though

Plaintiff was unable to identify the defendants alleged to have acted negligently. The April

21, 2011 Screening Order stated that Plaintiff may use the discovery process to obtain the

names of the John Doe Defendants and, upon discovery of their identities, he may amend his

pleading pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 (Doc. 12 at 7-8). Approximately

one year has elapsed, and Plaintiff has not moved to amend or indicated an intent to discover

the identities of John Does 1, 5, and 6.

The Court will order Plaintiff to Show Cause why these John Doe Defendants and

Counts I and VIII should not be dismissed.

IT IS ORDERED:

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

Dismiss (Doc. 19).

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(2) Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 19) is granted: Count VII is dismissed

without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies as required under 42 U.S.C.

§ 1997e(a).

(3) Maricopa County and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are dismissed

as Defendants.

(4) Within 30 days from the date of this Order, Plaintiff must show cause why John

Does 1, 5, and 6 should not be dismissed for failure to identify them and why Counts I and

VIII should not be dismissed.

DATED this 19th day of April, 2012.

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