Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-02316/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-02316-0/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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 "In deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust nonjudicial remedies, the

court may look beyond the pleadings and decide disputed issues of fact." Wyatt v. Terhune,

315 F.3d 1108, 1119-20 (9th Cir. 2003). "[I]f the district court looks beyond the pleadings

to a factual record . . . –a procedure closely analogous to summary judgment–then the court

must assure that [the plaintiff] has fair notice of his opportunity to develop a record. Wyatt

v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1120 n. 14 (9th Cir. 2003). The plaintiff was given such notice

in the Order dated September 16, 2005 (doc. 15).

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Juan Lugo, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Charles Ryan, et al., 

Defendants. 

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No. 04-CV-2316-PHX-FJM

ORDER

The court has before it defendant Woolsey's Non-Enumerated Rule 12(b) Motion to

Dismiss for the Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, or in the Alternative, Motion

for Summary Judgment (doc. 13).1

 Plaintiff did not file a response.

Plaintiff, an inmate in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections, filed this

action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Charles Ryan and G. Woolsey for violations of his

Eighth Amendment rights. Plaintiff claims that he suffers from mental illness, that he was

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threatened by fellow inmates because of his mental illness, that he therefore requested to be

moved to protective segregation, that this request was denied, that he was subsequently

beaten by fellow inmates and his foot was broken, and that he submitted a request for

administrative relief on these claims and appealed the denial to the highest level. Complaint

at 4. Defendant Woolsey moves to dismiss, arguing that plaintiff failed to exhaust his

administrative remedies. Motion to Dismiss at 1.

"No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under [42 U.S.C. §

1983], or any other Federal Law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other

correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted." 42

U.S.C. § 1997e(a). An inmate at an Arizona Department of Corrections facility is subject

to the Inmate Grievance System, which permits an inmate to raise concerns with regard to

numerous matters, including staff, institutional procedures, medical care and conditions of

confinement. Statement of Facts, Exhibit 6 (Departmental Order 802) at 2. To exhaust the

administrative remedies available under the Inmate Grievance System, an inmate must file

an informal inmate letter, a formal grievance, an appeal to the warden, and an appeal to the

director. Id. at 5-7. The informal inmate letter must begin with the following statement: "I

am attempting to informally resolve the following problem." Id. at 5. When complaining

with regard to a staff person, the grievance procedure is the same, except that the formal

grievance is forwarded directly to the warden. Id. at 9.

Plaintiff wrote a series of inmate letters asserting that he wanted protection, that he

wanted to be transferred to the mental health unit, that he believed that his life was

endangered by the Department of Corrections, and that he wanted to file a lawsuit. Separate

Statement of Facts, Exhibits 3, 5, 8, 10. Plaintiff did not begin his letters with the statement,

"I am attempting to informally resolve the following problem." However, even if those

letters were considered informal complaints for purposes of the grievance procedure, plaintiff

failed to file a formal grievance, or any appeal, Separate Statement of Facts, Exhibit B

(Affidavit of Cheryl Dossett) at 1-2, and accordingly, failed to exhaust the available

administrative remedies.

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Moreover, plaintiff's failure to respond to the motion to dismiss serves as an

additional, independent reason to grant the motion. Failure to respond to a motion "may be

deemed a consent to the . . . granting of the motion, and the Court may dispose of the motion

summarily." LRCiv 7.2(i).

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED GRANTING defendant Woolsey's motion to dismiss

(doc. 13).

All claims having been dismissed, the clerk is directed to enter final judgment for

defendants.

DATED this 19th day of January, 2006.

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