Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-00359/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-00359-2/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

DARRELL SMITH,

Plaintiff,

v.

S. MOSS, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:15-cv-0359 KJN P

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding without counsel, with a civil rights action pursuant 

to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has consented to the jurisdiction of the undersigned. (ECF No. 7.) 

On February 24, 2015, the court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint with leave to amend. 

(ECF No. 4.) Pending before the court is plaintiff’s amended complaint. (ECF No. 8.) For the 

reasons stated herein, this action is dismissed. 

Named as defendants are S. Moss and G. Matteson. (Id. at 1.) Plaintiff alleges that he 

was denied due process during prison disciplinary proceedings. (Id. at 3.) In particular, plaintiff 

alleges that the rules violation report was not served within the time frame set forth in the 

regulations. (Id.) 

Attached as an exhibit to the amended complaint is a copy of the rules violation report. 

The report states that on October 29, 2013, Correctional Officer Johnson found a bindle in 

plaintiff’s front right jacket. (Id. at 20.) The bindle was later determined to contain marijuana. 

Case 2:15-cv-00359-KJN Document 9 Filed 04/23/15 Page 1 of 4
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(Id.) Plaintiff was charged with possession of a controlled substance for distribution. (Id.) 

Plaintiff was found guilty and assessed 180 days loss of behavioral credits, 10 days loss of “ASU” 

yard, 30 days loss of all packages and special privileges, one year loss of visits, etc. (Id. at 26.) 

As relief, plaintiff requests that his disciplinary conviction be overturned, visits be restored and 

that he receive compensation. 

In Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), an Indiana state prisoner brought a civil 

rights action under § 1983 for damages. Claiming that state and county officials violated his 

constitutional rights, he sought damages for improprieties in the investigation leading to his 

arrest, for the destruction of evidence, and for conduct during his trial (“illegal and unlawful voice 

identification procedure”). Convicted on voluntary manslaughter charges, and serving a fifteen 

year term, plaintiff did not seek injunctive relief or release from custody. The United States 

Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of the complaint and held that:

in order to recover damages for allegedly unconstitutional 

conviction or imprisonment, or for other harm caused by actions 

whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, 

a § 1983 plaintiff must prove that the conviction or sentence has 

been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, 

declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such 

determination, or called into question by a federal court's issuance 

of a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254. A claim for damages 

bearing that relationship to a conviction or sentence that has not 

been so invalidated is not cognizable under 1983.

Heck, 512 U.S. at 486.

In Heck, the Supreme Court expressly held that a cause of action for damages under § 

1983 concerning a criminal conviction or sentence cannot exist unless the conviction or sentence 

has been invalidated, expunged or reversed. Id.

In Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641 (1997), the Supreme Court held that Heck applies to 

challenges to prison disciplinary hearings when the nature of the challenge to the procedures 

could be such as necessarily to imply the invalidity of the judgment. 

Plaintiff’s claim alleging time constraint violations challenges the validity of his prison 

disciplinary conviction. A finding that the rules violation was not heard within the time limits 

provided for in the regulations would result in a reversal of plaintiff’s disciplinary conviction. It 

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does not appear that this disciplinary conviction has been invalidated, expunged or reversed. For 

that reason, plaintiff’s claim for money damages based on the alleged violation of due process is

barred by Heck. To the extent plaintiff seeks to simply overturn the disciplinary conviction, he 

must file a habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. 

Plaintiff also alleges that during the disciplinary hearing, he asked defendant Moss if he 

(plaintiff) could get his notes and a copy of Title 15. (ECF No. 8 at 5.) Plaintiff alleges that 

defendant Moss denied this request because he was not interested in hearing plaintiff’s side of the 

story “which led [plaintiff] to believe it was retaliation.” (Id.)

“Within the prison context, a viable claim of First Amendment retaliation entails five 

basic elements: (1) An assertion that a state actor took some adverse action against an inmate (2) 

because of (3) that prisoner’s protected conduct, and that such action (4) chilled the inmate’s 

exercise of his First Amendment rights, and (5) the action did not reasonably advance a legitimate 

correctional goal.” Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d 559, 567–68 (9th Cir. 2005) (footnote 

omitted). 

The prisoner must show that the type of activity in which he was engaged was 

constitutionally protected, that the protected conduct was a substantial or motivating factor for the 

alleged retaliatory action, and that the retaliatory action advanced no legitimate penological 

interest. Hines v. Gomez, 108 F.3d 265, 267–68 (9th Cir. 1997) (inferring retaliatory motive 

from circumstantial evidence). Retaliatory motive may be shown by the timing of the allegedlyretaliatory act and other circumstantial evidence, as well as direct evidence. Bruce v. Ylst, 351 

F.3d 1283, 1288–89 (9th Cir. 2003). However, mere speculation that defendants acted out of 

retaliation is not sufficient. Wood v. Yordy, 753 F.3d 899, 904 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing cases) 

(affirming grant of summary judgment where there was no evidence that defendants knew about 

plaintiff’s prior lawsuit, or that defendants’ disparaging remarks were made in reference to prior 

lawsuit).

For the following reasons, the undersigned finds that plaintiff has not stated a potentially 

colorable retaliation claim against defendant Moss. First, plaintiff has not demonstrated that 

defendant Moss violated a constitutional right by refusing to allow him to get his notes and a copy 

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of Title 15. Plaintiff had a constitutional right to present documentary evidence at the 

disciplinary hearing. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 653-67 (1974). However, plaintiff 

did not have a constitutional right to have “notes,” which apparently were not evidence, or a copy 

of Title 15. Plaintiff does not claim that his “notes” were evidence which he was not permitted to 

present.1 

In addition, plaintiff’s claim that defendant Moss denied his request to obtain his notes 

and a copy of Title 15 based on a retaliatory motive is vague and conclusory. Plaintiff does not 

describe why defendant Moss would have been motivated to retaliate against him. For these 

reasons, the undersigned finds that plaintiff has not stated a potentially colorable retaliation claim.

Because plaintiff has not stated potentially colorable claims alleging violations of his 

constitutional rights, this action is dismissed.

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is dismissed.

Dated: April 23, 2015

Sm359.dis

 

1

 If plaintiff claimed that his notes contained exculpatory evidence, then a claim alleging that 

defendant Moss denied plaintiff’s request to obtain and present the notes/evidence would most 

likely be Heck barred. 

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