Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_13-cv-00289/USCOURTS-caed-1_13-cv-00289-11/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Roberto Herrera
Plaintiff
Rouch
Defendant

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ROBERTO HERRERA,

Plaintiff,

v.

ROUCH,

Defendant.

CASE No. 1:13-cv-00289-LJO-MJS

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S 

REQUEST TO CONVERT THE 

UNENUMERATED 12(B) PORTION OF 

THE MOTION TO DISMISS INTO A 

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 

AND GRANTING DEFENDANT’S 

REQUEST FOR LEAVE TO FILE A 

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

(ECF No. 65)

Plaintiff Roberto Herrera, a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 

pauperis, filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on February 27, 2013. 

(ECF No. 1.) This case proceeds on Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint which 

alleges Defendant Rouch denied Plaintiff medical care in violation of the Eighth 

Amendment. (ECF No. 18.)

On December 26, 2013 Defendant Rouch moved to dismiss the case, in part1,

under the unenumerated provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) for failure 

 

1 Defendant also asserted that the action should be dismissed for failure to state a claim and because of 

qualified immunity. (ECF No. 32.)

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exhaust administrative remedies. (ECF No. 32.) Plaintiff filed an opposition and 

Defendant replied. (ECF Nos. 36 and 37.)

On April 3, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 

decision overruling Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1119 (9th Cir. 2003) with respect 

to the proper procedural device for raising the issue of administrative exhaustion. Albino 

v. Baca, 747 F.3d 1162, 1166 (9th Cir. 2014). Following the decision in Albino, 

Defendants may raise the issue of exhaustion in either (1) a motion to dismiss pursuant 

to Rule 12(b)(6), in the rare event the failure to exhaust is clear on the face of the 

complaint, or (2) a motion for summary judgment. Albino, 747 F.3d at 1166. An 

unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion is no longer the proper procedural device for raising 

the issue of exhaustion. Id. at 1168.

On June 18, 2014, Defendant filed a notice acknowledging Albino and requesting 

that the Court convert the unenumerated Rule 12(b) portion of the Motion to Dismiss, 

regarding exhaustion of administrative remedies, into a motion for summary judgment. 

Alternatively, Defendant asked that he be permitted to withdraw the 12(b) portion and be 

granted leave to file a motion for summary judgment based on exhaustion of 

administrative remedies. In either case Defendant asks that the sections of the Motion 

to Dismiss not addressing exhaustion remain. (ECF No. 65.)

The unenumerated Rule 12(b) portion of the Motion to Dismiss is procedurally 

deficient in light of the decision in Albino. Because the Rule 12(b) motion does not 

contain all that a motion for summary judgment would require and to ensure proper 

notice to Plaintiff of such a motion, the motion to convert shall be denied.

Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. The request to convert the unenumerated Rule 12(b) portion of the Motion 

to Dismiss (ECF No. 32) is DENIED and that section of the motion shall be 

DISREGARDED; and

2. Defendant’s request for leave to file a motion for summary judgment (ECF 

No. 65) is GRANTED. Defendant shall, within thirty (30) days from the date of service of 

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this Order, file a summary a summary judgment motion addressing administrative 

exhaustion.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 1, 2014 /s/Michael J. Seng 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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