Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-00728/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-00728-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Becker
Defendant
Jacob M. Pile
Plaintiff

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JACOB M. PILE,

Plaintiff,

v.

BECKER,

Defendant.

No. 2:20-cv-0728 CKD P

ORDER

Plaintiff is an El Dorado County Jail prisoner proceeding pro se and seeking relief 

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On April 13, 2020, the court screened plaintiff’s complaint as the 

court is required to do under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint for 

failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted with leave to amend and provided 

plaintiff with instructions and guidance as to the contents of his amended complaint. Plaintiff has 

now filed an amended complaint.

As plaintiff now knows, the court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners 

seeking relief against a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 

U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has 

raised claims that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief 

may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 

28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 

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In order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than 

“naked assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause 

of action.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-557 (2007). In other words, 

“[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 

statements do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Furthermore, a claim 

upon which the court can grant relief has facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A 

claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw 

the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. 

at 678. When considering whether a complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted, 

the court must accept the allegations as true, Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93-94 (2007), and 

construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 

U.S. 232, 236 (1974). 

The court has reviewed plaintiff’s amended complaint and finds that it also fails to state a 

claim upon which relief can be granted under federal law. Plaintiff’s amended complaint must be 

dismissed. The court will provide plaintiff one final opportunity to state a claim upon which 

relief can be granted in a second amended complaint.

Plaintiff’s alleges he was attacked by a “high risk gang member” inmate in a common area

at the El Dorado County Jail. Plaintiff suggests defendant should have ordered this inmate into 

his cell and locked the cell before permitting plaintiff to enter the common area. 

As plaintiff has been informed, a pretrial detainee’s right to be free from violence at the hands 

of other inmates arises from the Fourteenth Amendment. Castro v. Cty. of Los Angeles, 833 F.3d 

1060, 1067-1068 (9th Cir. 2016). A prison official’s failure to protect a pretrial detainee is 

actionable if four conditions are met: 

1. The defendant made an intentional decision with respect to the conditions under which the 

plaintiff was confined;

2. Those conditions put the plaintiff at substantial risk of suffering serious harm;

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3. The defendant did not take reasonable available measures to abate that risk, even though a 

reasonable officer in the circumstances would have appreciated the high degree of risk 

involved—making the consequences of the defendant’s conduct obvious; and

4. By not taking such measures, the defendant caused the plaintiff’s injuries.

Id. at 1071. As to the third element, the defendant’s conduct must be objectively unreasonable. 

Id.

With respect to plaintiff’s amended complaint, plaintiff fails to allege facts which suggest

a reasonable officer would have understood that there was a high risk of harm to plaintiff by 

permitting plaintiff’s attacker with access to plaintiff. Plaintiff’s description of his attacker as

“high risk” amounts to a “naked assertion.” Also, defendant’s awareness that the attacker was a 

“gang member,” by itself, does not amount to an appreciation of a high degree of risk that 

plaintiff’s attacker would attack plaintiff.

Finally, plaintiff is informed again that the court cannot refer to a prior pleading in order 

to make plaintiff’s second amended complaint complete. Local Rule 220 requires that any

amended complaint be complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. 

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Plaintiff’s amended complaint is dismissed. 

2. Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of service of this order to file a second

amended complaint that complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules 

of Civil Procedure, and the Local Rules of Practice. The second amended complaint must bear 

the docket number assigned this case and must be labeled “Second Amended Complaint.” Failure 

to file a second amended complaint in accordance with this order will result in a recommendation 

that this action be dismissed.

Dated: April 29, 2020

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pile0728.14(2)

_____________________________________

CAROLYN K. DELANEY

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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