Espinal v. Goord
| Decision Date | 02 February 2009 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 07-0612-pr. |
| Citation | 558 F.3d 119 |
| Parties | Cesar A. ESPINAL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Commissioner Glenn S. GOORD, Brian F. Malone, Inspector General of the New York State Department of Correctional Services, Christopher P. Artuz, Former Superintendent of Green Haven Correctional Facility, W. Totten, Captain of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Coleman S. Wilson, Correctional Sergeants of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Kenneth G. Hafford, Correctional Sergeants of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Jerry W. Surber, Correctional Officer of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Frasher, Correctional Officer of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Rosario, Correctional Officer of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Ayotle, Correctional Officer of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Daniel F. Martucello, Correctional Officer of Green Haven Correctional Facility, B. Rodas, Correctional Medical Providers of Green Haven Correctional Facility, B. Healy, Correctional Medical Providers of Green Haven Correctional Facility, Chakravarty, Correctional Medical Providers of Green Haven Correctional Facility, John Doe 1-2, in their personal and individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Cesar A. Espinal, pro se, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Marion R. Buchbinder, Assistant Solicitor General, (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Benjamin N. Gutman, Deputy Solicitor General, Assistant Solicitor General, on the brief), for Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, New York, NY, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before: LEVAL, POOLER, and PARKER, Circuit Judges.
Cesar A. Espinal, an inmate of the New York State Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS"), filed a lawsuit, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging, inter alia, that the defendants used excessive force against him and denied him medical treatment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, that they did so in retaliation for Espinal's prior lawsuits, and that they conspired to assault him and deny him medical care in violation of his constitutional rights. The district court (George A. Yanthis, M.J.) issued an order, entered on September 1, 2005, that granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motion for summary judgment.1 The district court dismissed all claims against twelve of the fourteen defendants on the ground that Espinal failed to exhaust administrative remedies, under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, by failing to name those defendants in his grievance. The district court granted summary judgment, in part, in favor of the two remaining defendants, Surber and Frasher, because Espinal failed to exhaust his administrative remedies on the conspiracy claims and because there were no triable issues of material fact on the retaliation claims. The district court denied summary judgment as to Espinal's excessive force claims against Surber and Frasher. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Surber and Frasher on the excessive force claims. Espinal appealed the order granting summary judgment in part and an order, made by oral decision and entered on January 11, 2007, that denied his motion for a new trial.
After the district court's order granting summary judgment in part, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Jones v. Bock that exhaustion under the Prison Litigation Reform Act does not require a prisoner's grievance to identify the parties responsible for misconduct unless an identification requirement is provided in the state's grievance procedures. 549 U.S. 199, 218, 127 S.Ct. 910, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007). Because the New York DOCS grievance procedures do not require an inmate to specifically name responsible parties, Espinal did not fail to exhaust his administrative remedies by omitting the names of the defendants from his prison grievance. We therefore reverse the grant of summary judgment on this ground. We also reverse the grant of summary judgment in favor of Surber and Frasher on the conspiracy claims and the retaliation claims. We affirm the district court's denial of Espinal's motion for a new trial, and deny Espinal's request for a temporary restraining order.2
Espinal makes the following allegations in his Section 1983 complaint. On the morning of December 17, 1999, Espinal "got into a dispute" with another inmate, but was not harmed. He was then taken to the medical clinic for a "fight exam." Officer Williams, who is not a defendant in this action, escorted Espinal to the clinic. Espinal was allegedly confronted by Sergeant Wilson, corrections officers Surber, Rosario, Frasher, Ayotle, and several additional officers, who brought him into the "sick-call room" of the clinic. Surber, Ayotle, and Frasher repeatedly slammed Espinal into the wall. The officers asked Espinal whether he had been in a fight. Before Espinal answered, Rosario "told him to shut-up," and Surber struck him on the side of his head. The officers then informed Espinal that they would hit him if he did not answer their questions in the affirmative. Surber and Rosario allegedly punched Espinal several times on the side of the head when he did not respond to their questions.
When Officer Williams returned to ask whether Espinal was ready to be brought into the clinic, the defendants informed Williams that they were "not finished with Espinal." The officers continued to hit Espinal and kicked him in his right leg where he was previously injured by a gun shot. Espinal was taken into the clinic at approximately 9:10 a.m. after a half-hour beating, and was warned not to tell anyone what happened. Espinal had previously filed a lawsuit against several DOCS defendants, including Surber, in June 1998. Espinal alleges that he was told by the officers during the December 17, 1999 incident that "this is what happens to [i]nmates when they submit law suits against us," and that they threatened to kill him.
At the clinic, Espinal was first seen by Nurse Healy. Espinal informed Healy that the officers caused his injuries, but Healy was told by Surber that the injuries resulted from the fight with the other inmate. Espinal was then seen by a doctor, defendant Dr. Chakravarty, who tried to examine Espinal, but Espinal refused treatment because Chakravarty's method of examination was causing him pain. Espinal would not sign a refusal-of-treatment form and asked to be seen by another doctor. Chakravarty denied the request. Espinal then asked Sergeant Hafford if he could be seen by another doctor and be taken to the mental health unit. Hafford denied these requests because Espinal's medical charts showed that he had refused medical treatment and did not indicate any mental health problems.
Espinal was then left in a room with Surber and Ayotle who verbally harassed him. Specifically, Surber threatened to kill Espinal if Espinal did not attempt suicide. Espinal was taken back to his cell at around 10:30 a.m. Espinal asked to go to emergency sick call several times, but defendant Martucello denied his requests. Later that day, around 6:20 p.m., Espinal was again brought to the clinic and was reevaluated. An inmate injury report was prepared that listed injuries to Espinal's head, right leg, and wrists. Subsequently, Espinal had several appointments to be seen by the medical department during December 1999, January 2000, and February 2000. Espinal alleges that the officers and defendant Rodas did not permit him to attend those appointments.
The defendants denied Espinal's allegations in their answer, and asserted failure to exhaust administrative remedies as an affirmative defense. The record contains two internal grievances filed by Espinal that are pertinent to this lawsuit. In the first grievance, filed on December 17, 1999, Espinal claimed that, on that morning, in the "sick call room," he was "handcuffed and beaten severe[ly] to the head, face, and body, by officer Surber, officer Frash[e]r and other countless security officers, as they [were] slurring racial comments and threats of killing me," and that the beating was "retaliation" against him. On February 3, 2000, defendant Christopher Artuz, then-Superintendent of Green Haven Correctional Facility, denied the grievance, finding Espinal "was not refused medical attention, rather, [Espinal himself] refused medical assistance," and there was "no evidence to substantiate [Espinal's] allegations of unprofessional conduct and threats." On February 11, 2000, Espinal appealed, and on April 5, 2000, his appeal was denied.
In the second grievance, dated January 19, 2000, Espinal stated that he was making a complaint "against Green Haven's Medical Dept." for deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in connection with various "[m]andatory [c]linic [a]ppointments," and asserted that "the conduct of prison officials and medical personal [sic]" denied him access to medical care. On March 16, 2000, Artuz denied the grievance, reasoning that medical personnel had seen Espinal 31 times since October 1999, and granted the grievance to the extent that Espinal would continue to receive treatment as prescribed. On April 4, 2000, Espinal appealed, and on April 26, 2000, his appeal was denied.
In October 2004, the defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that (1) all of Espinal's claims, except the excessive force and retaliation claims against Surber and Frasher, should be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act; and (2) the excessive force and retaliation claims against Surber and Frasher should be dismissed because Espinal raised no triable issues of material fact. The district court found that Espinal failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as to all defendants except Surber and Frasher because he never specifically named those...
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