Archuleta v. Goldman

• Citation: 107 N.M. 547,761 P.2d 425,1987 NMCA 49
• Decision Date: 19 March 1987
• Docket Number: No. 8779,8779
• Parties: John Leroy ARCHULETA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dr. GOLDMAN, Individually and as Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Buchanan, Individually and as a Doctor Performing Medical Care Upon Inmates Housed within the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Bush, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Lyons, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Rushman, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Lipscomb, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Kravitz, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; and Chris Hall, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

Page 425

761 P.2d 425

107 N.M. 547

John Leroy ARCHULETA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dr. GOLDMAN, Individually and as Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Buchanan Individually and as a Doctor Performing Medical Care Upon Inmates Housed within the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Bush, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Lyons, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico Dr. Rushman, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr Lipscomb, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; Dr. Kravitz Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico; and Chris Hall, Individually and as an Employee of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Mexico, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 8779.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

March 19, 1987.

Certiorari Denied May 7, 1987.

[107 NM 549] John Leroy Archuleta, Santa Fe, pro se.

Spencer Reid, Keleher & McLeod, P.A., Albuquerque, for defendants-appellees.

OPINION

DONNELLY, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff appeals from an order granting the motion for summary judgment of defendants Drs. Kravitz, Buchanan, Lipscomb and Chris Hall, a physician's assistant, and denying plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel in an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. Section 1983 (West 1981). The issues raised are whether: (1) the trial court erred in ordering summary judgment; (2) the trial court erred in considering the affidavit submitted in support of defendants' motion for summary judgment; (3) the trial court erred in determining that it lacked jurisdiction to appoint counsel under 28 U.S.C.A. Section 1915(d) (West 1966); and (4) failure to appoint counsel in this civil action violated plaintiff's due process rights. We affirm except as to the defendant Hall.

Plaintiff filed his complaint in district court under Section 1983, which provides a statutory claim for deprivation of civil rights when a defendant acts under color of law. Plaintiff alleged that he was incarcerated in the New Mexico State Penitentiary and that his constitutional rights were violated by defendants' alleged deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. All of the defendants, except Chris Hall, were medical doctors hired by the Department of Corrections to diagnose and provide medical treatment for inmates of the state Department of Corrections. Plaintiff claimed that after he fell down a set of stairs at the state penitentiary, his injuries were improperly diagnosed and that despite his numerous attempts to obtain medical treatment, defendants belatedly determined that he had a serious back injury. Plaintiff also alleged that he was denied proper medical care and treatment.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants and dismissing his action alleging violation of his constitutional rights stemming from a lack of attention to his medical needs and inadequate treatment.

Plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in granting an award of summary judgment based upon the affidavit of Ms. Hilda Marin, medical records director at the penitentiary, and accompanying exhibits submitted by defendants. The documents referred to in Marin's affidavit summarize plaintiff's medical records by listing the number and nature of plaintiff's medical contacts with defendants. The exhibits contradicted allegations of plaintiff's complaint and specifically indicate that plaintiff had been seen by medical professionals two hundred and sixty-four times between January 3, 1981 and May 7, 1985, during which contacts he was examined, referred to specialists, and received x-rays and prescriptions; plaintiff also received physical therapy on forty-eight occasions in 1984 and 1985. Following the filing of defendants' motion for summary judgment and Marin's affidavit, plaintiff filed an unverified response to the motion contending, inter alia, that Marin's affidavit did not indicate that she was the records manager during the times in question and that the affidavit and summary did not indicate the diagnosis and treatment provided.

In examining plaintiff's first assertion, we begin with an analysis of the nature of the claims alleged in his complaint. The issue of whether a refusal to provide adequate medical care and treatment to incarcerated individuals amounts to a civil rights violation constitutes an issue of first impression in this jurisdiction. Deliberate indifference to the medical needs of a prisoner may give rise to a cause of action for damages under 42 U.S.C.A. Section 1983. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976); cf. Wells v. County of Valencia, 98 N.M. 3, 644 P.2d 517 (1982). Actionable indifference may be demonstrated by the response of prison doctors to a prisoner's needs or by the acts of guards intentionally denying or delaying access to proper medical care. Id.; see also Rock v. McCoy, 763 F.2d 394 (10th Cir.1985). Inadvertent failure to provide adequate medical care, e.g., negligent diagnosis or treatment does not, however, state a valid cause of action under Section 1983. Estelle; see also Daniels v. Gilbreath, 668 F.2d 477 (10th Cir.1982). On the other hand, medical treatment may be so "woefully inadequate as to amount to no treatment at all," thereby evidencing a constitutional violation. Westlake v. Lucas, 537 F.2d 857, 860-861, n. 5 (6th Cir.1976); see also Ochoa v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County, 39 Cal.3d 159, 216 Cal.Rptr. 661, 703 P.2d 1 (1985).

In considering the motion for summary judgment, the burden rests on the moving party to demonstrate to the court that there is no triable issue of fact, Wilson v. Galt, 100 N.M. 227, 668 P.2d 1104 (Ct.App.1983), or that undisputed facts will support a judgment as a matter of law. Lovato v. Duke City Lumber Co., 97 N.M. 545, 641 P.2d 1092 (Ct.App.1982). Once the movant has made a prima facie showing, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to show reasonable doubt as to a genuine factual issue or that the movant is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Feldman v. Regents of University of New Mexico, 88 N.M. 392, 540 P.2d 872 (Ct.App.1975). Although the non-movant is favored procedurally, that party cannot defeat the prima facie showing by relying solely upon allegations contained in an unverified complaint or mere argument. Oschwald v. Christie, 95 N.M. 251, 620 P.2d 1276 (1980); SCRA 1986, Rule 1-056(E).

Plaintiff contends that whether he was actually provided the necessary treatment for his back injury is a disputed issue of material fact and that the affidavit and attached summary are insufficient to establish what remedial or diagnostic treatment was actually provided for his back injury. In urging this contention, he argues that the trial court drew the unsupported inference that he was treated for his back injury from the mere fact of visits to the prison infirmary. We disagree.

As noted in defendants' reply to plaintiff's response to the motion for summary judgment, the primary issue raised by the motion for summary judgment was whether defendants were "deliberately indifferent" to plaintiff's medical needs. The affidavit of Marin and the attached summary indicates that plaintiff has been the recipient of continuous and extensive medical attention. Defendants also relied upon plaintiff's requests for admissions in support of their motion for summary judgment, indicating that plaintiff received medical attention on numerous occasions during the period between January 4, 1981 and September 12, 1983.

We determine no reason why an affidavit in support of the motion for summary judgment, in properly authenticating a summary of medical records relating to an issue raised by the pleadings, should not be admissible in conjunction with a motion for summary judgment. See SCRA 1986, Rule 11-1006. As observed in 10A C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure, Section 2721 at 40 (1983): "[T]he particular forms of evidence mentioned in the rule are not the exclusive means of presenting evidence on a Rule 56 motion. The court may consider any material that would be admissible or usable at trial." Rule 1-056(E) is not a limiting provision but enlarges what may be considered on the motion. Yong Hong Keung v. Dulles, 127 F.Supp. 252 (D.Mass.1954).

In addition, the drafters of Federal Rule of Evidence 1006 pertaining to summaries noted, "The admission of summaries of voluminous books, records, or documents offers the only practicable means of making their contents available to judge and jury. The rule recognizes this practice, with appropriate safeguards." Fed.R.Evid. 1006 advisory committee note.

Defendants established a prima facie showing of their entitlement to summary judgment through their affidavit and exhibits indicating over three hundred examinations or treatments. Although the record indicates plaintiff was provided with a copy of his medical records which defendants' exhibits summarized, plaintiff has not disputed the accuracy of the summary. Plain tiff's response to the motion for summary judgment and record herein, fails to demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact, except as to the defendant Hall, indicating the requisite deliberate indifference by the other defendants to his serious medical needs by way of any legally-competent evidence beyond his own arguments and contention. Because plaintiff filed no opposing affidavits, interrogatories, depositions or answers to requested admissions controverting defendants' exhibits, they must be taken as true. Carrillo v. Hoyl, 85 N.M. 751, 517 P.2d 73 (Ct.App.1973). We determine that plaintiff's verified complaint does raise a material issue of...