Brown v. Mohr
| Decision Date | 09 September 2016 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:13-cv-0006 |
| Parties | Steven S. Brown, Plaintiff, v. Director Mohr, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
Steven S. Brown, Plaintiff,
v.
Director Mohr, et al., Defendants.
Case No. 2:13-cv-0006
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION
September 9, 2016
JUDGE GEORGE C. SMITH
Magistrate Judge Kemp
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND ORDER
This prisoner civil rights case is before the Court to consider several motions. They include a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by defendants Dr. Krisher, Insp. Whitten, Mr. Heiss, Mr. Seacrest, Warden Jeffries, DW Upchurch, and Ryan Dolan and a motion to dismiss filed by Director Mohr. Plaintiff Steven S. Brown has also filed several motions including a motion to "reserve" defendants, a motion for an order to serve Nurse Smith, a motion to amend the complaint, a motion seeking a an order to "reserve" defendants Stout and Trout, and a motion to appoint counsel. Defendants also have filed a motion to stay discovery and a motion for an extension of time to file a reply in support of their motion for judgment on the pleadings. For the following reasons, the Court will recommend that the motion for judgment on the pleadings and the motion to dismiss be granted in part and denied in part. The remaining motions will be resolved as set forth below.
This case has been pending for more than three years. The Court has detailed its somewhat tortured history in previous orders and will not repeat it at any length here. For ease of reference and to provide clarity, however, the Court will restate
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the remaining allegations of Mr. Brown's complaint in light of the Court's most recent Report and Recommendation (Doc. 139), which was adopted and affirmed by order dated February 2, 2016 (Doc. 154).
Briefly, the Report and Recommendation struck many of the allegations of Mr. Brown's third amended complaint and allowed Mr. Brown to incorporate by reference several of the allegations of his original complaint as transferred here from the Western Division. Further, the Court limited the complaint's temporal scope to events which occurred between Mr. Brown's transfer to RCI on January 18, 2011 and his transfer out on April 6, 2011, and between his return to RCI on March 15, 2013, and the date his motion for leave to amend was filed, which was August 26, 2013. Mr. Brown's operative complaint, as it currently stands, includes the following allegations from the original complaint, stated here verbatim:
12) The C/O upon arriving at Ross gave the plaintiff all his non-carry medication which included narcotics. His nazi celly ended up stealing them along with much of the plaintiff's other property.
13) When the prison authorities found out that they had given the plaintiff the narcotics they had his cell searched but could not find them so they put him in the hole.
14) They transfered him a few hours later to a hospital cell and in the morning he saw a doctor named Dr. Krishner. This Doctor stopped all plaintiff's medication including pain medication, insulin, seizure medication, vitamine D and other medications. Plaintiff was told that by the doctor that he was under instruction by Central Office to cut costs and to stop prescribing pain medication. This doctor also stopped-a previous order for a consult with a neurologist and for a c-pap machine for sleep apnia.
15) As a result of this denial of the plaintiffs right to medical care and medication he had seizures, suffered extreme pain, and complacations from sleep
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apnia including high blood pressure and mental health problems. He also suffered high blood sugars and his 3 month A1c was over 9.
16) When the plaintiff was released from the hospital unit and he went to get his property he found that much of his property was missing and his legal papers were destroyed. The property officer refused to acknowledge that the property was missing and tried to force the plaintiff to sign the John Doe C/O refused to let him have the rest of his property.
17) The plaintiff went in serch of a supervisor and found Warden Jefferies. He tried to explain about the property, his nazi celly and the denial of medical care. The warden refused to allow the plaintiff to explain and started yelling at him about him being out of place. In frustration the plaintiff said "what kind of place are you running here." For that he was taken to the hole.
18) In the hole he was put on the top floor and top bunk. Due to the doctor stopping high doses of sizure medication the plaintiff had a seizure and fell from the top bunk hurting his back, neck and arm.
19) The plaintiff had a privious order to be housed on the bottom bunk and on the bottom range but Dr. Krishner did not renew it. The plaintiff told the nurses including nurse Smith but they refused to put him in a safe place.
20) The plaintiff was moved to another cell closer to the medical department. This cell had a shower in it and no ventilation. Thus the whole cell was covered in black mold. This mold made the plaintiff sick. The cell was also full of flys and fly larve (black worms), growing in stgnant water. The plaintiff was not given enough food and his diabetic snack was canceled so he could not take his insulin.
21) The plaintiff complained about these conditions to the warden, deputy warden, health care administrator and inspector but he received no relief.
22) The plaintiff continued to suffer in pain, seizures, and from sleep apnia, He then got a 105 temperature and was returned to the hospital unit and
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placed in a cell with no heat by Nurse Smith. He was not given his blood pressure and heart medication. He threatened to sue the nurse and she said, you cant sue if your dead a lot of good the money will do you in prison. The plaintiff replied how about if I use it to hire a private detective to see what could be dug up on you.
23) Plaintiff was moved out of the cell with no heat by a nurse on the next shift and also given his medication. Nurse Smith had tried to kill the plaintiff by denying medical care and medication and by putting the plaintiff in a cell with no heat when it was 12° outside.
24) Plaintiff made a complaint against Nurse Smith and the next day she retaliated by writing a bogus tickit saying the plaintiff threatened her.
25) Also in retaliation the RIB chairman found the plaintiff guilty without allowing witnesses and recommended that the plaintiff be sent to Lucasville-higher security. This was done several months later under the orders of Warden Jefferies, attorney general Dolan, Edwin Voorhies, Greg Trout, Austin Stout, Trevor Clark and others.
...
27) Deputy Warden Upchurch refused to approve the plaintiffs Kosher diet. She also refused to provide mental health care after the conditions made the plaintiff go crazy and his mother died.
28) While being held in isolation the plaintiff's mom became very ill and had to go to the hospital for ovarian cancer. They gave her a few weeks to live. The plaintiff asked to be permitted to call her but Warden Jefferies, Robert Whitten, and others refused to allow him to call and say goodby. Plaintiff's mother kept calling out for him and to talk to him.
...
32) After the plaintiffs mother died he went crazy. He was kept in isolation, he was denied medical care, mental health care, after passing out he was assaulted by John Doe C/O's because he could not walk, he could not sleep for days due to severe pain, sleep apnia, and grief, remorse and anger at the prison authorities for
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torturing him and not allowing him to go to the funeral. The totally of his circumstances constituted cruel and unusual punishment, denial of court access, retaliation, withholding legal mail, destruction of his property, deliberatly putting him in a cell with a nazi, denying kosher food, denying health care, denying mental health care, destruction of his legal papers, giving him bogus tickits and danying him due process in his disciplinary hearings. Those responsible for these acts at Ross Correctional include, Mary Anne Reese, Ryan Dolan, Greg Trout, Edwin Voorhies, Austin Stout, Director Mohr, Warden Jefferies, Ms. Ward from Mental Health, Mr Seacrest from mental health, Deputy Warden Upchurch, Dr. Krisher, Inspector Whitten, C/O Riggs who assaulted me, Lisa Bethel - health care adminstrator, John Doe Dep. Warden of Operations for failing to properly supervise his employees which harmed the plaintiff and put him in unconstitutional conditions, Lt. Yates for denying due process in RIB and for retaliation, Gary Croft for retaliation and denial of medical care and denial of court access, Mr Heiss for illegally withholding legal mail, illegally destroying legal documents, for retaliation for making complaints of abuse, disciplinary issues and conditions and for condoning the plaintiffs torture in the hole and antisemitism by Ross staff.
33) The plaintiff was transferred back to Lucasville and put in unconstitutional conditions by Ron Eleby and Warden Jeffries. This move was in retaliation for making complaints and partially caused by the plaintiff's behavior when they tortured him at Ross into insanity.
...
83) Plaintiff was transferred to Toledo where for 3 months there was no Doctor working here at all. This was the directors fault, Mr. Mohr who is responsible for providing a doctor. The plaintiff did not get medications or care for serious illnesses including diabetes, rectal bleeding, herniated discs, shoulder pain and torn rotator disc, neuropathy, high blood pressure, enemia, contractures, pereferal vascular diseases and heart problems.
Further, the operative complaint includes the following allegations from the third amended complaint, numbered
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according to Mr. Brown and stated here verbatim:
1. The plaintiff's security was dropped and he was sent to R.C.I. on 1-18-11. Then he was returned to maximum security on 4-6-11. He was again returned to R.C.I. on 3-15-13....
2. On the way to R.C.I. on 1-18-11 the plaintiff was assaulted by C/O Riggs in retaliation for the plaintiff being a jail house lawyer. When he struck the
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