Escobar v. Reid
| Decision Date | 17 September 2009 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 06-cv-01222-CMA-KLM. |
| Parties | Jose Medina ESCOBAR, Plaintiff, v. L. REID, K. Cooper, E. Cella, T. Haucks, E. Perry, D. Gallagher, Sgt. Binder, c/o Valdez, J. Brown, J. Sims, E. Diclusion, E. Mora, A. Luna, R. Wencl, J. Wermers, R. Olivett, c/o Jackson, L. Montoya, c/o Ball, John Dow, Lt. Paulino, c/o Raymond, c/o Santos, Sgt. D. Smith, c/o Williams, Captain Miklich, Lt. Mathews, Sgt. Oates, c/o Colton, c/o Hamula, c/o Woolfolk, Dr. Craney, and Nurse Rita, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
Jose Medina Escobar, Canon City, CO, pro se.
Edward T. Farry, Jr., Law Office of Edward Farry, Colorado Springs, CO, for Defendants.
ORDER ADOPTING AND AFFIRMING FEBRUARY 9, 2009 RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This matter is before the Court on the February 9, 2009 Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge (Doc. # 209). The Recommendation concerns three dispositive motions filed by Defendants in this case: (1) Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. # 176 & 177); (2) Defendants' Combined Motion for Summary Judgment and Brief (Doc. # 178); and (3) Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Dismissal of the Supplemental Complaint (Doc. # 179).
Defendants' Motions are not the paradigm of thorough lawyering. For example, they violate the local rules of procedure in multiple aspects and attach no evidence to support Defendants' arguments, not even an affidavit or declaration. Notwithstanding the Motions' shortcomings, the Magistrate Judge decided against striking the Motions. Instead, she recommends that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; Defendants' Combined Motion for Summary Judgment and Brief be DENIED; and Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Dismissal of the Supplemental Complaint be GRANTED.
Plaintiff filed timely objections to the Magistrate Judge's recommendations. (Doc. # 215.) However, Plaintiff's objections, much like his three operative complaints in this matter, are rather prolix and sprawling in nature. Instead of identifying specific errors in the Magistrate Judge's recommendations, Plaintiff largely reiterates his factual allegations or provides new, but unsubstantiated, factual allegations in support of his claims. Thus, the Court has had some difficulty discerning the issues in the Magistrate Judge's recommendations to which Plaintiff objects.
Regardless, because Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, the Court has given Plaintiff the benefit of the doubt and, to the extent possible, conducted a de novo review of the issues, recommendations, and Plaintiff's objections. Based on this review, the Court concludes that the Magistrate Judge's thorough and comprehensive analyses are correct. Accordingly, the Court will AFFIRM AND ADOPT the Magistrate Judge's Recommendation.
In her 74-page Recommendation, the Magistrate Judge did an excellent job of recounting the factual allegations, claims for relief, and procedural history in this case. Therefore, the Court directs readers to the Magistrate Judge's Recommendation for a discussion of those topics.
The Magistrate Judge recommends that the Court dismiss certain of Plaintiff's claims, those claims that the Magistrate Judge could determine accrued before June 18, 2004, on statute of limitations grounds. Plaintiff objects, arguing that the Magistrate Judge erred by refusing to equitably toll the two-year statute of limitations. Plaintiff claims that Defendants impeded his ability to file a lawsuit by: restricting his ability to file administrative grievances, refusing to provide him with a sufficient prison law library, interfering with legal mail, and physically and mentally harassing him.
Equitable tolling may save a plaintiff's claims from a statute of limitations defense, but, under Colorado law, courts rarely apply the doctrine. See, e.g., Noel v. Hoover, 12 P.3d 328, 330 (Colo.Ct. App.2000) () (citing Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Hartman, 911 P.2d 1094 (Colo.1996)). The Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge and finds that this case does not present the rare or "exceptional circumstances" in which equitable tolling should be applied.
Plaintiff has not shown that all of Defendants' actions were wrongful or inequitable. It is undisputed that Defendants restricted Plaintiff from filing more than one administrative grievance per month. Plaintiff claims this restriction prevented him from filing a timely complaint. However, in restricting Plaintiff's grievance activity, Defendants acted in compliance with prison regulations and were responding to well-founded concerns that Plaintiff had abused the grievance process. The Court cannot say that Defendants' restriction amounts to wrongful conduct supporting the application of equitable tolling.
Plaintiff's other allegations fail to support equitable tolling because Plaintiff has not shown how Defendants' actions, even if wrongful, prevented him from filing his complaint in a timely manner. For example, Plaintiff describes only one incident in which Defendants interfered with his legal mail, Plaintiff's altercation with Defendant DeSantos. However, Plaintiff admits that another prison official came by his cell ten minutes later and picked up the legal mail that Defendant DeSantos refused to send. A ten-minute delay, even if wrongful, will not support equitable tolling. Regarding Plaintiff's objection that a dearth of materials in the prison law library delayed his ability to file a lawsuit, Plaintiff does not identify any materials withheld by Defendants from the library that would have expedited his complaint in this lawsuit. Even if Plaintiff could show that a deficiency in the prison law library prevented him from filing a timely complaint, Plaintiff has not shown that Defendants caused the deficiency or had the ability to cure the deficiency.
Accordingly, the Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge that certain claims accruing prior to June 18, 2004, should be dismissed as untimely.
Plaintiff next objects to the Magistrate Judge's recommendation that the Court dismiss Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Reid, Luna, Martin, Craney, and Nurse Rita on the basis that these Defendants did not personally participate in any of the alleged constitutional deprivations.
Plaintiff contends that Defendant Reid wrote letters to Plaintiff and imposed restrictions on Plaintiff's ability to file administrative grievances, and that these actions reflect Defendant Reid's personal involvement in the alleged violations of Plaintiff's constitutional rights. Plaintiff also argues that Defendant Reid knew or should have known about the alleged assaults by prison officials and unconstitutional conditions of confinement.
However, the Court disagrees with Plaintiff that Defendant Reid can be held liable in this case. As the Magistrate Judge notes, claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, like those Plaintiff alleges in this case, do not allow a plaintiff to hold a defendant liable under a respondeat superior theory. McKee v. Heggy, 703 F.2d 479, 483 (10th Cir.1983) (). In his objection, Plaintiff has done little more than reiterate his allegations that Defendant Reid supervised or managed the wrongful actions of subordinate prison officials. However, simply because Defendant Reid's name was on certain documents does not mean that Defendant Reid personally participated in the actions about which Plaintiff complains. And, in a similar manner to deficient allegations in his complaints, Plaintiff's objection fails to provide evidence of an affirmative link between Defendant Reid and those subordinate officials' actions aside from Defendant's Reid's tangential supervisory role. See Serna v. Colorado Dep't of Corr., 455 F.3d 1146, 1151 (10th Cir. 2006) ().
Thus, the Court agrees that Plaintiff's claims against Defendant Reid should be dismissed per the Magistrate Judge's recommendation.
The Court also agrees with the Magistrate Judge that Plaintiff's complaints fail to state claims against Defendants Luna, Martin, Craney, and Nurse Rita because Plaintiff has not shown that these Defendants personally participated in any constitutional violation.
Regarding Defendant Luna, Plaintiff has simply alleged that Defendant Luna destroyed and continues to destroy Plaintiff's legal mail. These allegations are vague and unsupported, and Plaintiff has not linked them to any constitutional injury.
Regarding Defendants Martin, Craney, and Nurse Rita, Plaintiff objects to the Magistrate Judge's recommendation by moving to amend his complaints to add new allegations against these Defendants. However, Plaintiff's after-the-fact motion to amend is improper under the local rules of procedure, and the Court need not consider it as a basis to overrule the Magistrate Judge's recommendation. See D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1C ().1
Accordingly, the Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge that the claims against Defendants Luna, Martin, Craney, and Nurse Rita should be dismissed.
The Magistrate...
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