Fink v. Shedler
| Decision Date | 12 April 1999 |
| Docket Number | PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,No. 98-15668,DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES,98-15668 |
| Parties | (9th Cir. 1999) DAVID M. FINK,, v. L. SHEDLER; SUSAN HUBBARD; J. VALEDEZ; M. JONES; T. ROSARIO; D. CHEFTHAW; THEO WHITE, |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
David M. Fink, pro se, Anaheim, California, for the plaintiff-appellant.
James E. Flynn, Deputy Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for the defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California; David F. Levi, District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. CV-97-01317-DFL/PAN San Francisco, California
Before: Robert R. Beezer and Stephen S. Trott, Circuit Judges, and Samuel P. King,2 District Judge.
David M. Fink appeals pro se the dismissal of his action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. S 1983. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. S 1291, and we affirm.
Fink seeks damages for alleged Eighth Amendment violations, primarily for inadequate medical treatment while he was incarcerated. In his complaint, Fink alleges that his leg was injured on September 2, 1993, after a prison guard beat Fink while handcuffed. He walked on the leg for eight weeks without crutches. On November 9, 1993, a prison doctor allegedly refused to treat his leg or to issue crutches. Fink was released from prison on August 27, 1996 and commenced this action on May 29, 1997.
The district court dismissed Fink's complaint as timebarred, thus applying California Civil Procedure Code S 352.1 retroactively. As amended in 1994, section 352.1 limits tolling of limitations periods to two years for prisoners incarcer ated for less than life. Before the California Legislature passed section 352.1, imprisonment was a disability that tolled statutes of limitations for the entire prison term. See Cal. Civ. Proc. Code S 352(a)(3) (repealed effective January 1, 1995).3
The district court also refused to equitably toll the statute of limitations. Fink had at least one other prisoner section 1983 action pending in the district court while the statute of limitations for the instant claims was running. He initially sought to bring his Eighth Amendment claims by way of amendment to that pending action (Fink v. Gomez, No. Civ. S-94-1521 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 24, 1994) ("Gomez ")). After several failed attempts to amend Gomez, he filed this action.
The timing of events is critical. The following is the relevant time line:
Date Events
11/9/1993 Prison doctor allegedly refuses proper medical treatment
9/29/1994 California Legislature amends former Cal. Civ. Proc. Code S 352
(a)(3) to delete unlimited tolling for prisoners. Legislature
adds section 352.1
1/1/1995 Section 352.1 takes effect.4
11/13/1995 Fink files motion for leave to amend complaint in Gomez
4/10/1996 Motion to amend in Gomez denied without prejudice
8/27/1996 Fink released from prison
9/19/1996 Fink renews motion to amend in Gomez
10/8/1996 Renewed motion to amend in Gomez denied.
11/5/1996 Fink files another motion to amend in Gomez.
11/9/1996 Statute of limitations expires (if California's
tolling statute applies retroactively).
1/2/1997 Motion to amend in Gomez again denied (by magistrate Judge).
3/18/1997 Order denying motion to amend affirmed by district Judge.
4/30/1997 Fink files another motion to amend in Gomez.
5/29/1997 Instant action commenced.
6/3/1997 Another proposed amended complaint in Gomez lodged.
7/16/1997 Motion to Amend again denied in Gomez.
3/25/1998 District Judge adopts Findings and Recommendations
of Magistrate Judge, dismissing action as timebarred.
4/6/1998 Fink timely appeals.
DISCUSSION
The district court's dismissal on statute of limitations grounds presents a question of law reviewed de novo. See Hernandez v. City of El Monte, 138 F.3d 393, 398 (9th Cir. 1998). Section 1983 does not contain a statute of limitations. Rather, federal courts apply the forum state's personal injury statute of limitations for section 1983 claims. See Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 276 (1985). In California, the applicable statute of limitations is one year. See Elliott v. City of Union City, 25 F.3d 800, 802 (9th Cir. 1994). Federal courts also apply a forum state's law regarding tolling, including equitable tolling when not inconsistent with federal law. See Hardin v. Straub, 490 U.S. 536, 537-39 (1989); Bacon v. City of Los Angeles, 843 F.2d 372, 374 (9th Cir. 1988). Federal law, however, governs when a claim accrues. See Elliott, 25 F.3d at 801-02. A claim accrues when the plaintiff knows, or should know, of the injury which is the basis of the cause of action. See Kimes v. Stone, 84 F.3d 1121, 1128 (9th Cir. 1996).
According to Fink's complaint, he was denied proper medical treatment on November 9, 1993 when the prison doctor allegedly failed to treat (or improperly treated) his injured leg. The district court properly concluded that the Eighth Amendment claims accrued on this date (at the latest), when Fink knew, or should have known, of the injury which forms the basis of the cause of action. See id. Fink's complaint was not filed until May 29, 1997 -- over three and a half years after accrual. Thus, the one-year statute of limitations barred the action, unless the period was tolled for more than two and a half years.
For a prisoner incarcerated for a term less than life, section 352.1 of the California Civil Procedure Code5 tolls the statute of limitations for two years.6 Section 352.1, however, only became effective on January 1, 1995. See Ellis, 176 F.3d at 1189. Before section 352.1 was passed, prisoners could toll claims for their entire sentence if less than life. See id. Therefore, the dispositive issue is whether application of section 352.1 retroactively to the posture of this case would impermissibly bar Fink's Eighth Amendment claims.
"[W]e apply federal law, not state law, in deciding whether to apply the amended [section 352.1] retroactively." TwoRivers v. Lewis, 174 F.3d 987, 993 (9th Cir. 1999) (citations omitted).7 In TwoRivers, we examined federal retroactivity law as applied to a change to an Arizona statute regarding tolling of claims while a person is incarcerated. TwoRivers applied the analysis set forth in Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244 (1994). The test begins with legislative intent. Absent clear evidence of such intent, courts next examine whether the new statute would have retroactive effect. "To assist us in this inquiry, Landgraf identified three types of laws which generally do not have retroactive effect: those authorizing prospective relief, those conferring or removing jurisdiction, and those statutes properly characterized as procedural." Two Rivers, 174 F.3d at 994. "[P]rocedural statutes generally may be applied retrospectively without giving rise to concerns about retroactivity." Id. However, although tolling statutes are "generally considered procedural, that label does not preclude us from examining whether [statutes have] retroactive effect. " Id. (citing Chenault v. U.S. Postal Serv., 37 F.3d 535, 539 (9th Cir. 1994)). Rather, we have "consistently rejected the retroactive application of procedural statutes which result in manifest injustice." Id.
Applying this analysis, TwoRivers held that retrospective application of the new Arizona statute to the plaintiff would indeed be "manifestly unjust." Id. at 995. Retrospective application would have left the plaintiff with less than three months from the new statute's effective date to file suit. TwoRivers held that "a time period of less than three months does not constitute a reasonable time for a prisoner to file suit." Id. at 996.
Here, the district court determined that Fink's claim expired on November 9, 1996. This date included two years of tolling under section 352.1 plus the one-year limitations period. The district court found that applying section 352.1 retroactively to Fink's action did not violate due process. Applying the TwoRivers analysis, we find that the district court was correct.
Initially, we note that the California Legislature did not specifically indicate that section 352.1 was to be applied prospectively only. "In repealing section 352(a)(3) and enacting section 352.1, the California Legislature manifestly intended to limit the ability of prisoners to bring lawsuits based on remote facts." Parker v. Marcotte, 975 F. Supp. 1266, 1270 (C.D. Cal. 1997). "By enacting this legislation, the Legislature intend[ed] to limit the ability to bring lawsuits by prisoners when the facts that give rise to the lawsuits are old, and difficult to prove or disprove." Id. (quoting 1994 Cal. Legis. Serv. Ch. 1083, S 1, S.B. No. 1445 (West)).
Therefore, we next examine whether retroactive application of section 352.1 to Fink's action results in "manifest injustice." It does not. Fink had ample time to bring suit; he simply waited too long. Fink's claim accrued on November 9, 1993, when the doctor allegedly mistreated him. He had at least three years to file this action.8 He also had a reasonable time to bring suit after section 352.1 became effective on January 1, 1995. Cf. TwoRivers, 174 F.3d at 996. Moreover, Fink had at least constructive notice of the new tolling provision in November of 1994, when the California Legislature passed section 352.1. He also had over two and a half months after his actual release from prison to bring this suit. Instead, he waited another six months, until May of 1997, to file this action. Retroactive operation of section 352.1, applied to the posture of this case, does not result in "manifest injustice." See id. at 995 ( ...
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