Hall v. Dawson
| Decision Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 5:15cv27-WS-CJK |
| Parties | AUBREY HALL, Plaintiff, v. DAWSON, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Florida |
This prisoner civil rights case is before the court on defendants Cobb, Dawson, and Stephens' Motion to Dismiss (doc. 36)1 the second amended complaint (doc. 24). Defendant Edens also filed a Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 46). Plaintiff responded in opposition to both motions. (Docs. 42, 48). The matter is referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge for report and recommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 72.2(C). After careful consideration of the parties' submissions and the relevant law, the undersigned recommends: (1) that defendants Cobb, Dawson, and Stephens' motion to dismiss be granted in part and denied in part; and (2) that defendant Edens' motion to dismiss be granted.
Plaintiff Aubrey Hall, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, initiated this action on February 15, 2015, by filing a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. 1). At the time, plaintiff was an inmate of the Florida penal system confined at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. (Doc. 1, p. 2). He has subsequently been released from custody. (Doc. 47). The second amended complaint, the operative pleading in this action, names five employees of Gulf Correctional Institution Annex ("GCIA") as defendants: Sergeant Dawson, Officer Cobb, Sergeant Kenneth Stephens, Officer Edens, and Officer Robert White. (Doc. 24, p. 2).
The second amended complaint sets forth the factual allegations that follow. Plaintiff, a black male, was housed alone in a GCIA protective management ("PM") cell due to an inmate assault on February 8, 2011. On March 1, 2011, Officer White wrote plaintiff a "false" disciplinary report ("DR") for disrespect. Plaintiff contested the DR's allegations and, on March 3 or 4, White informed plaintiff "he was going to 'beat'" the DR based on a review of camera footage. White "threatened to retaliate against plaintiff by having the other confinement officers write plaintiff more false DRs, spray plaintiff with chemical agents, and 'whatever else' [White] could 'think of' to make plaintiff 'pay' for being a 'smart ass nigger.'" Between March 8 and 11, plaintiff was found not guilty of the DR. "A week or less after" March 1, Sgt. Dawson performed a "PM" investigation to determine the reason for plaintiff's PM status. Plaintiff provided Dawson with details of the February 8, 2011 assault. "Shortly after" plaintiff was found not guilty of the March 1, 2011 DR, Dawson returned to plaintiff's cell and ordered him to sign a form consenting to be housed with a white inmate named Dale Delucenay. Dawson did not "give plaintiff any explanation for this capricious cell change or for removing plaintiff from [his] house-alone status." Plaintiff refused to sign the consent form, asserting "he was in fear of being victim to another [inmate] assault, and, therefore, wanted to remain housed alone for his personal safety." Dawson threatened to spray plaintiff with chemical agents if he refused to sign the form. Plaintiff, "out of fear, and under duress," signed the form.
Dawson placed Delucenay into plaintiff's cell. Plaintiff, "on information and belief," asserts Dawson conducted Delucenay's PM investigation before he placed Delucenay and plaintiff in the same cell. Later, Dawson returned to the cell "to review some of the facts of" Delucenay's PM investigation. Plaintiff "believes" he heard Delucenay confirm an affiliation with the Aryan Nation, "an infamously known Neo-Nazi/white supremacist organization, known for their extreme hatred of and tendency to commit violent acts against black people." After plaintiff discovered this, he became concerned for his safety. He informed Dawson that Dawson failed to mention Delucenay's gang affiliation before ordering plaintiff to sign the consent form or effecting the cell transfer. Plaintiff advised Dawson about the concern for his safety and requested a cell transfer. After Dawson told plaintiff he would not be moved, Dawson walked away from the cell.
After Dawson departed, Delucenay told plaintiff "he 'didn't want a black cellmate anyway,'" and "he was going to assault plaintiff to get [plaintiff] moved out of the cell." Delucenay "assumed a fighting stance with his arms raised and fist clenched." Plaintiff "began banging loudly on the cell door and yelling for defendant Dawson to hurry to" the cell. When Dawson arrived, plaintiff informed him of Delucenay's actions and repeated the request for a cell transfer. Dawson told plaintiff to "'to stop crying like a baby and learn how to fight like a man!'" Dawson denied the request for a cell transfer and told plaintiff he would be sprayed with chemical agents if he called Dawson back to the cell.
Plaintiff "sought to live as amicably as possible with" Delucenay "as a means of protecting himself." On March 21, 2011, Delucenay became angry after losing multiple card games to plaintiff. Delucenay slammed the cards on the floor and began "yelling and cursing loudly." Plaintiff told "Delucenay that he was behaving like a child over a meaningless game of cards." When plaintiff turned to pick up the cards, Delucenay screamed "'you fucking nigger!' then grabbed plaintiff by his shirt, spun him around, and punched him painfully hard in the facial area with a closed fist." Delucenay pushed plaintiff, causing him to slam his knees and shins into the steel toilet bowl. Plaintiff fell onto the concrete floor, landing "painfully hard on his back." When plaintiff attempted to get up, Delucenay punched him in the face, causing the back of plaintiff's head to slam "into the sharp/jagged edge of a wall near the cell door." Plaintiff sustained a cut to the back of his head, "suffered a concussion, and lost consciousness." As plaintiff regained consciousness, Delucenay continued to punch plaintiff in the head and kick him in the torso. While Delucenay was kicking plaintiff, Sergeant Stephens and Officer Cobb appeared at plaintiff's cell door. "For what seemed about two to three minutes or longer" Stephens and Cobb "watched, laughed, and made taunting remarks at plaintiff" as Delucenay kicked plaintiff. Stephens and Cobb then ordered Delucenay to stop kicking plaintiff but Delucenay refused to comply. After Stephens and Cobb sprayed Delucenay in the face with chemical agents, he stopped kicking plaintiff. As plaintiff rose from the floor, Stephens and Cobb sprayed him with chemical agents "without warning, cause, or reason." Plaintiff suffered "temporary blindness, disorientation, uncontrollable tearing, painful burning sensations, . . . chest pains, painful paroxysms of coughing and sneezing, uncontrollable salivation and nasal discharge—causing him to choke."
After plaintiff took a decontamination shower, Stephens threatened to spray plaintiff with chemical agents if he reported the foregoing events. Medical personnel examined plaintiff's injuries and made a request to transfer him to GCIA's medical building "to document and administer extensive treatment[.]" Stephens, however, denied the requested transfer, "presumably to prevent plaintiff from reporting [the preceding] events."
After the incident, Delucenay was moved to a different cell with a white inmate. Plaintiff remained in his current cell by himself. Plaintiff was given a form to write a statement concerning the guards' use of chemical agents. Due to Stephens' threat, plaintiff did not include a description of Stephens and Cobbs' actions during the incident. Stephens subsequently wrote plaintiff a DR for fighting, which plaintiff claims was fabricated to subject plaintiff to punishment and conceal Stephens' excessive use of force.
On March 22, 2011, plaintiff was transferred to GCIA's medical building "due to experiencing/suffering even greater and unbearable pain from [the] assault/injuries." While housed in a medical holding cell, a prison official took photographs of plaintiff's injuries. As a result of plaintiff's head injuries, he began to experience "reoccurring dizziness/vertigo and chronic headaches so severe that plaintiff had to be examined repeatedly by medical personnel and receive several MRIs/CAT scans."
On March 23, 2011, Officer Edens served plaintiff with the DR for fighting. Edens told plaintiff his participation in the DR investigation would be futile because it was predetermined plaintiff would be found guilty of the DR. Plaintiff ignored Edens' comments and submitted a statement. Edens "became irate and threatened to throw away plaintiff's . . . statement and to submit a false statement stating that plaintiff had refused to participate in [the] investigation." Plaintiff's statement indicated "he was assaulted by, and not fighting with, Delucenay" and the DR was fabricated to conceal Stephens and Cobb's excessive use of force.
On March 29, 2011, plaintiff attended the disciplinary hearing and pleaded not guilty to the charge of fighting. The hearing team informed plaintiff his written statement was not included with the DR materials but there was a statement by Edens indicating plaintiff refused to participate in the DR investigation. Plaintiff was found guilty of the DR and sentenced to 30 days of disciplinary confinement.
After Edens took plaintiff's statement, Officer White came to plaintiff's cell and told him the assignment of Delucenay as plaintiff's cellmate, the use of chemical agents, and the issuance of the false disciplinary report were all retaliation for plaintiff "beating" the DR for disrespect. "White walked away laughing."
Based on the foregoing, plaintiff asserts the following claims: (1) a First Amendment retaliation claim against White, Dawson, Stephens, Cobb, and Edens; (2) a Fourteenth Amendment "racial discrimination" claim against White; (3) an Eighth Amendment failure to protect claim against Dawson; (4) a state law...
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