Harris v. Hegmann, 98-30617

• Decision Date: 08 December 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-30617,98-30617
• Citation: 198 F.3d 153,1999 WL 1128248
• Parties: (5th Cir. 1999) MARK ANTHONY HARRIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, V. MICHAEL HEGMANN, JANET BOYD, and ROSE JAMES, Defendants-Appellees
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 153

198 F.3d 153 (5th Cir. 1999)

MARK ANTHONY HARRIS, Plaintiff-Appellant,

V.

MICHAEL HEGMANN, JANET BOYD, and ROSE JAMES, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 98-30617

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT

December 8, 1999

Mark Anthony Harris, Kinder, LA, pro se.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana

Before KING, Chief Judge; STEWART, Circuit Judge; and ROSENTHAL, District Judge.^*

PER CURIAM:

Mark Anthony Harris, a Louisiana state prisoner, sued three prison medical staff members under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Harris exhausted the administrative procedures available within the state prison system, then filed suit in state court, and finally filed his federal suit. Because Harris did not file this federal lawsuit until approximately 17 months after the events at issue, the district court concluded that Harris's claims were barred by the one-year prescription period applicable to federal civil rights suits filed in Louisiana. We conclude that Harris's exhaustion of his administrative remedies tolled the prescriptive period and that Harris's federal claims were timely filed. Accordingly, we REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 7, 1996, appellant Mark Anthony Harris, an inmate at the Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, Louisiana,¹ received medical treatment for a broken jaw. On October 26, 1996, doctors at the oral surgery clinic of the Earl K. Long Hospital removed the retaining wires used to set Harris's jaw. Some thirty to forty minutes later, as Harris waited in an outside holding cell, his jaw shifted and "fell out of place," causing him excruciating pain. Harris told the corrections officer supervising him that his jaw had "slipped" and asked to be taken back into the oral surgery clinic to have the jaw reset. The officer replied that he could not take Harris back inside the clinic. The officer instead tried to reach the clinic staff by telephone, but was unsuccessful. Harris had to return to the Hunt Correctional Center without treatment.

At the infirmary of the Correctional Center, Harris told Rose James, a licensed practical nurse, that his jaw had "fallen out of place," that he was in great pain, and that he required emergency medical attention. James told Harris that he did not need to see the prison doctor. Instead, James made an appointment for Harris to see a dentist on a non-emergency basis. Harris complained, without result.

The following morning, October 23, 1996, Harris complained to Janet Boyd, a registered nurse, about his jaw, his pain, and his need for immediate treatment. Boyd remarked that Harris already had an appointment to see the dentist and left. That afternoon, Harris was able to see Dr. Michael Hegmann, who was making his weekly rounds at the Correctional Center. Harris explained his medical problem to Dr. Hegmann. The doctor performed a cursory inspection of Harris's mouth, told an accompanying doctor that Harris could be discharged from the clinic, and left. That evening, Harris persuaded another nurse to log his complaint and send a request for immediate treatment to the dental department.

The following afternoon, October 24, 1996, Harris was discharged from the infirmary. Dr. Hegmann's discharge orders called for Harris to return to a working cell block and eat a normal diet. Dr. Hegmann's discharge orders overrode the hospital surgeon's order, issued two days earlier, that Harris remain on a liquid diet for one week. Harris filed a written administrative complaint.

Harris was scheduled for a routine follow-up appointment at the oral surgery clinic of the hospital on October 30, 1996. No medical professional saw Harris between the examination by Dr. Hegmann on October 23, 1996, and his return visit to the hospital on October 30, 1996. Harris alleges that during that week, he suffered constant and extreme pain, magnified by his struggle to eat solid food with a broken jaw. When Harris returned to the hospital's oral surgery clinic for the follow-up appointment, an x-ray quickly verified that Harris's jaw had rebroken. Clinic staff reset and rewired the jaw the same day.

The Louisiana prison system has established a three-step administrative review procedure for prisoner complaints. Under this system, Harris's administrative complaint was first reviewed by the prison hospital administrator, then by the warden of the Correctional Center, and finally by the Secretary of Corrections for the State. At each level of review, Harris was denied relief. The Louisiana Department of Corrections issued the final denial of Harris's administrative complaint on July 14, 1997.

Officials of the Louisiana Department of Corrections told Harris that he must appeal the denial of his administrative complaint in the Louisiana state courts before filing a federal civil rights lawsuit. Following this instruction, Harris filed suit in the 19th Judicial District Court of Louisiana on June 30, 1997. On February 5, 1998, the state court dismissed Harris's suit. On March 25, 1998, Harris filed this suit in the federal district court for the Middle District of Louisiana, Baton Rouge Division. Proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, Harris asserted section 1983 claims against Hegmann, James, and Boyd for their refusals to provide medical attention and treatment between October 22 and October 30, 1996.

On April 8, 1998, the magistrate judge recommended dismissal of Harris's complaint as untimely. The magistrate judge concluded that Harris's claims were prescribed by the one-year limitation period established by the Louisiana Civil Code, Article 3536, because Harris did not file his federal suit for 17 months after the challenged acts occurred. The magistrate judge recommended that Harris's complaint be dismissed under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), as lacking an arguable basis in law, and under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), as failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

In response to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, Harris wrote to the district court and explained that he had waited to file his federal suit until he had exhausted his prison administrative remedies and his state law remedies. Harris argued that he should be allowed an extension of time in order to permit his case to go forward. The district court treated Harris's letter as an objection to the magistrate judge's report and recommendations, adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, and, without requiring the defendants to answer, dismissed Harris's federal claims with prejudice on May 21, 1998.

Harris filed a timely notice of appeal. Before this court, Harris renews his contention that he timely filed his federal suit because prescription was equitably tolled while his prison administrative claims were pending in the Louisiana Department of Corrections. We agree.²

II. THE STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, amended 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) and (ii) to require a district court "to dismiss [an] in forma pauperis (IFP) prisoner civil rights suit[] if the court determines that the action is frivolous or malicious or does not state a claim upon which relief may be granted." Black v. Warren, 134 F.3d 732, 733 (5th Cir. 1998) (citing Mitchell v. Farcass, 112 F.3d 1483, 1489-90 (11th Cir. 1997)). This court reviews dismissals based on section 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) under the same de novo standard of review applicable to dismissals made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Black, 134 F.3d at 734. "A district court's dismissal of a complaint under this subsection may be upheld only if, taking the plaintiff's allegations as true, it appears that no relief could be granted based on the plaintiff's alleged facts." Bass v. Parkwood Hosp., 180 F.3d 234, 240 (5th Cir. 1999) (citing Bradley v. Puckett, 157 F.3d 1022, 1025 (5th Cir. 1998)).

Under section 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), a district court may dismiss as frivolous a prisoner's IFP complaint if it lacks any arguable basis in law or fact. See Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 25, 319-325 (1989); Harper v. Showers, 174 F.3d 716, 718 (5th Cir. 1999); McDonald v. Johnson, 139 F.3d 1056, 1060 (5th Cir. 1998). "A complaint lacks an arguable basis in law if it is based on an indisputably meritless legal theory, such as if the complaint alleges violation of a legal interest which clearly does not exist." Harper, 174 F.3d at 718 (quoting Davis v. Scott, 157 F.3d 1003, 1005 (5th Cir. 1998); see also Spicer v. Collins, 9 F. Supp.2d 673, 687 (E.D. Tex. 1998) (dismissing an inmate's claim that he was denied one meal and forced to work on an empty stomach). A complaint is factually frivolous when "the facts alleged are 'fantastic or delusional scenarios' or the legal theory upon which a complaint relies is 'indisputably meritless.'" Eason v. Thaler, 14 F.3d 8,9 n.5 (5th Cir. 1994) (quoting Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327-28).

In an action under section 1915, a district court may raise the defense of limitations sua sponte. See Gartrell v. Gaylor, 981 F.2d 254, 256 (5th Cir. 1993) (citing Ali v. Higgs, 892 F.2d 438, 440 (5th Cir. 1990); Burrell v. Newsome, 883 F.2d 416, 418 (5th Cir. 1989)). Dismissal is appropriate if it is clear from the face of the complaint that the claims asserted are barred by the applicable statute of limitations. See id.

III. THE LIMITATIONS ANALYSIS

Federal courts borrow state statutes of limitations to govern claims brought under section 1983. See Burge v. Parish of St. Tammany, 996 F.2d 786, 788 (5th Cir. 1993) (citing Hardin v. Straub, 490 U.S. 536, 538-39 (1989); Jackson v. Johnson, 950 F.2d 263, 265 (5th Cir.1992)). Although federal courts look to federal law to determine when a civil rights action accrues, see Jackson v. Johnson, 950 F.2d at 265, state law supplies the applicable...