Rogers v. Boatright

• Citation: 709 F.3d 403
• Decision Date: 18 February 2013
• Docket Number: No. 12–20063.,12–20063.
• Parties: Bruce A. ROGERS, Plaintiff–Appellant v. Shawna Talbot BOATRIGHT, Supervisor, Texas Department of Criminal Justice–Correctional Institution Division; Jose L. Garcia, Jr., Transportation Driver, Security; Herbert J. Garcia, Transportation Driver, Security, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

709 F.3d 403

Bruce A. ROGERS, Plaintiff–Appellant

v.Shawna Talbot BOATRIGHT, Supervisor, Texas Department of Criminal Justice–Correctional Institution Division; Jose L. Garcia, Jr., Transportation Driver, Security; Herbert J. Garcia, Transportation Driver, Security, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 12–20063.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Feb. 18, 2013.

Bruce A. Rogers, Navasota, TX, pro se.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before JOLLY, JONES, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges.

JAMES E. GRAVES, JR., Circuit Judge:

Bruce A. Rogers, Texas prisoner # 566928, appeals the district court's sua sponte dismissal of his civil rights complaint as frivolous and for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. We REVERSE in part, AFFIRM in part, and REMAND for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Rogers filed a pro se civil rights complaint in the district court, naming as defendants corrections officers Jose L. Garcia, Jr. and Herbert J. Garcia, and their supervisor, Shawna T. Boatright. Rogers complained that he was seriously injured when the prison van in which he was riding stopped abruptly, and that he was provided with inadequate and untimely medical care for his injuries.

The following factual statements are in Rogers's affidavit appended to the complaint. On the morning of June 10, 2008, Jose Garcia and Herbert Garcia were transporting Rogers to the Houston Veterans Hospital (“V.A. hospital”) in a prison van. Jose Garcia was driving the van recklessly, darting in and out of traffic at high speeds while Rogers was caged in the back. Rogers sat on a narrow bench that ran the length of the caged portion of the van, shackled in leg irons and handcuffs that were attached together by a chain. There was no seatbelt. At one point, Garcia was driving so fast that he had to brake hard to avoid hitting a vehicle in front of him. Rogers was thrown head-first into the end of the cage. He could not break his fall because of his leg irons and handcuffs. Rogers sustained head, neck, spinal, vision, and hand injuries. There was a three-inch laceration on his scalp and his hand was gouged open to the bone. He was bleeding profusely. When asked if he was okay, he responded “No, you got me pretty good, I'm bleeding everywhere.”

Jose Garcia continued on to the V.A. hospital without stopping to check Rogers's condition. He called the prison dispatch to report the incident. The dispatch instructed Garcia to run Rogers through the V.A. hospital, since they were already there. A V.A. physician interviewed Rogers and instructed Jose Garcia and Herbert Garcia, “when [the physician] finished with the interview, x-rays and blood tests[,] to take [Rogers] to the emergency room and EM [sic] would take care of [Rogers's] open bleeding wounds.” ¹ Jose Garcia did not reply to the physician's instruction. Instead of taking Rogers to the emergency room, the officers took him back to the medical department at the Wayne Scott Unit, resulting in a five-and-a-half hour delay in the treatment of his injuries. Upon their return to the prison unit, “Officer Courtney asked if these type[s] of incidents occurred often and [Garcia] stated ‘Yes' that just the week before there had been a [similar] incident where ‘Six’ other inmates were injured due to having to slam on the brakes. He said, ‘it happens all the time, isn't a big deal.’ ” Rogers is still being treated for serious injuries to his back and for vision problems resulting from the incident.

The district court permitted Rogers to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP). In its initial screening of the case, the court determined that Rogers's complaint was frivolous and failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. The court concluded that Rogers's allegations with respect to Jose Garcia's unsafe driving merely asserted a claim of negligence or gross negligence and did not raise a constitutional claim. The court also concluded that Rogers had failed to allege facts showing that the defendants had acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs or that Rogers's medical condition was worsened by the delay in treatment. Before the defendants filed any responsive pleadings, the court sua sponte dismissed the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).² Rogers gave timely notice of his appeal, and he has paid the appellate filing fee.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

This court reviews the dismissal of a civil rights complaint as frivolous for an abuse of discretion. Berry v. Brady, 192 F.3d 504, 507 (5th Cir.1999). A dismissal of a civil rights complaint for failure to state a claim is reviewed de novo, using the same standard applicable to dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Black v. Warren, 134 F.3d 732, 733–34 (5th Cir.1998). Under that standard, a complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted when it does not contain “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quotation omitted). Allegations of pro se complaints are held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520–21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972).

B. Analysis

“To plead a constitutional claim for relief under § 1983, [a plaintiff must] allege a violation of a right secured ... by the Constitution or laws of the United States and a violation of that right by one or more state actors.” Johnson v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 38 F.3d 198, 200 (5th Cir.1994). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) & (ii), the district court shall dismiss an IFP complaint at any time if it determines that the complaint is frivolous or malicious or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 202, 127 S.Ct. 910, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007) (holding that Prison Litigation Reform Act mandates early judicial screening of prisoner complaints). “A complaint is frivolous if it lacks an arguable basis in law or fact. A complaint lacks an arguable basis in law if it is based on an indisputably meritless legal theory, such as if the complaint alleges the violation of a legal interest which clearly does not exist.” Berry, 192 F.3d at 507 (quotations omitted). “A complaint lacks an arguable basis in fact if, after providing the plaintiff the opportunity to present additional facts when necessary, the facts alleged are clearly baseless.” Id. (quotation omitted).

Under the Eighth Amendment, conditions of confinement in state prisons must be “humane” and “must not involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain.” Palmer v. Johnson, 193 F.3d 346, 351–52 (5th Cir.1999) (quoting Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981), and Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994)). Eighth Amendment claims have objective and subjective components. Id. at 352. The deprivation alleged must be “objectively, sufficiently serious,” and the prison official sued must have a sufficiently culpable state of mind—that is, the official must have been deliberately indifferent to the prisoner's health and safety. Id. (quoting Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970). “To establish deliberate indifference, the prisoner must show that the defendants (1) were aware of facts from which an inference of an excessive risk to the prisoner's health or safety could be drawn and (2) that they actually drew an inference that such potential for harm existed.” Id. (quotation omitted).³

1. Whether the district court erred in sua sponte dismissing as frivolous and for failure to state a claim Rogers's claim that a corrections officer, knowing that Rogers was shackled and without a seatbelt in a prison van's security cage, acted with deliberate indifference to Rogers's safety by driving the van recklessly.

The district court erred in sua sponte dismissing at the initial screening stage Rogers's claim that Jose Garcia acted with deliberate indifference to his safety. Rogers alleged in his complaint that he was not provided with a seatbelt and that he could not protect himself when the prison van stopped abruptly because he was shackled in leg irons and handcuffs. He alleged that Jose Garcia knew that other prisoners had been injured when the prison van in which they were riding stopped abruptly. Notwithstanding that knowledge, Garcia drove the van recklessly and Rogers sustained serious injuries when Garcia had to brake suddenly to avoid hitting another vehicle.

In Crumbliss v. Darden, 469 Fed.Appx. 325 (5th Cir.2012) (unpublished), a prisoner alleged that he was injured while riding in a prison van. Crumbliss, 469 Fed.Appx. at 326–27. The prisoner was in a wheelchair with a halo brace on his leg because of a prior injury. Although the defendant prison guards knew that there were no tie-down straps in the van for the wheelchair, the defendant supervisor instructed the guards to use the van to transport the prisoner. The prisoner's leg was re-injured when the chair was jostled because of the way the van was driven by one of the guards. The prisoner sued the two guards and their supervisor, alleging that the defendants had acted with deliberate indifference to his safety. The defendants moved for summary judgment. In granting the motion, the district court held that the prisoner had not shown that the defendants knew subjectively that the prisoner had been placed at substantial risk of serious harm. We held that the summary judgment evidence supported the district court's conclusion that the defendants had not acted with deliberate indifference.

In Cooks v. Crain, 327 Fed.Appx. 493 (5th Cir.2009) (unpublished), a prisoner complained that he was being transported in vehicles that lacked seatbelts. Cooks, 327 Fed.Appx. at 493. In affirming the...