Opinion

(PC) Hudson v. Pfeiffer

Court
District Court, E.D. California
Filed
Oct 11, 2022
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 18.2%

The opinion

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 DARRYL HUDSON, Case No. 1:19-cv-954-JLT-HBK

12 Plaintiff, ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

13 v.

(Docs. 20, 32)

14 C. PFEIFFER; R. COX; J. DIAZ; D.

BALKIND; R. NUCKLES; A. SOTELO;

15 R. RODRIQUEZ; J. FERNANDEZ; J.

FIGUEROA; V. ESCOBEDO,

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Defendant.

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18 The magistrate judge issued findings and recommendations recommending that the

19 Defendants’ motion to dismiss be granted because the action is barred by the statute of

20 limitations. (See generally Doc. 32.) Plaintiff timely filed his objections.

21 In the objections, Plaintiff acknowledges that the magistrate judge found the complaint

22 was filed in excess of the two-year statute of limitations by two months and twenty-nine days, but

23 argues that the magistrate judge failed to consider the “imminent danger and excessive risk of

24 harm by defendants[’] retaliations, threats, coercions, intimidation and fear of death.” (Id. at 1.)

25 Plaintiff states he was hospitalized and had no access to the law library from June 30, 2016

26 through April 10, 2019. (Id. at 2.) Additionally, Plaintiff attaches an inmate’s declaration in

27 support of his objections. (Id. at 4–5.) Inmate Calloway’s declaration attests to helping Plaintiff

28 litigate his case when he arrived at Kern Valley on April 10, 2019. (Id. at 4.) Inmate Calloway

1 alleges he faced retaliation by unidentified officers at Kern Valley because of helping Plaintiff

2 litigate his case and was told to “mind his own business.” (Id. at 4–5.) Inmate Calloway further

3 attests that because of the retaliation, he was delayed and unable to help Plaintiff litigate his case

4 until July 11, 2019. (Id. at 5.)

5 The arguments Plaintiff raises in his objections were not raised in his opposition to the

6 Defendants’ motion to dismiss. (See Doc. 24.) Though the court has discretion to consider

7 arguments raised for the first time in objections to a magistrate judge’s findings and

8 recommendations, (Brown v. Roe, 279 F.3d 742, 744 (9th Cir. 2002) (citations omitted), it

9 declines to do so here. In his opposition to the motion to dismiss, he did not even hint at the

10 grounds for equitable tolling raised in his objections. (See Doc. 24.) Instead, Plaintiff’s

11 opposition argued that Defendants’ motion was frivolous because the statute of limitation was

12 four years, not two. (Doc. 24 at 2.) Additionally, Plaintiff argued that the accrual date of his

13 claim was the date on which he finished exhausting his administrative remedies, not the date the

14 excessive force occurred. (See generally id.)

15 As noted in the findings and recommendations, Plaintiff’s claim accrued on June 30,

16 2016, when the use of force incident occurred. (Doc. 32 at 7-8.) The magistrate judge properly

17 rejected Plaintiff’s argument that the accrual date is the date Plaintiff finished exhausting his

18 administrative remedies. (Id.) In addition, because Plaintiff is serving a life-sentence in the

19 California Department of Corrections, the magistrate judge properly concluded that a two-year

20 statute of limitation applies. (Id. at 8.)

21 According to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C), the Court has conducted a de novo review of this

22 case. Having carefully reviewed the entire file, the Court finds the Findings and

23 Recommendations to be supported by the record and by proper analysis. Thus, the Court

24 ORDERS:

25 1. The findings and recommendations issued December 17, 2021, (Doc. 32), are

26 ADOPTED IN FULL.

27 2. Defendant’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 20) is GRANTED.

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1 3. The Clerk of Court is directed to CLOSE THIS CASE.

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3 IT IS SO ORDERED.

| Dated: _ October 11, 2022 Charis [Tourn

TED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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