Case Information
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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RYAN REPASS,
9 Plaintiff, v.
CLARK COUNTY DETENTION CENTER; SHERIFF DOUGLAS GILLESPIE; LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT; NAPHCARE, INC.; and DR. WOLFF,
Defendants.
Case No. 2:13-CV-00237-APG-GWF
Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' Motions to Dismiss, Granting Defendants' Motion to Strike, and Granting Plaintiff's Motion to Amend (Dkt. Nos. 6, 9, 24, 28)
I. BACKGROUND
On April 5, 2009, plaintiff Ryan Repass ("Repass") was shot five times by officers of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department ("Metro"). He was shot three times in the left arm, once in the left side of this chest, and once in the back with a shotgun blast. Repass was subsequently detained at Clark County Detention Center ("CCDC") from April 2009 through February 2010 while awaiting trial. Metro operates CCDC.
On October 5, 2011, Repass filed suit in the Nevada state district court. (Dkt. No. 1-1.) He named as defendants CCDC, Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie ("Gillespie") (in his official and personal capacities), Metro, Naphcare, Inc. ("Naphcare"), and Dr. Wolff, a surgeon at University Medical Center in Las Vegas ("UMC") (collectively, "Defendants"). Naphcare is a private entity under contract to provide medical services to detainees at CCDC.
*2 On February 13, 2013, Defendants removed the case to this Court. (Dkt. No. 1.) The sixteen-month period between the filing of the Complaint in state court and removal to this Court seems to have occurred because Repass did not serve process on Defendants until February 1, 2013. (Id. at 2.)
Repass pleads three counts under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. In short, he alleges that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs. Repass alleges that he received no treatment for the shotgun blast to his backthat the pellets were never removed and the wounds never addressed. This, he alleges, resulted in infection, rash, and ongoing, permanent pain and suffering.
As to his left side, Repass alleges that only part of the bullet was removed, leaving fragments inside his body. He alleges the wound reopened and became infected. Defendants placed him in the CCDC medical unit rather than take him to the hospital. He further alleges that Defendants put him on "improper and ineffective medication which he received sporatically [sic] which masked the pain and did not treat or heal the condition." (Dkt. No. 1-1 at 5.)
Concerning his left arm, Repass alleges the three shots were not treated or operated on until December 15, 2009. He alleges he made "desperate pleas in person, in writing and through the CCDC kite system" that went unanswered from April 2009 until his surgery in December 2009. (Id. at 6.) He also alleges that there were three entry and three exit wounds in his arm. On the day of the surgery, December 15, 2009, he alleges he was whisked to UMC in Las Vegas at 9:00 a.m. and rushed back to CCDC immediately after the surgery at noon. He contends the immediate return to CCDC "caused unnecessary pain and suffering and was deliberately indifferent to how it would effect [sic] his ability to heal and recover." (Id. at 7.) To repair his arm, surgeons allegedly inserted a metal plate and several titanium screws. Repass alleges that the post-surgery medications "did not allow the shattered arm to heal, but masked pain causing [Repass] further damage to his arm, which is now permanent, deteriorating and continuing." (Id.
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Case 2:13-cv-00237-APG-GWF Document 32 Filed 01/29/14 Page 3 of 14
at 6.) Finally, Repass alleges that Naphcare "did not possess the necessary staff, expertice [sic] or training to provide proper and adequate follow-up care" and that Defendants were aware of Naphcare's alleged shortcomings. (Id. at 7.)
II. ANALYSIS
A. Legal Standard - Motion to Dismiss
A properly pled complaint must provide a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,
District courts must apply a two-step approach when considering motions to dismiss. Id. at 679. First, the court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations and draw all reasonable inferences from the complaint in the plaintiff's favor. Id.; Brown v. Elec. Arts, Inc.,
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"Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will . . . be a context-specific task that requires the [district] court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense." Iqbal,
B. Legal Standard — 42 U.S.C. § 1983
42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides: Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress . . . .
Section 1983 provides a mechanism for the private enforcement of substantive rights conferred by the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes. Graham v. Connor,
1. Individual Liability
Individuals can be defendants in their official and personal capacities. State officials sued in their official capacity for damages are not persons for purposes of § 1983. Hafer v. Melo,
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| 1 | Cir. 2008). Accordingly, the Court dismisses the official-capacity claims against Gillespie because Metro is also a named defendant. |
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| 2 | Government officials may be sued in their personal capacity under
for money |
| 3 | damages. See Hafer,
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| 1 | 'moving force' behind the constitutional violation. . . . In other words, there must be 'a direct |
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| 2 | causal link between a municipal policy or custom and the alleged constitutional deprivation.'" |
| 3 | Villegas v. Gilroy Garlic Festival Ass'n,
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however, we apply the same standards." Frost v. Agnos,
But the standard is less stringent in cases involving a prisoner's medical needs . . . because the State's responsibility to provide inmates with medical care ordinarily does not conflict with competing administrative concerns. . . . Similarly, in deciding whether there has been deliberate indifference to an inmate's serious medical needs, we need not defer to the judgment of prison doctors or administrators.
Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
"A 'serious' medical need exists if the failure to treat the condition could result in further significant injury or the 'unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.'" McGuckin v. Smith,
The existence of an injury that a reasonable doctor or patient would find important and worthy of comment or treatment; the presence of a medical condition that significantly affects an individual's daily activities; or the existence of chronic and substantial pain are examples of indications that a prisoner has a "serious" need for medical treatment.
Id. at . "More generally, deliberate indifference may appear when prison officials deny, delay or intentionally interfere with medical treatment, or it may be shown by the way in which prison physicians provide medical care. . . . A prisoner need not show his harm was substantial."
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omitted). However, "a plaintiff's showing of nothing more than a difference of medical opinion as to the need to pursue one course of treatment over another is insufficient, as a matter of law, to establish deliberate indifference." Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
D. The Government Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 6)
1. Statute of Limitations
The running of the limitations period is not apparent on the face of the Complaint. In his opposition, Repass vaguely alludes to incidents involving the state court and state officials who allegedly interfered with his ability to file the Complaint sooner. (Dkt. No. 19 at 5.) As Repass has the opportunity to amend his Complaint, the Court declines to rule now on issues of accrual and tolling. See Vaughan,
2. Clark County Detention Center
The parties agree that CCDC, as a physical object and not a legal entity, is not a proper defendant. Therefore, the Court dismisses all claims against CCDC.
3. Sheriff Douglas Gillespie
a. Official Capacity
As set forth above, the Court dismisses the official-capacity claims against Gillespie as redundant with the claims against Metro.
b. Individual Capacity
Repass fails to plead that Gillespie participated in or directed the alleged violations or that he knew of the violations and failed to act to prevent them. See Maxwell,
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4. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Repass fails to plead that any Metro policy or Metro custom was the "moving force" behind the alleged constitutional violations. Villegas,
Repass's allegations are sufficient to render it plausible that Metro's policy, custom, or practice caused Metro to be deliberately indifferent to Repass's serious medical needs. His injuries were certainly serious, as he had been shot multiple times and ultimately required titanium pins to repair his arm. Also, he alleges three entry wounds and three exit wounds from the gunshots, injuries which would have been readily apparent. The significant alleged delay in treatment of his arm-eight months-"is not the type of thing that goes unnoticed by supervisors and policy making officials." Plonsky,
E. Naphcare's Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 9)
1. Statute of Limitations
Naphcare argues the statute of limitations for claims against it should be one year instead of two, based on NRS § 41A.097(2). [3] Naphcare's argument is fundamentally flawed, however.
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| 1 | Repass does not charge Naphcare with medical malpractice, but rather deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The Court refuses to apply the medical malpractice statute of limitations to Repass's constitutional claims against Naphcare. Instead, the Court applies the general statute of limitations for personal injury actions under NRS § 11.190(4)(e). Plonsky v. Las Vegas Metro. Police Dep't, No. 2:11-cv-00026,
[A]n action for injury or death against a provider of health care may not be commenced more than 3 years after the date of injury or 1 year after the plaintiff discovers or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered the injury, whichever occurs first, for: (a) Injury to or the wrongful death of a person occurring on or after October 1, 2002, based upon alleged professional negligence of the provider of health care; (b) Injury to or the wrongful death of a person occurring on or after October 1, 2002, from professional services rendered without consent; or (c) Injury to or the wrongful death of a person occurring on or after October 1, 2002, from error or omission in practice by the provider of health care.
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3. Monell liability
Repass does not specifically identify any Naphcare policy or custom that caused his alleged constitutional violations. Nor does he identify any Naphcare employees "whose acts fairly represent official policy such that" their actions constituted official policy. Price,
4. Punitive Damages
Local governments are immune from punitive damages under § 1983. City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc.,
In Fact Concerts, the Supreme Court recognized that local governments were almost universally immune from punitive damages at common law.
In light of this crucial distinction, Naphcare is not immune from punitive damages. See Campbell v. City of Philadelphia, Dep't of Human Servs., CIV A. No. 88-6976,
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| 1 | constitutional rights of others." Neveu v. City of Fresno,
The alleged facts are sufficient to support a reasonable inference that Naphcare acted with reckless or callous indifference to Repass's constitutional right to adequate medical care. He allegedly went for eight months without treatment to his left arm, was rushed back to CCDC only hours after major surgery to that arm, and the gunshot wound in his left side that re-opened and became infected was not promptly treated. The claim for punitive damages against Naphcare survives. |
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| 10 | F. Repass's Motion to Amend Complaint to Substitute Dr. Sylvain (Dkt. No. 28) |
| 11 | Defendants have not opposed Repass's motion to amend the Complaint to substitute Dr. |
| 12 | G. Mark Sylvain for Dr. Wolff. Consequently, the Court grants this motion. See Local Rule 7-2(d) ("The failure of an opposing party to file points and authorities in response to any motion shall constitute a consent to the granting of the motion.").
[4]
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| 13 | G. Defendants' Motion to Strike Repass's Surreply (Dkt. No. 24) |
| 14 | Repass's supplement (Dkt. No. 22) is effectively a surreply filed without permission from |
| 15 | Defendants and without leave of court. Even if the Court interpreted the surreply as inherently a |
| 16 | motion for leave to file a surreply, the Court would deny that motion. Repass argues in the |
| 17 | surreply that the one-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice is inappropriate for his |
| 18 | claims and that Defendants delayed his treatment in an effort to pass on the medical costs to the |
| 19 | Nevada Department of Corrections in the event Repass were convicted and sent to state prison. Repass has raised these arguments in prior filings. The Court grants Defendants' motion to strike (Dkt. No. 24) because the surreply is redundant. See Ready Transp., Inc. v. AAR Mfg., Inc.,
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III. CONCLUSION
In accord with the above, the Court hereby ORDERS:
- The Government's motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 6) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The official-capacity claims against Gillespie are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The individual-capacity claims against Gillespie are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. All claims under the Eighth Amendment are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. All claims against CCDC are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. All other claims survive.
- Naphcare's motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 9) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. All claims under the Eighth Amendment are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. All other claims survive.
- Repass's motion to amend (Dkt. No. 28) is GRANTED. All claims against Dr. Wolff are DISMISSED.
- Defendants' motion to strike (Dkt. No. 24) is GRANTED.
- Repass is granted leave to file an amended complaint. He may replead his personalcapacity claims against Gillespie if sufficient facts exist. If Repass does replead these claims, Repass must allege facts that support a reasonable inference that Gillespie personally participated in the alleged constitutional violations, directed the violations, or knew of the violations and failed to prevent or to stop them. Repass may include new claims against Dr. G. Mark Sylvain.
- Within seven days of the entry of this Order, Defendants shall inform the Court whether Repass is still in custody. If Repass is in custody, Defendants shall serve this Order on Repass and, within 14 days of the entry of this Order, file proof of service with the Court. If Repass is not in custody, the Court will serve this order via First Class Mail at the address on file with the Court. [5] [5] The Court's prior attempt to serve Repass at the following address in November 2013 failed:
Ryan Repass - 79194 Carlin Conservation Camp P.O. Box 1490
Carlin, NV 89822 (Dkt. No. 31, mail returned as undeliverable).
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- If Repass does not file an amended complaint within 60 days after the date of service of this Order, the Court will dismiss this case without prejudice. See Local Rule of Special Proceedings and Appeals ("LSR") 2-2 ("The plaintiff shall immediately file with the Court written notification of any change in address. . . . Failure to comply with this Rule may result in dismissal of the action[.]").
DATED this 29th day of January, 2014.
NOTES
Notes
In this context, a "kite" is a document requesting medical care.
The Court need not determine now whether Gillespie enjoys qualified immunity.
In relevant part, NRS § 41A.097(2) provides:
