Freddy McCardie v. Gregory J. Ahern

Background

Freddy McCardie, a prisoner housed at California State Prison–Corcoran, filed this civil-rights case without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court was reviewing the complaint under the federal prisoner-screening statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. McCardie also asked the court to require prison officials to send his inmate trust-account statement.

When McCardie filed the case, his application to proceed without paying the filing fee was incomplete and unsigned. The clerk notified him that he needed to submit a completed application and a certified account statement. That notice was returned because McCardie had apparently been transferred from Santa Rita Jail to prison and had not informed the court of his new address. The court dismissed the action on June 5, 2020. McCardie later filed the requested application and account statement.

The court vacated the June 5 dismissal and judgment and ordered the clerk to reopen the case because McCardie may not have known that his original application was deficient and the court had now received the account statement. It denied his motion to compel officials to provide the statement as unnecessary because the court had received it.

Allegations and analysis

McCardie alleged that on September 19, 2017, he was riding in an Alameda County Sheriff’s Department bus without available seat belts when a car struck the bus. He alleged that he was thrown from his seat and injured his knee, elbow, back, and neck. He also alleged that jail medical staff provided inadequate care, including pain medication that was not strong enough, incomplete X-rays, and a delay of about six weeks before he received a cane.

The court held that the complaint failed to state a claim under § 1983. A § 1983 claim requires facts showing both a violation of a federal constitutional or statutory right and conduct by a person acting under state law.

For the bus-accident allegations, the court explained that the applicable constitutional standard depended on whether McCardie was a convicted prisoner or a pretrial detainee at the time. The court found that the allegations suggested possible negligence caused by a third-party driver, but did not plausibly show deliberate indifference to a serious safety risk. The complaint did not allege enough facts showing that riding without a seat belt created an objectively serious risk, that the bus was driven dangerously, that a defendant knew of a substantial risk, or that a defendant failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the injury.

For the medical-care allegations, the court found that McCardie did not allege facts showing the required deliberate-indifference mental state. The medical records attached to the complaint described multiple examinations, medications, heat packs, a physical-therapy referral, and other treatment. The court stated that these reported instances of care tended to suggest that jail medical staff were not deliberately indifferent.

The court also found that the complaint did not explain what any of the five named defendants—including Sheriff Ahern, a doctor, and three correctional staff members—did or failed to do. The court explained that § 1983 does not impose liability merely because a supervisor employs someone who allegedly violated a plaintiff’s rights. McCardie needed to identify each defendant and describe how that person caused the alleged constitutional violation.

Disposition

The court vacated the June 5, 2020 dismissal order and judgment and reopened the action. It denied the motion to compel the inmate account statement as unnecessary. It dismissed the complaint because it failed to state a § 1983 claim, but granted leave to amend so McCardie could try to provide additional facts supporting his safety and medical-care claims and identify each defendant’s role.

The amended complaint was due by September 4, 2020, and had to be a complete statement of McCardie’s claims. The court stated that failure to file it by the deadline would result in dismissal of the action.