Timothy Wilkins v. Ben Griffin ( 2020 )


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  •                            NOT FOR PUBLICATION                           FILED
    MAR 6 2020
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
    U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    TIMOTHY DEANORE WILKINS,                        No.    19-55595
    Plaintiff-Appellant,            D.C. No. 2:19-cv-02048-VAP-E
    v.
    MEMORANDUM*
    BEN GRIFFIN, Dr.,
    Defendant-Appellee,
    and
    STATE OF CALIFORNIA; et al.,
    Defendants.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Central District of California
    Virginia A. Phillips, District Judge, Presiding
    Submitted March 3, 2020**
    Before:      MURGUIA, CHRISTEN, and BADE, Circuit Judges.
    *
    This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
    except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
    **
    The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
    without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
    California state prisoner Timothy Deanore Wilkins appeals pro se from the
    district court’s judgment dismissing his 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
     action alleging deliberate
    indifference to his serious medical needs. We have jurisdiction under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    . We review de novo. Watison v. Carter, 
    668 F.3d 1108
    , 1112 (9th Cir.
    2012) (dismissal under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1915
    (e)(2)(B)(ii)); Resnick v. Hayes, 
    213 F.3d 443
    , 447 (9th Cir. 2000) (dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A). We affirm.
    The district court properly dismissed Wilkins’s action because Wilkins
    failed to allege facts sufficient to show that defendant Griffin knowingly
    disregarded an excessive risk to Wilkins’s back condition. See Hebbe v. Pliler,
    
    627 F.3d 338
    , 341-42 (9th Cir. 2010) (although pro se pleadings are construed
    liberally, plaintiff must present factual allegations sufficient to state a plausible
    claim for relief); Toguchi v. Chung, 
    391 F.3d 1051
    , 1057-60 (9th Cir. 2004) (a
    prison official acts with deliberate indifference only if he or she knows of and
    disregards an excessive risk to the prisoner’s health; medical malpractice,
    negligence, or a difference of opinion concerning the course of treatment does not
    amount to deliberate indifference).
    We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued
    in the opening brief. See Padgett v. Wright, 
    587 F.3d 983
    , 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).
    AFFIRMED.
    2                                     19-55595