Pimental v. Rivera ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 CESAR PIMENTEL, CASE NO. 1:19-CV-1088 AWI SKO 10 Plaintiff ORDER VACATING HEARING AND 11 v. ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO AMEND 12 ALFRED RIVERA and MARK CARRILLO, 13 (Doc. No. 35) Defendants 14 15 16 This case arises from an encounter between Plaintiff Cesar Pimentel and two members of 17 the Hanford Police Department. Currently set for hearing and decision on June 28, 2021, is 18 Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint. After review, the Court will vacate the June 28, 2021 19 hearing and issue this order, which resolves Plaintiff’s motion. See Local Rule 230. 20 Background 21 The active complaint is the original complaint, which was filed by Plaintiff pro se. See 22 Doc. No. 1. After the screening process, Plaintiff elected to proceed on a single claim that was 23 found to be cognizable – failure to provide medical care under the Fourteenth Amendment. In 24 short, Plaintiff alleged that after he was arrested, he informed Defendants Rivera and Carrillo that 25 he had swallowed a large amount of narcotics and needed immediate medical assistance, but the 26 Defendants failed to provide any medical assistance until instructed to do so by the jail nurse 27 despite exhibiting significant physical symptoms of drug ingestion. See id. Plaintiff, now through 28 1 counsel, seeks to add a Fourteenth Amendment excessive force claim based Defendants’ conduct 2 that occurred at the jail and after he informed the Defendants that he needed medical attention for 3 drug ingestion. See id. Specifically, Plaintiff faults Defendants for forcibly placing a spit mask on 4 him (even though he never spat or threatened to spit on anyone), placing him in a restraint chair, 5 and obstructing his breathing by placing their hands over his mouth while he was on a hospital 6 gurney and getting ready to be transported to the hospital. See id. 7 Plaintiff filed his motion on May 30, 2021, and set the hearing date for June 28, 2021. See 8 id. at Doc. No. 35. Plaintiff’s motion indicates that Defendants refused to consent to amending the 9 complaint. See id. However, despite the lack of consent, Defendants did not file an opposition or 10 a response of any kind to Plaintiff’s motion. 11 Discussion 12 Where, as here, a scheduling order is in place that sets a deadline for filing an amended 13 pleading that has passed, there is a two-step process for determining whether to allow an amended 14 complaint. Weeks v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68441, at *15 n.5 (E.D. Cal. 15 May 3, 2017). First, the moving party must demonstrate “good cause” under Rule 16(b)(4) to 16 amend the scheduling order. See Mentor Graphics Corp. v. EVE-USA, Inc., 13 F.Supp.3d 1116, 17 1121 (D. Or. 2014); Jackson v. Laureate, Inc., 186 F.R.D. 605, 606-07 (E.D. Cal. 1999); 18 Forstmann v. Culp, 114 F.R.D. 83, 85 (M.D. N.C. 1987); see also Johnson v. Mammoth 19 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 608 (9th Cir. 1992) (citing Forstmann with approval). Second, if 20 “good cause” under Rule 16(b)(4) is demonstrated, the moving party must then show that an 21 amended complaint is proper under the standards of Rule 15. See Mentor Graphics, 13 F.Supp.3d 22 at 1121; Jackson, 186 F.R.D. at 606-07; Forstmann, 114 F.R.D. at 85; see also Johnson, 975 F.2d 23 at 608. 24 Here, Plaintiff argues that new evidence during the discovery process has revealed the 25 additional claims, that he diligently pursued his case but was hindered by his pro se status, new 26 counsel quickly revealed evidence obtained during discovery and found the new claims, this 27 motion was filed quickly after the new claims were discovered and after attempts to obtain a 28 stipulation failed, and there is no bad faith, undue delay, futility of amendment, or prejudice to the 1 | Defendants by allowing the amendment. There is no argument or response by Defendants that 2 |refutes any aspect of Plaintiff's motion. That is, Defendants do not in any way challenge the 3 | assertions by Plaintiff that he and his counsel acted diligently and that Defendants will not be 4 | prejudiced by the amendment. In the absence of an opposition that addresses Plaintiff's 5 assertions, the Court will not find either prejudice or a lack of diligence. Additionally, it does not 6 | appear to the Court that amendment would be futile. See Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 576 U.S. 389, 7 396-97 (2015) (discussing excessive force claims of a pre-trial detainee under the Fourteenth 8 | Amendment); James v. Lee, 485 F.Supp.3d 1247, 1254 (S.D. Cal. 2020) (same). Therefore, the 9 | Court will grant Plaintiff's motion to amend. 10 11 ORDER 12 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 13 The June 28, 2021 hearing date is VACATED; 14 }2. Plaintiff's motion to amend (Doc. No. 35) is GRANTED; 15 The Clerk shall enter on the Docket the Plaintiff's proposed First Amended Complaint 16 (Doc. No. 35-1) as a separate document entitled “First Amended Complaint”; 17 Upon the Clerk entering the First Amended Complaint on the docket, the First Amended 18 Complaint shall be the active complaint in this case and will supersede the original 19 complaint (Doc. No. 1); and 20 Within fourteen (14) days of the Clerk filing the First Amended Complaint on the docket, 21 Defendants shall file a response. 22 73 IT IS SO ORDERED. 54 |Dated: _June 28, 2021 □□ 7 Zz : Z Cb Led — SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE 25 26 27 28