Alexander-Campos v. Bruce ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ROBERT J. ALEXANDER-CAMPOS, Case No. 22-cv-03274-PJH 8 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT 9 v. WITH LEAVE TO AMEND 10 BRUCE, et al., Defendants. 11 12 13 Plaintiff, a detainee, filed a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 14 He has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. 15 DISCUSSION 16 STANDARD OF REVIEW 17 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners 18 seek redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 19 28 U.S.C. 20 § 1915A(a). In its review, the Court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any 21 claims which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be 22 granted, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at 23 1915A(b)(1),(2). Pro se pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica 24 Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 25 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement 26 of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Although a complaint “does not 27 need detailed factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his 1 recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must 2 be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. 3 Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (citations omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough 4 facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 570. The United States 5 Supreme Court has explained the “plausible on its face” standard of Twombly: “While 6 legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by 7 factual allegations. When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should 8 assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an 9 entitlement to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). 10 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that: (1) a right 11 secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) the alleged 12 deprivation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. 13 Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 14 LEGAL CLAIMS 15 Plaintiff states that defendants used excessive force against him and falsified 16 reports. It appears that this incident occurred at Pleasant Valley State Prison which lies 17 in the venue for the Eastern District of California. Though, plaintiff also states that a 18 defendant resides in Pleasanton, which is in this district. Plaintiff further states that there 19 was previously a case in the United States District Court regarding this incident that was 20 dismissed without prejudice. The complaint is dismissed with leave to amend, and 21 plaintiff will be provided one opportunity to provide additional information. He should 22 state where this incident occurred, when it occurred and what court the prior case was 23 filed in. He should include a docket number from the prior case, if possible. 24 CONCLUSION 25 1. The complaint is DISMISSED with leave to amend. An amended complaint 26 must be filed within twenty-eight (28) days of the date this order is filed and must 27 include the caption and civil case number used in this order and the words AMENDED 1 original complaint, plaintiff must include in it all the claims he wishes to present. See 2 Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th Cir. 1992). He may not incorporate material 3 from the original complaint by reference. 4 2. It is the plaintiff’s responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the 5 court informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper with the clerk headed 6 “Notice of Change of Address,” and must comply with the court’s orders in a timely 7 fashion. Failure to do so may result in the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute 8 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 Dated: July 7, 2022 11 12 /s/ Phyllis J. Hamilton PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON 13 United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27