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JOHNSTON v. GEDNEY (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-04-27No. No. 19-17560

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's summary judgment for defendants in Johnston's deliberate indifference claim and upheld the denial of Johnston's discovery stay requests.

Richard Johnston, an inmate in Nevada, sued prison officials under federal civil rights law claiming they deliberately ignored his serious medical condition—chronic back pain. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants, finding Johnston failed to present sufficient evidence of a factual dispute about whether officials were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. Deliberate indifference requires showing that officials were aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial risk to an inmate's health, which Johnston did not establish.

Johnston also challenged the district court's denial of his requests to pause discovery proceedings. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion in this ruling because Johnston did not follow the local court rules and had not pursued discovery efforts diligently before asking for a stay. The court upheld both the summary judgment and the discovery-related orders.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether prison officials were deliberately indifferent to an inmate's chronic back pain
  • Whether the district court properly granted summary judgment on the medical needs claim
  • Whether the district court abused its discretion in denying discovery stay motions

Procedural posture

Johnston appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants in his § 1983 civil rights action.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Nevada state prisoner Richard Johnston appeals pro se from the district courts summary judgment in 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 the district courts decision on cross-motions for summary judgment. JL Beverage Co., LLC v. Jim Beam Brands Co., 828 F.3d 1098, 1104 (9th Cir. 2016). We affirm.

The district court properly granted summary judgment for defendants because Johnston failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether defendants were deliberately indifferent to Johnstons chronic back pain. See Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1207 (9th Cir. 2011) (setting forth requirements for supervisory liability under § 1983); Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1060-61 (9th Cir. 2004) (deliberate indifference is a high legal standard requiring a defendant be aware of and disregard an excessive risk to an inmates health).

The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Johnstons requests to stay discovery because Johnston failed to adhere to the district courts local rules and did not diligently pursue discovery prior to requesting a stay. See Bias v. Moynihan, 508 F.3d 1212, 1223 (9th Cir. 2007) (standard of review for discovery rulings and district courts compliance with its local rules); Cornwell v. Electra Cent. Credit Union, 439 F.3d 1018, 1026-27 (9th Cir. 2006) (district court was within its discretion to deny discovery motion, where the movants prior discovery efforts were not diligent).

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).

All pending motions are denied.

AFFIRMED.