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Plaintiff is a state prisoner in the custody of CDCR, presently incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison, in Corcoran.
The events giving rise to this lawsuit occurred on July 28, 2010, when Plaintiff made prison officials aware that his life was in danger due to gang disassociation.
A few days prior, Plaintiff overheard that a member of the gang he had disassociated from was to be housed in the same building as Plaintiff.
The inmate, known as Camba or Cubby (“Camba”), belonged to the Compton Varrio Segundo street gang, and had a brother who had “jumped” (beat-up) Plaintiff as part of the disassociation process.
Plaintiff‟s fear arose from the fact that he was now a member of a different gang – the Paisas – and rules among general population C-Facility inmates “do not permit drop out gang members and/or group betrayers.”
On the day that Plaintiff learned that first inmate Camba had arrived at the facility, Plaintiff had a cellmate and could not communicate his concerns directly to prison staff.
Therefore, Plaintiff wrote a note addressed to the Correctional Officers, Sergeant and Lieutenant, stating “Attention, my safety is under immediate threat, I need protection”.
Plaintiff expected that that note would be intercepted by staff who read all outgoing mail; however, there was no indication that the note was read.
In the early morning hours of July 28, 2010, Plaintiff no longer had a cellmate and was able to directly inform staff of his safety concerns.
At about “2 or 4 a.m.,” Plaintiff handed a written note to the first watch through his cell door when the officer was making his safety rounds and conducting count. The note stated “My life is in immediate danger and I need protection.”
The Officer took the note and returned to Plaintiff‟s cell approximately 30 minutes later and returned the note to Plaintiff. Staff had written on the note, asking Plaintiff if he could wait for second watch. Plaintiff wrote on the note that he could not wait and returned the note to the officer.
Later that morning, after breakfast was delivered to the cells, the tower officer opened Plaintiff‟s cell door and announced for Plaintiff to get ready to go to the Correctional Treatment Center.
The announcement was a diversion so that other inmates would not be aware that Plaintiff was going to talk to staff.
Plaintiff was thereafter escorted to the program office, into the education section, where he was subsequently interviewed by prison officers.
Plaintiff communicated his safety concerns, explaining that he used to belong to the Compton Varrio Segundo gang when he was younger, but that he belonged to the Paisas now that he was in prison, and he was aware that a member of the Compton Varrio Segundo gang had recently arrived to the building, which meant that his life would be in danger if information of his previous gang affiliations got out.
Plaintiff reiterated his concerns but was told by prison officers that the only way Plaintiff could receive protection was if he provided information about illegal activity in the facility.
Plaintiff allegedly informed the officers that he did not have any information about any illegal activity, to which the officers responded that if he could not help the officers, they could not help him.
Later that afternoon, Plaintiff – “desperate,” “overwhelmed with fear,” and knowing that “no correctional staff was going to help him” – attempted suicide by cutting himself. Plaintiff required surgery and fifty stitches.
When interviewed by the prison’s Investigative Services Unit and the Institutional Gang Investigation, Plaintiff explained that he wanted to kill himself before other gang members did, because Defendants refused to provide him protection. Plaintiff is disabled and uses a wheelchair and would have been an easy victim of an attack.
Jose Pulido, Plaintiff, v. M. Lunes, et al., Defendants. Eastern District of California. No. 1:14-cv-01174-DAD-EPG. Findings and recommendations recommending that defendants’ rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint be denied in their entirety.
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