Barry Lamon v. Hans Birkholm

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION JAN 30 2015 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT BARRY LOUIS LAMON, No. 13-16785 Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 1:09-cv-00157-AWI- SKO v. HANS BIRKHOLM, M.D., MEMORANDUM* Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Anthony W. Ishii, District Judge, Presiding Submitted January 21, 2015** Before: CANBY, GOULD, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges. Barry Louis Lamon, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs and retaliation. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo. Toguchi v. Chung, 391 * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). F.3d 1051, 1056 (9th Cir. 2004). We affirm. The district court properly granted summary judgment on Lamon’s deliberate indifference claim because Lamon failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether defendant Birkholm was deliberately indifferent to Lamon’s serious foot condition. See id. at 1057 (a prison official is deliberately indifferent only if he or she knows of and disregards an excessive risk to an inmate’s health; “[m]ere negligence in . . . treating a medical condition, without more, does not violate a prisoner’s Eighth Amendment rights” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). The district court properly granted summary judgment on Lamon’s retaliation claim because Lamon failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Birkholm failed to provide orthotics due to Lamon accusing him of taking kickbacks. See Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d 559, 567-68 (9th Cir. 2005) (setting forth elements of a retaliation claim in the prison context). The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Lamon’s discovery requests prior to summary judgment. See Hallet v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732, 751 (9th Cir. 2002) (providing standard of review for discovery motions and noting the trial court’s broad discretion in discovery matters); Maljack Prods., Inc. v. GoodTimes Home Video Corp., 81 F.3d 881, 887-88 (9th Cir. 1996) (requirements 2 13-16785 for obtaining additional discovery before court considers summary judgment motion). AFFIRMED. 3 13-16785