Schultz v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 20 2013 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT KENNETH SCHULTZ, No. 12-16182 Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 1:11-cv-00988-MJS v. MEMORANDUM * STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION; J. KIM, M.D., Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Michael J. Seng, Magistrate Judge, Presiding ** Submitted February 11, 2013 *** Before: FERNANDEZ, TASHIMA, and WARDLAW, Circuit Judges. * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** Schultz consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Kenneth Schultz, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging deliberate indifference to his medical needs. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A and 1915(e)(2). Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 447 (9th Cir. 2000); Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 (9th Cir. 1998) (order). We reverse and remand. Liberally construed, the allegations in Schultz’s pro se complaint were sufficient to state a claim for deliberate indifference where Schultz alleged that defendant Dr. J. Kim was aware of Schultz’s severe pain, but refused to treat it or investigate its underlying cause. See Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1057 (9th Cir. 2004) (discussing objective and subjective elements of deliberate indifference claim). Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s judgment and remand for further proceedings. REVERSED and REMANDED. 2 12-16182