NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS OCT 3 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
SAMUEL ANTHONY ACINELLI, Jr., No. 16-56552
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 5:13-cv-01371-AB-PLA
v.
MEMORANDUM*
KIRK A. TORRES, MD,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Andre Birotte, Jr., District Judge, Presiding
Submitted September 26, 2017**
Before: SILVERMAN, TALLMAN, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Samuel Anthony Acinelli, Jr., a California state prisoner, appeals pro se
from the district court’s summary judgment for failure to exhaust administrative
remedies in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging Eighth Amendment and state law
claims arising out of sexual assault allegations. We have jurisdiction under 28
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo, Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1191 (9th
Cir. 2015), and we reverse and remand.
The district court concluded that appeal CIM-HC-12024587 did not exhaust
Acinelli’s administrative remedies because, although the original grievance stated
that Dr. Torres “has violated me,” and Acinelli’s response to the second level
response stated that Acinelli was “being subjected to inappropriate behavior,
misconduct, and sexual assault,” the appeal was vague, and failed to include any
dates or factual details as required by prison regulations. We conclude that the
appeal was sufficient to put the prison on notice of the nature of the wrong alleged
in this suit. See Reyes v. Smith, 810 F.3d 654, 659 (9th Cir. 2016) (“[A] grievance
suffices if it alerts the prison to the nature of the wrong for which redress is
sought.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Furthermore, prison
officials processed Acinelli’s appeal rather than rejecting it on the basis of failure
to comply with procedural rules, and rendered a decision on the merits at all three
levels of review. See id. at 659 (“[A] prisoner exhausts such administrative
remedies as are available . . . under the [Prison Litigation Reform Act] despite
failing to comply with a procedural rule if prison officials ignore the procedural
problem and render a decision on the merits of the grievance at each available step
of the administrative process.”) Because Acinelli exhausted his administrative
remedies, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
2 16-56552
We do not consider documents and facts not presented to the district court.
See United States v. Elias, 921 F.2d 870, 874 (9th Cir. 1990).
REVERSED and REMANDED.
3 16-56552