JAMES A. TEILBORG, District Judge.
On October 27, 2015, the Court granted Defendant Heather Summers's motion to bifurcate, (Doc. 52), and set for bench trial the issue of whether Plaintiff Moses Matthews exhausted his available administrative remedies in accordance with the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) (2012) (the "PLRA"). On February 18, 2016, the Court presided over the bench trial on the aforementioned issue. The Court hereby finds and concludes the following.
Under the PLRA, a prisoner must exhaust "available" administrative remedies before filing an action in federal court. See 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); Vaden v. Summerhill, 449 F.3d 1047, 1050 (9th Cir. 2006); Brown v. Valoff, 422 F.3d 926, 934-35 (9th Cir. 2005). The prisoner must complete the administrative review process in accordance with the applicable rules. See Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 92 (2006). Exhaustion is required for all suits about prison life, Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 523 (2002), regardless of the type of relief offered through the administrative process, Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 741 (2001).
The defendant bears the initial burden to show that there was an available administrative remedy and that the prisoner did not exhaust it. Albino v. Baca, 747 F.3d 1162, 1169, 1172 (9th Cir. 2014); see Brown, 422 F.3d at 936-37 (a defendant must demonstrate that applicable relief remained available in the grievance process). Once that showing is made, the burden shifts to the prisoner, who must either demonstrate that he, in fact, exhausted administrative remedies or "come forward with evidence showing that there is something in his particular case that made the existing and generally available administrative remedies effectively unavailable to him." Albino, 747 F.3d at 1172. The ultimate burden, however, rests with the defendant. Id
The Arizona Department of Corrections ("ADOC")
The Court finds Plaintiff to be a credible witness with respect to the issue of submission of written grievances. Plaintiff testified and the Court accepts as true, that filed a written, informal grievance on or about March 30, 2012. This grievance was not filed by ADOC, and Plaintiff did not receive a response from ADOC.
As noted supra, the burden lies with Defendant to establish that Plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies prior to filing suit in federal court. Albino, 747 F.3d at 1172. The ADOC Inmate Grievance Procedure in place in March 2012 establishes that an inmate who is unable to resolve a complaint through "informal means"
On September 11, 2012, Plaintiff submitted a written, informal grievance to CO III Linda Lewis and CO IV "Troug"
The defense contends—and Plaintiff does not contest—that these written grievances of record were not timely filed under the ADOC Inmate Grievance Procedures, which mandate submission of an informal grievance within ten business days. Plaintiff, however, argues that he submitted an informal grievance on March 30, 2012, and a second informal grievance on an unknown date in April 2012. As noted supra, the Court finds Plaintiff to be a credible witness on this point. Plaintiff clearly remembered the specific date that he submitted the first informal grievance as the date that he was released from the ADOC medical facility and returned to his cell.
Moreover, ADOC was unable to proffer any direct contradictory evidence to contest Plaintiff's testimony. ADOC relies principally on the fact that there are no paper records of Plaintiff's March and April grievances, and that a lack of corroborating paper evidence is tantamount to a lack of credibility. The Court disagrees. At trial, the defense acknowledged that the "inmate grievance" system is extensive and complex. The defense further asserted that ADOC houses nearly 40,000 prisoners at multiple facilities across the state, and that the ADOC Inmate Grievance Procedures include multiple layers of investigation and substantive review. While the defense proffered these facts to demonstrate the importance ADOC places on keeping paper records of grievances, counsel also acknowledged that it is an imperfect system—as all human constructs are— and that on occasion, records may be incomplete or paperwork may be lost or misfiled.
Defendant also sought to attack Plaintiff's credibility, arguing that based on answers provided in Plaintiff's deposition, Plaintiff had not been fully truthful with ADOC investigators regarding the underlying incident. These depositions were not provided to the Court and are not part of the record. (Doc. 57 at 6). Even taking as true Defendant's assertions with respect to the veracity of Plaintiff's statements, the Court is not persuaded by Defendant's attack via an ancillary matter.
Finally, at trial, Defendant made the fleeting argument
Given the Court's finding that Plaintiff was a credible witness with respect to the issue of the date that he first filed a written, informal grievance, the Court concludes that Defendant has failed to carry her burden and demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that Plaintiff failed to comply with the PLRA, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). Plaintiff complained of an incident that occurred on March 22, 2012. Plaintiff submitted a written grievance on March 30, 2012, to which ADOC did not respond. This initial submission falls within the ten working day timeline established by ADOC Inmate Grievance Procedure 802.02. The Court acknowledges that the PLRA requires exhaustion by the prospective plaintiff. Porter, 534 U.S. at 523. But the Court finds that Defendant's failure to promulgate clear and concise procedures regarding the requirement that an inmate timely appeal a "non-response" from ADOC constitutes sufficient evidence to make "the existing and generally available administrative remedies effectively unavailable to [Plaintiff]." Accordingly, the Court concludes that Plaintiff complied with available ADOC rules and procedures, and, consequently, the PLRA. Plaintiff is hereby entitled to a trial on his Eighth Amendment claim against Defendant.
Based on the foregoing,