Filed: Apr. 03, 2020
Latest Update: Apr. 03, 2020
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 3, 2020 _ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court TERANCE D. WILSON, Plaintiff - Appellant, No. 19-1225 v. (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01459-CMA-NRN) (D. Colo.) SHERWIN PHILLIP; STEVEN FRANK; and JAMES FOX, Defendants - Appellees. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _ Before BACHARACH and CARSON, * * Circuit Judges. _ In this suit, the district court granted summary judgment to the defendants based on the plaint
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 3, 2020 _ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court TERANCE D. WILSON, Plaintiff - Appellant, No. 19-1225 v. (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01459-CMA-NRN) (D. Colo.) SHERWIN PHILLIP; STEVEN FRANK; and JAMES FOX, Defendants - Appellees. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _ Before BACHARACH and CARSON, * * Circuit Judges. _ In this suit, the district court granted summary judgment to the defendants based on the plainti..
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FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 3, 2020
_______________________________________
Christopher M. Wolpert
Clerk of Court
TERANCE D. WILSON,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
No. 19-1225
v. (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01459-CMA-NRN)
(D. Colo.)
SHERWIN PHILLIP; STEVEN
FRANK; and JAMES FOX,
Defendants - Appellees.
_________________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
__________________________________________
Before BACHARACH and CARSON, * * Circuit Judges.
___________________________________________
In this suit, the district court granted summary judgment to the
defendants based on the plaintiff’s failure to timely exhaust available
administrative remedies. 1 The plaintiff appeals, and we affirm.
* This order and judgment does not constitute binding precedent except
under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel.
But the order and judgment may be cited for its persuasive value if
otherwise appropriate. Fed. R. App. P. 32.1(a); 10th Cir. R. 32.1(A).
** The Honorable Monroe McKay previously served on the panel in this
case, but he passed away before the entry of this order and judgment. He
thus did not participate in the decision.
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This is the second time that the defendants obtained summary
judgment. The first award of summary judgment was reversed. Wilson v.
Falk,
877 F.3d 1204 (10th Cir. 2017).
1. Mr. Wilson was stabbed in prison.
Mr. Terance Wilson landed in prison after killing a member of the
Surenos gang. When Mr. Wilson went to prison, he feared retaliation from
other members of the Surenos gang and allegedly asked prison officials for
protection. Mr. Wilson was eventually stabbed and he sued, alleging that
prison officials had failed to protect him from members of the Surenos
gang.
2. Exhaustion required completion of an administrative process.
Because the suit involved prison conditions, Mr. Wilson had to
exhaust available administrative remedies. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). Under the
state’s administrative process, inmates had to file a Step One grievance
within 30 days of the date when they knew or should have known of the
underlying facts. If the problem was not resolved, inmates could submit
further grievances.
3. In his opening brief, Mr. Wilson did not address the district
court’s reason for considering the claim unexhausted.
The district court ruled that Mr. Wilson had failed to timely exhaust
available administrative remedies, reasoning that he had filed the Step One
grievance over a month late. See Woodford v. Ngo,
548 U.S. 81, 90 (2006)
(concluding that under § 1997e(a), “[p]roper exhaustion demands
compliance with an agency’s deadlines”). In his opening brief, Mr. Wilson
recounts his conversations with prison officials before filing a Step One
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grievance. But the opening brief is silent on how the district court erred.
Mr. Wilson thus inadequately briefed any challenge to the district court’s
analysis. See Eisenhour v. Weber Cty.,
897 F.3d 1272, 1279 (10th Cir.
2018) (affirming because the appellant did not explain “what was wrong
with any particular ruling”).
4. Mr. Wilson’s other issues involving exhaustion do not support
reversal.
In his opening brief, Mr. Wilson identifies two other issues relating
to exhaustion of administrative remedies:
1. whether the defendants waived an exhaustion defense and
2. whether any administrative remedies were available before the
stabbing.
His listing of these issues does not support reversal.
On the first issue, the defendants didn’t waive an exhaustion defense.
They did omit exhaustion in the first pretrial order. But exhaustion was
added in the subsequent pretrial order, which stated that it “control[s] the
subsequent course of [the] action and the trial.” The exhaustion defense
was thus not waived.
On the second issue, Mr. Wilson failed to preserve an argument about
the availability of an administrative remedy before the stabbing. In district
court, he argued only that after the stabbing, exhaustion would have been
too difficult because of his hospitalization.
3
Mr. Wilson has also waived this issue on appeal. Although his
opening brief identifies the availability of an administrative remedy as an
issue, he did not make a related argument. By failing to present an
argument on this issue, he has waived any related challenge. See
Abercrombie v. City of Catoosa,
896 F.2d 1228, 1231 (10th Cir. 1990).
Even if Mr. Wilson had not waived this challenge, we would reject it
because administrative remedies were available to Mr. Wilson. In his
appellate briefs, he alleges that the defendants failed to comply with their
obligations. For example, Mr. Wilson argues that the defendants were
obligated to
initiate and conduct an investigation,
put Mr. Wilson in segregation, and
activate the prison’s “protocol.”
Appellant’s Opening Br. at 13; Appellant’s Reply Br. at 5, 7–8. Mr. Wilson
also states that he asked prison officials to protect or transfer him.
Appellant’s Opening Br. at 13. If the defendants had incurred these
obligations, as alleged, they would have been available as administrative
remedies prior to the stabbing.
5. The district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to order
additional discovery.
Mr. Wilson also identifies an issue involving discovery. But he
hasn’t explained why discovery was necessary or said how discovery would
4
have allowed him to overcome his failure to exhaust administrative
remedies. Mr. Wilson thus waived the argument. See Parts 3–4, above.
6. Conclusion
We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the
defendants. The defendants did not waive an exhaustion defense because it
appeared in the second pretrial order, and administrative remedies were
available to Mr. Wilson.
Entered for the Court
Robert E. Bacharach
Circuit Judge
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