United States District Court, D. Connecticut
INITIAL REVIEW ORDER
KARI
A. DOOLEY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Preliminary
Statement
Plaintiff,
Jean Karlo Conquistador (“Conquistador”),
currently confined at Bridgeport Correctional Center in
Bridgeport, Connecticut, brings this action pro se
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He describes his claims as
deliberate indifference, retaliation, negligence, and
inadequate medical treatment in violation of his rights under
the First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Conquistador
names eight defendants: Commissioner Rollin Cook; an unnamed
medical doctor at Garner Correctional Institution
(“Garner”), Nurses April, Angel, and Susan Gomes
at Garner; Deputy Warden Egan at Garner; and Nurses Doe 1 and
Doe 2 at Bridgeport Correctional Center
(“Bridgeport”). Conquistador seeks damages as
well as declaratory and injunctive relief against the
defendants in their individual and official capacities. The
complaint was received on September 19, 2019, and
Conquistador's motion to proceed in forma
pauperis was granted on October 3, 2019.
On
October 1, 2019, Conquistador filed a motion to amend his
complaint purportedly to include omitted facts and claims.
However, the Proposed Amended Complaint does not name any of
the defendants or claims included in this case. Rather it is
a complaint dated June 25, 2019, bearing the case caption
Conquistador v. Lacerda, No. 3:18-cv-685(KAD). It
appears Conquistador filed the Proposed Amended Complaint in
the wrong action.[1] To the extent he was seeking to bring the
claims from the Lacerda case in this matter, his
motion is DENIED. The Court considers only the original
Complaint in this Order.
Standard
of Review
Under
section 1915A of title 28 of the United States Code, the
Court must review prisoner civil complaints and dismiss any
portion of the complaint that is frivolous or malicious, that
fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or
that seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune
from such relief. Id. In reviewing a pro se
complaint, the Court must assume the truth of the
allegations, and interpret them liberally to “raise the
strongest arguments [they] suggest[].” Abbas v.
Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639 (2d Cir. 2007). see also
Tracy v. Freshwater, 623 F.3d 90, 101-02 (2d Cir. 2010)
(discussing special rules of solicitude for pro se
litigants). Although detailed allegations are not required,
the complaint must include sufficient facts to afford the
defendants fair notice of the claims and the grounds upon
which they are based and to demonstrate a right to relief.
Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-56
(2007). Conclusory allegations are not sufficient.
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). The
plaintiff must plead “enough facts to state a claim to
relief that is plausible on its face.”
Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570.
Allegations
Conquistador
was transferred to Garner on February 13, 2019. Doc. No. 1,
¶ 1. While there, he submitted numerous requests
complaining of hemorrhoids. Id. ¶ 2. He was not
prescribed suppositories until July 2019. Id. ¶
3. He submitted multiple medical grievances but received no
responses. Id. ¶ 4.
Nurses
Susan Gomes, April, and Angel refused to see Conquistador at
sick call for his hemorrhoids until July 2019. Id.
¶ 5. He threatened to file lawsuits if he did not
receive adequate medical treatment. Id. ¶ 6. He
told the defendants on numerous occasions that the
suppositories were not working and that he needed to go to
the hospital. Id. ¶ 7. He has not yet been
taken to a hospital for a thorough examination. Id.
¶ 8. Nor has he yet been thoroughly examined by
correctional medical staff. Id. ¶ 9.
On
multiple occasions, Conquistador complained about an
over-inflated external hemorrhoid that causes pain when he
sits or lies on his back. Sleeping on his side provides the
only relief from the pain. Id. ¶ 10.
Conquistador
asked Officers Graham and Smith to call the medical unit at
Bridgeport because he was experiencing pain. Nurses Doe 1 and
Doe 2 told the officers that Conquistador should submit a
request. Id. ¶ 11. As of September 18, 2019,
Conquistador's external hemorrhoid increases a little in
size every 3-4 days. Id. ¶ 12.
Discussion
Conquistador
includes as defendants, Commissioner Cook, Deputy Warden
Egan, an unnamed doctor and three nurses at Garner and two
nurses at Bridgeport. The Department of Correction website
indicates that Conquistador is currently incarcerated at
Bridgeport and has been so held as a pretrial detainee since
August 30, 2019.
www.ctinmateinfo.state.ct.us/detailsupv.asp?idinmtnum=341088
(last visited Oct. 7, 2019). Conquistador was a sentenced
prisoner while at Garner and is currently a pretrial detainee
at Bridgeport.
Deliberate
Indifference to ...