Vasquez

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 JOEL VALERA, No. 2:23-cv-00191-DAD-EFB (PC) Plaintiff, v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS B. VASQUEZ, Defendant. 16 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 1. On February 16, 2023, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), the court determined that plaintiff’s complaint alleged a potentially cognizable Eighth Amendment claim for excessive use of force against defendant corrections officer B. Vasquez. ECF No. 6. Defendant now moves for summary judgment. For the following reasons, defendant’s motion for summary judgment should be granted. I. The Complaint The complaint alleges that on October 2, 2021, defendant physically and sexually assaulted plaintiff by striking plaintiff approximately eighteen times with a closed fist causing plaintiff’s head to bounce off a concrete floor, while also rubbing his genitals against plaintiff’s leg and…