King
King v. Villegas
Opinion
Opinion
I. Background
On August 17, 2016, there was a physical altercation between King and two KVSP correctional officers, Defendants-Appellees R. Villegas and P. Cruz (collectively, “Defendants”). Because the facts of this incident are disputed, we present two versions of the events as alleged by the respective parties. We begin with King’s version of events. King alleges in his complaint that Villegas and an unidentified officer came to King’s housing unit to escort him and about nine other inmates to a different part of the prison. King and the other inmates were “‘immediately’ placed . . . in restraints (handcuffs) based upon [their] orientation status.” As exhibits to his complaint, King attached declarations from newly arrived inmates in KVSP, who had come to the prison at about the same time as King. All of them stated that newly
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arrived inmates could not leave their cells without first being handcuffed. King alleges that Villegas and the other officer escorted King and the others to the mental health department building. An inmate directly behind King asked King a question, and he responded. Villegas then approached King and said, “What…