Edward Olson v. Johanna Smith

FILED

NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 17 2015

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

EDWARD DEAN OLSON, No. 13-36062

Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:10-cv-00586-BLW

v.

MEMORANDUM*

JOHANNA SMITH, et al.,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho B. Lynn Winmill, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted April 6, 2015 Pasadena, California

Before: SILVERMAN and BEA, Circuit Judges and DONATO,** District Judge.

On October 31, 2009, plaintiff Edward Dean Olson, an inmate in the custody

of the Idaho Department of Correction (“IDOC”), was attacked by another prisoner

at the Clearwater County Jail (“CCJ”) and suffered serious head and facial injuries.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The Honorable James Donato, District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, sitting by designation. Olson appeals the district court’s grant…

dissenting:

As the memorandum points out, federal courts do not appoint counsel for civil litigants except in extraordinary circumstances, but in my opinion, this is one of those rare situations.

It is undisputed that the prison officials moved plaintiff to a different state prison facility because they knew he was in danger where he was. It is also undisputed that the officials then moved another state prison inmate to the county jail facility where plaintiff had been safely relocated. It is further undisputed that within 24 hours of that move, plaintiff was badly beaten by the other inmate and that he suffered severe and permanent injuries, including head trauma requiring at least two surgeries. Plaintiffs constitutional claims are not guaranteed winners, but neither are they frivolous, nor are his injuries trifling.

In addition, plaintiff plausibly alleged that the head injuries he sustained actually interfere with his ability to pursue his case. Given the nature and severity of the injuries he suffered, this is not an incredible allegation. For whatever reason, whether medical or otherwise, it is readily apparent from the mountain of irrelevant junk that plaintiff filed in…

MEMORANDUM **

On October 31, 2009, plaintiff Edward Dean Olson, an inmate in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction (“IDOC”), was attacked by another prisoner at the Clearwater County Jail (“CCJ”) and suffered serious'head and facial injuries. Olson appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendants on his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and related state-law claims arising from the attack *372 and subsequent medical care. He also appeals the district court’s denial of his request for appointment of counsel and the denial of his motion to continue summary judgment to allow further discovery. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Carmen v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., 237 F.3d 1026 , 1029 (9th Cir.2001). We review for an abuse of discretion the district court’s decision not to appoint counsel, Terell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir.1991), and the denial of the motion to continue summary judgment to allow further discovery, Tatum v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 441 F.3d 1090 , 1100 (9th Cir.2006).

The • district court properly granted summary judgment on Olson’s Eighth Amendment…