Gomes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ADAM RANDOLPH POWELL, No. 2:21-cv-0781 DJC DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 GOMES, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims defendants were deliberately indifferent to his mental health 19 needs. In 2022, defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that plaintiff failed to 20 exhaust his administrative remedies prior to filing this action. The court denied the motion. The 21 court ordered an evidentiary hearing to resolve factual disputes regarding the availability of the 22 grievance process to plaintiff. On March 4, 2024, the undersigned held an evidentiary hearing. 23 For the reasons set forth below, the undersigned will recommend that the district court find that 24 administrative remedies were unavailable to plaintiff and excuse plaintiff from the exhaustion 25 requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act…