Silva

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Jerome MITCHELL, Case No.: 3:18-cv-2044-DMS-AGS Plaintiff, REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

TO DENY DEFENDANTS’

v.

SUMMARY-JUDGMENT MOTION

(ECF 33) AND TO GRANT

SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR

A. SILVA, et al.,

PLAINTIFF ON DEFENDANTS’

Defendants. EXHAUSTION DEFENSE 16 Inmate Jerome Mitchell used prison “Form 602” to complain that guards used excessive force against him. In retaliation, a guard allegedly told him, “If you keep trying to file 602s[,] we[’]re going to f—k you up.” This threat, among others, prompted Mitchell to abandon his prison administrative appeal and instead bring this civil-rights lawsuit. The guards now move for summary judgment because Mitchell failed to exhaust his administrative appeals. That motion should be denied because the guards’ alleged threats rendered those appeals effectively unavailable. BACKGROUND On July 6, 2018, according to…