Matthew Blake Reed v. Stephanie Sandoval, Joseph Regalado, and Carly Rey-Hayes

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Colorado reviews objections to a magistrate judge’s recommendation addressing a motion to dismiss Matthew Blake Reed’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims. The court holds that the claims accrued on November 25, 2022, were filed outside Colorado’s two-year limitations period, and were not subject to equitable tolling. The court overrules the objections, accepts the recommendation, grants the motion to dismiss without prejudice, and closes the case.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff's excessive-force and deliberate-indifference claims accrued on November 25, 2022, when the alleged force, treatment delay, and failure to provide testing occurred or became apparent, and the claims were untimely under the applicable two-year limitations period.
2. The statute of limitations defense could be resolved on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion because the dates of the pertinent acts were apparent from the complaint and were not disputed.
3. Plaintiff failed to establish equitable tolling because he did not show a qualifying legal disability, extraordinary circumstances preventing timely filing, wrongful conduct by defendants that prevented filing, or sufficient diligence.
4. The magistrate judge did not improperly resolve factual disputes against plaintiff; the recommendation properly evaluated the sufficiency of the pleaded allegations.
5. Plaintiff was not entitled to leave to amend because he had already received two opportunities to amend, did not identify additional facts that would establish equitable tolling, and did not file a formal motion or proposed amended pleading as required by the local rules.
6. Plaintiff failed to establish that the prison mailbox rule rendered his complaint timely because he did not state when he delivered the complaint to prison officials for mailing and acknowledged that the issue was moot.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff's § 1983 excessive-force and deliberate-indifference claims accrued on November 25, 2022 and were therefore barred by Colorado's two-year statute of limitations when filed on December 23, 2024.
2. Whether the statute of limitations could be equitably tolled based on plaintiff's alleged injuries, legal disability, restricted law-library access, lack of legal assistance, lack of medical records, or defendants' alleged interference.
3. Whether the magistrate judge improperly resolved factual disputes against plaintiff on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion.
4. Whether plaintiff was entitled to leave to amend to plead additional facts concerning equitable tolling.
5. Whether plaintiff established that the prison mailbox rule rendered his complaint timely.

Disposition

dismissed