Background
Laquint Henry Lee Cherry, an Arizona state prisoner, filed a pro se action under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 alleging excessive force during his pretrial detention. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants.
The court’s reasoning
The Ninth Circuit reviewed the case de novo. The court affirmed because the district court properly granted summary judgment for defendants Devine and Redfern. Cherry failed to exhaust his administrative remedies or raise a genuine dispute of material fact regarding the unavailability of those remedies. The court cited Ross versus Blake regarding the requirement to exhaust available administrative remedies. The court also rejected Cherry’s contention that defense counsel engaged in misconduct as unsupported by the record.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the strict exhaustion requirement for prisoners bringing civil rights claims and limits the ability to raise new arguments on appeal.
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