Olsen v. Morgan

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-prison guards and prison medical official’s motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action alleging that defendants had failed to protect plaintiff from attack by cellmate and had ignored his requests for treatment of broken tooth that resulted from said attack. Plaintiff failed to show that supervisor of prison guards was subjectively aware prior to attack that cellmate was dangerous to plaintiff, since prior investigation by supervisor indicated that other guards were unaware of problems between plaintiff and cellmate, and that cellmate had no history of violence with other inmates. Moreover, plaintiff failed to demonstrate that medical official was deliberately indifferent to plaintiff’s medical needs, where plaintiff requested only aspirin and otherwise made complaints of pain only two days prior to receiving dental services. Dist. Ct. also did not err in denying plaintiff’s request for recruitment of counsel to assist him in instant case, where Dist. Ct. could properly have found that claim was not complex, and where plaintiff had taken appropriate measures to seek prison records and had made intelligent arguments to support his claims.