RONNELL HILL V. T. PETERSON, No. 15-17159 (9th Cir. 2016)

Annotate this Case

Download PDF

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 23 2016 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT RONNELL RAY HILL, No. 15-17159 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 1:11-cv-01071-LJO-MJS v. MEMORANDUM* T. PETERSON, Correctional Officer, Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Lawrence J. O’Neill, Chief Judge, Presiding Submitted December 14, 2016** Before: WALLACE, LEAVY, and FISHER, Circuit Judges. Ronnell Ray Hill, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging a violation of his First Amendment right of access to the courts. We have jurisdiction under 28 * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo. Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1056 (9th Cir. 2004). We affirm. The district court properly granted summary judgment because Hill failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether defendant caused an actual injury to a non-frivolous claim. See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 348-49, 354-55 (1996) (setting forth elements of an access-to-courts claim and actual injury requirement). The district court erred by adopting the magistrate judge’s findings and recommendations without considering Hill’s timely objections. However, the error was harmless because the facts and arguments raised in the objections were set forth in the parties’ summary judgment papers that the district court reviewed de novo before entering its order. AFFIRMED. 2 15-17159

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.