MELINDA VALENZUELA V. CHARLES RYAN, No. 15-15741 (9th Cir. 2015)
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FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS NOV 27 2015 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MELINDA GABRIELLA VALENZUELA, FKA Enrique Mendez, Plaintiff - Appellant, No. 15-15741 D.C. No. 2:15-cv-00158-NVWMHB v. MEMORANDUM* CHARLES L. RYAN; et al., Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Neil V. Wake, District Judge, Presiding Submitted November 18, 2015** Before: TASHIMA, OWENS, and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges. Melinda Gabriella Valenzuela, an Arizona state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment in her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging that she was sexually assaulted by prison staff. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). § 1291. We reverse and remand. The district court erred in dismissing Valenzuela’s action because, even in light of her previous lawsuits, the allegations in Valenzuela’s complaint were not factually frivolous. See Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 32-33 (1992) (explaining that “a court may dismiss a claim as factually frivolous only if the facts alleged are clearly baseless, a category encompassing allegations that are fanciful, fantastic, and delusional” and a complaint “may not be dismissed . . . simply because the court finds the plaintiff’s allegations unlikely”). REVERSED and REMANDED. 2 15-15741
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