The following excerpt is from Castaneda v. Allen, 1:16-cv-01562-LJO-SKO (PC) (E.D. Cal. 2017):
The prison official need not "believe to a moral certainty that one inmate intends to attack another at a given place at a time certain before [he] is obligated to take steps to prevent such an assault." Berg v. Kincheloe, 794 F.2d 457, 459 (9th Cir.1986). However, before being required to take
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action the prison official must have more than a "mere suspicion" that an attack will occur. See id. To prove knowledge of the risk a plaintiff may rely on circumstantial evidence. The obviousness of the risk may be sufficient to establish knowledge. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 842; Wallis v. Baldwin, 70 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir.1995). Thus, "a factfinder may conclude that a prison official knew of a substantial risk from the very fact that the risk was obvious." Farmer, 511 U.S. at 842.
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