Bailey v. City of Olympia Prosecutor

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided May 8, 2023·No. 3:22-cv-05973·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA JARED J BAILEY, CASE NO. 3:22-cv-05973-RJB Plaintiff, ORDER ON CITY DEFENDANTS’ v. MOTION TO DISMISS AND PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR CITY OF OLYMPIA PROSECUTOR, et JOINDER OF PARTIES al., Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on the Defendants City of Olympia Prosecutors R. Tye Graham and Rosemary Hewitson and the City of Olympia Police Department’s (collectively “City Defendants”) Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 25, refiled in redacted form at 32, referred to here as Dkt. 25) and Plaintiff’s Amended Motion to Join Parties Thurston County Prosecutor, Jon Tunheim, and Thurston County Jail (Dkt. 38), which should be construed as a motion to amend the Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint. The Court has considered the pleadings filed regarding the motions, including several of Plaintiff’s late responses to the City Defendants’ motion, and the file herein. The Plaintiff filed this case, pro se, on December 15, 2022 and paid the filing fee. Dkt. 1. After several deficiencies were identified in his Complaint, he was given an opportunity to file an Amended Complaint, which he did. Dkts. 6 and 8. This case arises from the arrest and prosecution of the Plaintiff. Dkt. 8. The Plaintiff has filed several frivolous pleadings in this case. Many of his allegations are not plausible.

The Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint’s caption lists “Thurston County and City of Olympia et al” as defendants, and later complains of actions alleged to have been taken by the City of Olympia Police Department and “defendants.” Id. Adding to the confusion, in one of his responses to the City Defendants’ motion, the Plaintiff states he is suing “City of Olympia Police Department” and “City of Olympia Prosecutor Offices of Chief prosecutor R. Tye Grahm [sic] and Rosemary Hewittson [sic],” and that the “City of Olympia is not listed as any defendant.” Dkt. 40 at 3-4. For purposes of the pending motion to dismiss, the Court will construe all the Plaintiff’s pleadings liberally, and consider the claims as being asserted against the City of Olympia, City of Olympia Prosecutor Offices, R. Tye Graham, and Rosemary Hewitson, who

shall collectively be referred to as the “City Defendants.” For the reasons provided below, the City Defendants’ motion for the Court to take judicial notice of pleadings filed in a criminal matter currently pending against the Plaintiff in Thurston County, Washington Superior Court should be granted, their motion to consider certain documents incorporated into the Amended Complaint by reference should be denied without prejudice, and their motion for the dismissal of all claims asserted against them in this case should be granted. This opinion will first turn to the motion for judicial notice and incorporation by reference, then address the motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. (“Rule”) 12(b)(6), and lastly the Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend his Amended Complaint to add additional parties. Although the City Defendants also assert other grounds for relief, including improper service of process, there is no need to reach those issues because the claims against them should be dismissed on other grounds. MOTION FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE AND INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 201(b): “[t]he court may judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it: (1) is generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction; or (2) can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot be reasonably questioned.” When evaluating the sufficiency of a pleading under Rule 12(b)(6), a court reviews only the allegations in the complaint and any attachments or documents incorporated by reference. Koala v. Khosla, 931 F.3d 887 894 (9th Cir. 2019). “Certain written instruments attached to pleadings may be considered part of the pleading. Even if a document is not attached to a complaint, it may be incorporated by reference into a complaint it the plaintiff refers extensively to the document or the document forms the basis of the plaintiff’s claim.” United States v. Ritchie, 342 F.3d 903, 908 (9th Cir. 2003). Although for purposes of a motion to amend or for a motion to dismiss the court ordinarily credits the allegations in the complaint as true, it need not “accept as true allegations that contradict matters properly subject to judicial notice . . . by exhibit” or incorporated by reference into the complaint. Gonzalez v. Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, 759 F.3d 1112, (9th Cir. 2014); Steckman v. Hart Brewing, Inc., 143 F.3d 1293, 1295-96 (9th Cir. 1998)(the court is “not required to accept as true conclusory allegations which are contradicted by documents referred to in the complaint”). The City Defendants move the Court to take judicial notice of the pleadings filed in the criminal matter, State of Washington v. Jared Jason Bailey, Thurston County, Washington Superior Court case number 22-1-01222-34. The motion (Dkt. 25) should be granted. Judicial notice should be taken of the Information (refiled in this case at Dkt. 26-1 at 18) and the “Harassment-No Contact Orders” (refiled in this case at Dkts. 26-2 at 2-5) (protecting

Defendants here, Rosemary Hewitson and Tye Graham, from the Plaintiff here) filed in that criminal case. Judicial notice should also be taken of the public docket in that case. The City Defendants also move the Court to incorporate into the Amended Complaint, by reference, the Reporting Officer Narratives, Incident Reports, and Case Supplemental Reports which purport to detail the victim reports, the City of Olympia Police Department’s investigation, and the Plaintiff’s arrest. (The Amended Complaint is the operative complaint rendering the Plaintiff’s original complaint “without legal effect.” Lacey v. Maricopa County, 693 F.3d 896 (9th Cir. 2012)). The City Defendants’ motion regarding incorporation of these pleadings (the Reporting

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