Christopher White v. Los Angeles County

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedMay 31, 2022
Docket2:22-cv-00109
StatusUnknown

This text of Christopher White v. Los Angeles County (Christopher White v. Los Angeles County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Christopher White v. Los Angeles County, (C.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

Case 2:22-cv-00109-JAK-MAA Document 13 Filed 05/31/22 Page 1 of 13 Page ID #:110

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHRISTOPHER WHITE, Case No. 2:22-cv-00109-JAK (MAA) 12 Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM DECISION AND 13 v. ORDER DISMISSING FIRST 14 AMENDED COMPLAINT WITH LOS ANGELES COUNTY et al., LEAVE TO AMEND 15 Defendants. 16 17

18 I. INTRODUCTION 19 On January 5, 2022, Plaintiff Christopher White (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro 20 se, filed a Complaint alleging violations of his civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 21 § 1983 (“Section 1983”). (Compl., ECF No. 1.) That same day, Plaintiff also filed 22 a Request to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (ECF No. 2), which the Court granted on 23 January 12, 2022 (ECF No. 5). On March 3, 2022, the Court screened and 24 dismissed the Complaint with leave to amend (“Order Dismissing Complaint”). 25 (Order Dismiss. Compl., ECF No. 8.) On May 11, 2022, Plaintiff filed a First 26 Amended Complaint (“FAC”). (FAC, ECF No. 11.) 27 The Court has screened the FAC as prescribed by 28 U.S.C. 28 § 1915(e)(2)(B). For the reasons stated below, the FAC is DISMISSED WITH Case 2:22-cv-00109-JAK-MAA Document 13 Filed 05/31/22 Page 2 of 13 Page ID #:111

1 LEAVE TO AMEND. As discussed in Section V of this Order infra, Plaintiff 2 must file a response to this Order, electing to proceed with one of three options, no 3 later than June 27, 2022. 4 5 II. SUMMARY OF ALLEGATIONS AND CLAIMS1 6 The FAC is filed against: (1) County of Los Angeles; (2) Kristan Kozelchik, 7 Deputy Sheriff; (3) Heidi Slattery, Sheriff’s Department Supervising Clerk; and 8 (4) Does 1–8,2 sheriff deputies (each, a “Defendant,” and collectively, 9 “Defendants”). (FAC 3–4.)3 All Defendants are sued in their official capacities, 10 except Kozelchik, whose capacity is unspecified. (Id.) Deputies Watts, Kozelchik, 11 Slattery and Does 1–8 are referred to collectively as the “Individual Defendants.” 12 On or about August 1, 2016, Plaintiff arrived at the Sheriff’s office at the 13 Stanley Mosk Courthouse and requested service of process. (Id. at 5.) Plaintiff 14 spoke to John Doe window clerk, who refused Plaintiff service. (Id.) Plaintiff 15 requested to speak with John Doe’s supervisor. (Id.) John Doe reappeared with 16 Slattery, who also refused to provide Plaintiff with service. (Id.) When Plaintiff 17 objected to the treatment, Slattery called for sheriff deputies. (Id.) 18 Seven sheriff deputies arrived and surrounded Plaintiff. (Id.) Deputy 19 Kozelchik ordered Plaintiff to show his hands. (Id.) Plaintiff asked “what was 20 going on,” said that he was disabled, and said that he had proof of his disability in 21 his backpack. (Id. at 6.) The deputies forced Plaintiff into the elevator and 22 surrounded him in the elevator, causing him to fearful for his life and safety. (Id.) 23 1 The Court summarizes the allegations in the FAC, without opining on their merit 24 or making any findings of fact. 25 2 Although the caption of the FAC names “Does 1–10,” the FAC names “Does 1–8” 26 under “Parties.” Compare FAC 1 with id. at 4. 27 3 Pinpoint citations of docketed documents are to the page numbers in the CM/ECF- 28 generated headers.

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1 The deputies took Plaintiff to the court exit, forced him to leave, and told him not to 2 come back. (Id.) 3 Plaintiff asserts violation of his rights against racial discrimination under the 4 Fourteenth Amendment, his due process rights under the Fourth Amendment, and 5 the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). (Id. at 7–8.) 6 7 III. STANDARD OF REVIEW 8 Federal courts must conduct a preliminary screening of any case in which a 9 plaintiff proceeds in forma pauperis and dismiss any claims that are are frivolous, 10 malicious, or fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. 28 U.S.C. 11 § 1915(e)(2)(B). “The standard for determining whether a plaintiff has failed to 12 state a claim upon which relief can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the same 13 as the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a 14 claim.” Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012). Dismissal is 15 proper only where a complaint fails to “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted 16 as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 17 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 18 (2007)). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content 19 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for 20 the misconduct alleged.” Id. In making this determination, courts accept as true the 21 factual allegations contained in the complaint and view all inferences in a light most 22 favorable to the plaintiff. Park v. Thompson, 851 F.3d 910, 918 (9th Cir. 2017). 23 “The court need not, however, accept as true allegations that contradict matters 24 properly subject to judicial notice or by exhibit. Nor is the court required to accept 25 as true allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions of fact, or 26 unreasonable inferences.” Hartman v. Gilead Scis., Inc. (In re Gilead Scis. Sec. 27 Litig.), 536 F.3d 1049, 1055 (9th Cir. 2008) (quoting Sprewell v. Golden State 28 Warriors, 266 F.3d 979, 988 (9th Cir. 2001)). Where a plaintiff is appearing pro se,

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1 particularly in civil rights cases, courts should construe pleadings liberally and 2 afford the plaintiff any benefit of the doubt. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 3 1121 (9th Cir. 2012). 4 5 IV. DISCUSSION 6 A. The Lawsuit Potentially May Be Time-Barred. 7 As the Court previously stated in the Order Dismissing Complaint, this 8 lawsuit potentially may be time-barred. (See Order Dismiss. Compl. 6–9.) On May 9 10, 2022, Plaintiff filed “Objections to the Report and Recommendation,” asserting 10 that the statutes of limitations in this case were tolled while Plaintiff sought mental 11 healthcare, due to his hospitalizations, and due to the nationwide shutdown resulting 12 from the COVID-19 pandemic. (ECF No. 12, at 3.) The Objections are premature, 13 as the Court has neither formed a conclusion regarding whether the statutes of 14 limitations have lapsed, nor filed a Report and Recommendation to the District 15 Court regarding same. If and when the Court files a Report and Recommendation 16 to the District Court analyzing the statute of limitations as applied to this action, 17 Plaintiff may file Objections at that time. 18 19 B. The Section 1983 Claims Appear to Be Deficient. 20 “Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides a cause of action against ‘[e]very person 21 who, under color of any statute . . . of any State . . . subjects, or causes to be 22 subjected, any citizen . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities 23 secured by the Constitution and laws . . . .” Wyatt v.

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Bluebook (online)
Christopher White v. Los Angeles County, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christopher-white-v-los-angeles-county-cacd-2022.