Coleman v. Ortiz

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJune 15, 2020
Docket3:20-cv-03356
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Coleman v. Ortiz, (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 WENDELL COLEMAN, Case No. 20-cv-03356-SI

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH LEAVE 9 v. TO AMEND

10 ELIA ORTIZ, Re: Dkt. Nos. 1, 2 11 Defendant.

12 13 INTRODUCTION 14 Wendell Coleman filed this pro se civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint 15 is now before the court for review pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e). This order also addresses 16 plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order. 17 18 BACKGROUND 19 Plaintiff complains about various events that allegedly occurred in the criminal prosecution 20 against him. He alleges that many charges were dismissed and some failed to result in convictions, 21 see Docket No. 1 at 4, but concedes that there was a guilty verdict on at least one charge, id. at 8 22 (“jailed immediately after guilty verdict”). Some of the charges were for crimes against Kendra 23 Baumgartner, who apparently was his girlfriend or former girlfriend. The complaint names many 24 defendants, and makes the following claims: 25 26 A. Claims Against Prosecutors, Judge, And Probation Officer 27 District Attorney Haley allegedly ignored her duty to investigate crimes committed against 1 refused to “test false statements made by [a] witness” or investigate the witness’ perjury. Id. 2 Deputy District Attorney McLeod allegedly filed malicious and false charges against 3 plaintiff. Id. at 6-7. She allegedly “attempted to have [plaintiff] given forced court ordered 4 medication without any of the criteria met in a hearing held in 2018” and relied on a false report 5 from Dr. Boardman (that apparently addressed plaintiff’s mental state or need for involuntary 6 medication). Id. at 6-7. She allegedly sent fraudulent documents to the court. Id. at 7. McLeod 7 also sought allegedly unjustified and untimely continuances in the criminal cases against plaintiff. 8 Id. at 6. 9 Deputy District Attorney Lind allegedly failed to investigate properly and filed malicious 10 and false charges against plaintiff. Id. at 7-8. She allegedly called plaintiff names during her 11 examination of him, requested remand, and did not call all of her listed witnesses. Id. at 7-8. She 12 allegedly “knowingly and willingly denied the fact that [a] ‘witness’. . . committed perjury” and 13 “participated in the trial with unclean hands.” Id. at 8. 14 Judge Ortiz allegedly participated in “an attempted kidnapping and malicious prosecution.” 15 Id. at 5. She allegedly “forced [plaintiff] to participate in a trial in December of 2019 without any 16 witnesses, and without having the opportunity to review the newest discovery.” Id. Judge Ortiz 17 allegedly made improper rulings in plaintiff’s criminal case when she: allowed a doubt to be 18 declared about plaintiff’s competence; denied his right to counsel and self-representation; raised his 19 bail; denied a continuance; allowed perjured testimony; disallowed a recusal motion; allowed time- 20 barred misdemeanors to be charged; denied a request to investigate a juror; and required an ankle 21 monitor and remand after trial. Id. Judge Ortiz also allegedly awarded custody of a child to a 22 reported child molester in March 2016, although the mother was able to fight this. Id. She allegedly 23 denied plaintiff’s rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments, and abused her 24 power as a judge. Id. at 6. 25 In March 2018, probation officer Butler allegedly fabricated a probation report based on 26 false accusations and failed to investigate properly before preparing that report. Id. at 10. She 27 allegedly tainted plaintiff’s reputation by stating that he failed to appear for a presentence report. 1 2 B. Claims Against Law Enforcement Defendants 3 Napa County Sheriff’s deputy Bohlander allegedly refused to investigate plaintiff’s stolen 4 property or plaintiff’s report that people were using illegal drugs and having sexual intercourse at 5 his home in the presence of his child. Id. at 9. 6 In January 2018, Napa County Sheriff’s deputy Branco allegedly went through plaintiff’s 7 fence, entered his backyard, and opened his back door to serve an arrest warrant with his service 8 weapon pointed at plaintiff. Id. Branco also allegedly “made an attempt on [plaintiff’s] life” in 9 May 2017 when he showed up at a property “with the intent to shoot [plaintiff]” after Baumgartner 10 informed law enforcement that plaintiff was “known for carrying shotguns.” Id. 11 In October 2017, Napa County Sheriff’s deputy Lichau allegedly “violated [plaintiff’s] civil 12 rights by falsely arresting [him], not respecting [his] right to remain silent, illegally searching [him], 13 charging [him] for having expired registration, and outdated insurance, and an expired DL, none of 14 which was true.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that he “won in April of 2019 against all frivolous charges.” 15 Id. 16 In November 2017, seven unnamed deputy sheriffs allegedly went to plaintiff’s home and 17 “threatened to kick [his] ass.” Id. at 10. 18 The Napa County Sheriff’s Department allegedly harassed and stalked plaintiff, making 19 threats to his safety. Id. at 9-10. The Napa police allegedly harassed plaintiff as well. 20 In June 2017, Napa police officer Haggmark allegedly failed to investigate evidence from 21 plaintiff. Id. at 10. 22 23 DISCUSSION 24 When an unincarcerated plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis, the court must dismiss 25 the case upon determining that the case is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which 26 relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 27 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e). Pro se complaints must be liberally construed. See Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 1 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two elements: (1) that a right 2 secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that the violation was 3 committed by a person acting under the color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 4 (1988). 5 The complaint fails to state a claim against any particular defendant and therefore must be 6 dismissed. Leave to amend is granted so that plaintiff may attempt to file an amended complaint 7 that cures the deficiencies discussed in this order. 8 9 A. Claims Against Prosecutors, Judge, And Probation Officer 10 Plaintiff’s claims against District Attorneys Haley, McLeod, and Lind are dismissed without 11 leave to amend because they have absolute prosecutorial immunity for the actions alleged in the 12 complaint, which all pertain to the criminal prosecution of plaintiff in state court. See Buckley v. 13 Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 272-73 (1993). The prosecutorial immunity applies to the claims that 14 Haley, McLeod, and Lind each allegedly filed malicious, frivolous, and/or false charges against 15 plaintiff because they have immunity for their alleged decisions relating to their charging decisions 16 and their conduct in trying the cases against plaintiff. See Van De Kamp v. Goldstein, 555 U.S. 335

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Coleman v. Ortiz, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-ortiz-cand-2020.