Crystal De La Cruz v. Jonathon Nangle; Jason Lyons; Ryan Franzen; Sacramento Police Department; City of Sacramento; and Does 1 through 25, inclusive

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedSeptember 26, 2025
Docket2:24-cv-02001
StatusUnknown

This text of Crystal De La Cruz v. Jonathon Nangle; Jason Lyons; Ryan Franzen; Sacramento Police Department; City of Sacramento; and Does 1 through 25, inclusive (Crystal De La Cruz v. Jonathon Nangle; Jason Lyons; Ryan Franzen; Sacramento Police Department; City of Sacramento; and Does 1 through 25, inclusive) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crystal De La Cruz v. Jonathon Nangle; Jason Lyons; Ryan Franzen; Sacramento Police Department; City of Sacramento; and Does 1 through 25, inclusive, (E.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CRYSTAL DE LA CRUZ, No. 2:24-cv-2001 DAD AC PS 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 JONATHON NANGLE; JASON LYONS; RYAN FRANZEN; SACRAMENTO 15 POLICE DEPARTMENT; CITY OF SACRAMENTO; and DOES 1 through 25, 16 inclusive, 17 Defendants. 18 19 Plaintiff is proceeding in this matter pro se; pre-trial proceedings are accordingly referred 20 to the undersigned pursuant to Local Rule 302(c)(21). Plaintiff applied to proceed in forma 21 pauperis (“IFP”), and defendants were served with plaintiff’s operative Second Amended 22 Complaint following the screening process associated with IFP status. ECF No. 7. Defendants 23 filed a motion to dismiss this case as untimely. ECF No. 12. Plaintiff opposed the motion. ECF 24 No. 16. Defendants did not reply. For the reasons set forth below, the undersigned recommends 25 defendants’ motion to dismiss be GRANTED and that this case be closed. 26 I. Background 27 A. The Second Amended Complaint 28 Plaintiff brings a civil rights action that “arises from an unlawful and traumatic incursion 1 by Sacramento Police Department officers” into plaintiff’s home on September 23, 2021. ECF 2 No. 7 at 1. Plaintiff sues for various violations of the constitution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 3 §1985 (ECF No. 7 at 15-24, 27-43) and for violations of the Stored Communications Act, 18 4 U.S.C. §2701 (ECF No. 7 at 24- 27). The initial complaint was filed on July 23, 2024. ECF No. 5 1. The operative Second Amended Complaint was filed on August 8, 2025. ECF No. 12. It 6 directly addresses the timeliness of plaintiff’s claims. 7 Plaintiff asserts that the Second Amended Complaint, “though filed after the passage of 8 what might ordinarily be the statute of limitations for the 42 U.S.C. §1983 claims (two years in 9 California) or the Stored Communications Act claim (two years under 18 U.S.C. § 2707(f)), 10 should be deemed timely.” Id. at 15. In the complaint, plaintiff states that she “diligently pursued 11 her rights in the aftermath of the incident but faced certain delays that warrant tolling.” Id. at 14. 12 Plaintiff alleges that she had difficulty identifying the officers who violated her rights because the 13 defendants misrepresented who they were and did not provide their names. Id. Plaintiff asserts 14 she timely filed her original complaint naming Doe defendants, and later properly sought leave to 15 amend to name the officers. Id. Further, plaintiff asserts that the applicable statutes of limitations 16 were tolled because of court closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022, and 17 because even though she was not charged with any crime, to the extent any investigation was 18 pending, California Government Code § 945.3 tolls the limitations period for civil actions against 19 police during the pendency of related criminal charges. Id. at 15. 20 B. Motion to Dismiss 21 Defendants move to dismiss solely on statute of limitations grounds, asserting that “to be 22 considered timely and within the statute of limitations, the initial complaint had to be filed no 23 later than September 21, 2023 (two years after the alleged date that Plaintiff incurred damage). It 24 was not filed until July 23, 2024, and is therefore time-barred.” ECF No. 12-1 at 3.1

25 1 Defendants’ argument regarding untimeliness is a scant three paragraphs long. Id. at 2-3. It 26 contains six sentences, no citations to caselaw, and almost no substantive analysis of the issues addressed herein. Id. In the interest of judicial economy and because the required outcome is 27 plain, the motion is being entertained. However, the court notes for the benefit of defense counsel’s future filings that this type of perfunctory effort is unacceptable for federal court 28 practice. 1 II. Analysis 2 A. Legal Standards Governing Motions to Dismiss 3 “The purpose of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is to test the legal 4 sufficiency of the complaint.” N. Star Int’l v. Ariz. Corp. Comm’n, 720 F.2d 578, 581 (9th Cir. 5 1983). “Dismissal can be based on the lack of a cognizable legal theory or the absence of 6 sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.” Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t., 901 7 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 8 In order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim, a complaint must contain more 9 than a “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual 10 allegations sufficient to “raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. 11 Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). It is insufficient for the pleading to contain a statement of 12 facts that “merely creates a suspicion” that the pleader might have a legally cognizable right of 13 action. Id. (quoting 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1216, pp. 235-35 14 (3d ed. 2004)). Rather, the complaint “must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 15 ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) 16 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads 17 factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable 18 for the misconduct alleged.” Id. 19 In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court “must accept as true all of the 20 factual allegations contained in the complaint,” construe those allegations in the light most 21 favorable to the plaintiff and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. See Erickson v. Pardus, 22 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007); Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, 592 F.3d 954, 23 960 (9th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011); Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 340 (9th 24 Cir. 2010). However, the court need not accept as true legal conclusions cast in the form of 25 factual allegations, or allegations that contradict matters properly subject to judicial notice. See 26 Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 624 (9th Cir. 1981); Sprewell v. Golden State 27 Warriors, 266 F.3d 979, 988 (9th Cir.), as amended, 275 F.3d 1187 (2001). 28 Pro se pleadings are held to a less stringent standard than those drafted by lawyers. 1 Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). Pro se complaints are construed liberally and may 2 only be dismissed if it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support 3 of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Nordstrom v. Ryan, 762 F.3d 903, 908 (9th Cir. 4 2014). The court’s liberal interpretation of a pro se complaint, however, may not supply essential 5 elements of the claim that were not pled. Ivey v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Alaska, 673 F.2d 6 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982); see also Pena v.

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Crystal De La Cruz v. Jonathon Nangle; Jason Lyons; Ryan Franzen; Sacramento Police Department; City of Sacramento; and Does 1 through 25, inclusive, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crystal-de-la-cruz-v-jonathon-nangle-jason-lyons-ryan-franzen-caed-2025.