Dean v. City of Tacoma

Opinion

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5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 9 10 DUSTIN DEAN, CASE NO. C21-5822 MJP 11 Plaintiff, ORDER STAYING PROCEEDINGS 12 v. 13 CITY OF TACOMA, TIMOTHY RANKINE, MASYIH FORD, 14 Defendants. 15

16 The Court issues this Order sua sponte and in light of Defendants’ Notice of Appeal of 17 the Court’s Summary Judgment Order, which, among other things, denied Defendants’ request 18 for qualified immunity. (See Dkt. No. 85.) Under Ninth Circuit precedent, a “district court is 19 automatically divested of jurisdiction to proceed with trial pending appeal” of a denial of 20 qualified immunity. Chuman v. Wright, 960 F.2d 104, 105 (9th Cir. 1992). The only exception is 21 when “the district court find[s] that the defendants’ claim of qualified immunity is frivolous or 22 has been waived[.]” Id. In that instance, “the district court may certify, in writing, that defendants 23 have forfeited their right to pretrial appeal, and may proceed with trial.” Id. 24 1 Considering these principles, the Court finds that Defendants’ claim of qualified 2 immunity is neither frivolous nor waived and it therefore STAYS this case pending the appeal. 3 The Court hereby STRIKES the trial date and all remaining pretrial deadlines, pending a 4 decision on Defendant’s appeal. The Court also withholds ruling on any of the pending motions

5 for the duration of the stay, which shall be administratively terminated. The Parties are 6 ORDERED to file a joint status report within 15 days of issuance of the Ninth Circuit’s mandate 7 on the appeal or any order or notice terminating the appeal. 8 The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel. 9 Dated May 8, 2025. A 10 11 Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24