Estes v. County of San Diego

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedNovember 22, 2024
Docket3:24-cv-01190
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Estes v. County of San Diego, (S.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MARCOS ESTES, Case No.: 3:24-cv-1190-RSH-SBC # 24722637, 12 ORDER: (1) GRANTING MOTION Plaintiff, 13 TO PROCEED IN FORMA vs. PAUPERIS [ECF No. 2] AND 14

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, KELLY 15 (2) DISMISSING COMPLAINT MARTINEZ, OFFICER LOPEZ, WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND 16 MULTIPLE UNKNOWN DEPUTIES, WITH LEAVE TO AMEND PALOMAR COLLEGE POLICE DEP’T, 17 Defendants. 18

19 I. INTRODUCTION 20 Marcos Estes (“Plaintiff” or “Estes”), a detainee at Vista County Jail and proceeding 21 pro se, has filed a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, along with a Motion to 22 Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”). ECF Nos. 1, 2. In his Complaint, Plaintiff also lists 23 his wife, Hermila Estes, as a plaintiff. See ECF No. 1 at 1. Estes alleges his (and his wife’s) 24 constitutional rights were violated during three interactions with Defendants. Id. at 3–5. 25 For the reasons discussed below, the Court grants Plaintiff’s IFP motion and dismisses the 26 Complaint without prejudice and with leave to amend. 27 // 28 1 II. MOTION TO PROCEED IFP 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $405.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). A party may initiate a civil action without prepaying the 5 required filing fee if the Court grants leave to proceed IFP based on indigency. 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(a); Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007). 7 To proceed IFP, plaintiffs must establish their inability to pay by filing an affidavit 8 regarding their income and assets. See Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th 9 Cir. 2015). Prisoners must also submit a “certified copy of the [prisoner’s] trust fund 10 account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately 11 preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). From the certified trust 12 account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average monthly 13 deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the 14 account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 15 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(b)(1) & (4). Prisoners who proceed IFP must repay the entire fee in 16 installments regardless of whether their action is ultimately dismissed. 28 U.S.C. 17 § 1915(b)(2); Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016). 18 In support of his IFP Motion, Estes provided a copy of his prison certificate and trust 19 account statement. ECF No. 2 at 6. During the six months prior to filing suit, Plaintiff had 20 an average monthly balance of $60.00, average monthly deposits of $10.00, and an 21 available account balance of $0.11 at the time he filed suit. Id. at 5. The Court GRANTS 22 Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP and declines to impose an initial partial filing fee 23 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) because his prison certificate indicates he may have no 24

25 26 1 Civil litigants must pay an administrative fee of $55 in addition to the $350 filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 27 (eff. Dec. 1, 2023)). The additional $55 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave 28 to proceed IFP. Id. 1 means to pay it. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) (providing that “[i]n no event shall a prisoner 2 be prohibited from bringing a civil action or appealing a civil action or criminal judgment 3 for the reason that the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial 4 filing fee.”); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 850 (9th Cir. 2002) (finding that 28 U.S.C. 5 § 1915(b)(4) acts as a “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP case based 6 solely on a “failure to pay . . . due to the lack of funds available to him when payment is 7 ordered.”) 8 III. SCREENING PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) AND § 1915A(b) 9 A. Legal Standards 10 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and § 1915A(b), the Court must screen a 11 prisoner’s IFP complaint and sua sponte dismiss it to the extent that it is frivolous, 12 malicious, fails to state a claim, or seeks damages from defendants who are immune. See 13 Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126–27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc); Rhodes v. Robinson, 14 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010). “The standard for determining whether Plaintiff has 15 failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the 16 same as the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a claim.” 17 Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012). Rule 12(b)(6) requires that a 18 complaint to “contain sufficient factual matter . . . to state a claim to relief that is plausible 19 on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). 20 While detailed factual allegations are not required, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements 21 of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice” to state a 22 claim. Id. The “mere possibility of misconduct” or “unadorned, the defendant-unlawfully- 23 harmed me accusation[s]” fall short of meeting this plausibility standard. Id. 24 To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must plausibly allege “both (1) deprivation 25 of a right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and (2) that the 26 deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law.” Tsao v. Desert 27 Palace, Inc., 698 F.3d 1128, 1138 (9th Cir. 2012). 28 1 B. Plaintiff’s Allegations 2 In his Complaint, Estes describes what appear to be three separate interactions with 3 law enforcement.2 He alleges that on one occasion, he was “approached” by an unnamed 4 Sheriff’s deputy, who told Estes he “want[ed to talk to [him].” ECF No. 1 at 3. Estes told 5 the deputy he was “not on parole or probation,” and kept walking. The deputy then shot 6 Estes in the back with a Taser. Plaintiff was driven to the hospital and “given a ticket for 7 resisting arrest.” Id. Estes states he suffered an injury to his lower back. Id. He was released 8 from the hospital later the same day. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
Estes v. County of San Diego, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estes-v-county-of-san-diego-casd-2024.