Gant v. County of Los Angeles

765 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46536, 2011 WL 1585133
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedApril 26, 2011
DocketCase CV 08-5756 GAF (PJWx)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 765 F. Supp. 2d 1238 (Gant v. County of Los Angeles) 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
Gant v. County of Los Angeles, 765 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46536, 2011 WL 1585133 (C.D. Cal. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

GARY ALLEN FEESS, District Judge.

I.

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Kelvin Gant (“Gant”), Reginald Lenard Smith (“Smith”), and Jose Alexander Ventura (‘Ventura”) filed this putative class action against the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department, the City of Chino, the Chino Police Department, the County of San Bernardino, the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department, the City of Torrance, the Torrance Police Department, and Torrance police officers Steve Jangaard and Rod Irvine. (Docket No. 69, Third Am. Class Action Compl. (“TACC”).) Plaintiffs allege that Defendants improperly arrested them on warrants issued for other persons or improperly detained them following their improper arrests.

On October 8, 2009, the Court granted in part a motion to dismiss by the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County *1244 Sheriffs Department, the City of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Police Department. (Docket No. 94, 10/8/09 Order). The Court later also granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings on Smith’s only remaining claim. (See Docket No. 108, 2/25/10 Order, 2010 WL 679082.) Thus, only Gant and Ventura remain in this suit. The surviving claims are as follows: Ventura asserts (1) a § 1983 claim for over-detention in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights against Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (collectively, the “L.A. County Defendants”), the City of Chino and the Chino Police Department (collectively, the “Chino Defendants”), and the County of San Bernardino and the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department (collectively, the “San Bernardino Defendants”); (2) a § 1983 claim for unlawful seizure in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights against the Chino Defendants and the San Bernardino Defendants; and (3) a claim for wrongful arrest in violation of the Bane Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 52.1(b), against the Chino Defendants and the San Bernardino Defendants. (TACC ¶¶ 62-64, 68-72, 73-78). Gant asserts (1) a § 1983 claim for unlawful seizure in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights against the City of Torrance, the Torrance Police Department, Jangaard, and Irvine (collectively, the “Torrance Defendants”); (2) a § 1983 claim for over-detention in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights against the Torrance Defendants; (3) a claim against the City of Torrance and the Torrance Police Department (collectively, the “Torrance City Defendants”) for wrongful arrest in violation of the Bane Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 52.1(b); (4) a claim for false imprisonment against the Torrance City Defendants; and (5) a § 1983 claim for over-detention in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights against the L.A. County Defendants. (TACC ¶¶ 62-64, 79-82, 83-88.)

The Defendants now move for summary judgment on all these claims. (Docket Nos. 112,120,133,140,143.)

II.

FACTS

A. Warrant Systems

The California Department of Justice (“CDOJ”) operates and maintains a Wanted Persons System (“WPS”) containing information about warrants issued by courts in the state. Law enforcement agencies can access the WPS when they seek to ascertain whether a specific individual has an outstanding warrant. Warrants can contain a subject’s name and date of birth, address, physical descriptors, and various unique identifiers, including social security number and various fingerprint-based identification numbers that are assigned at the local, state, and national levels. For instance, Los Angeles County agencies assign an “L.A. Main” number (Docket No. 126, Declaration of Donald W. Cook (“126 Cook Decl.”), Ex. J [Depo. of Richard A. Summers (“Summers Depo.”)] at 29:14-30:12); San Bernardino agencies assign a “Cal I.D.” number (Docket No. 169, Second Supp. Decl. of Donald W. Cook (“169 Cook Decl.”), Ex. A [11/17/10 Deposition of Jim Nursall (“11/17/10 Nursall Depo.”) ] at 10:11-25); the CDOJ designates a California Identification Index (“CII”) number (126 Cook Decl., Ex. G [Depo. of Johanna Williams (“Williams Depo.”) ] at 8:25-9:17); and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) assigns its own separate identification number.

When an arrestee is booked in a California jail, the arrestee’s fingerprints are recorded and transmitted to the CDOJ. (See 126 Cook Decl., Ex. E [Depo. of Dennis C. Cross (“Cross Depo.”) ] at 14:8-18; accord id., Ex. K [Depo. of Cheryl Masse (“Masse Depo.”) ] at 7:15-19; Docket No. *1245 136, Declaration of Della Thompson-Bell (“Thompson-Bell Decl.”), Ex. 4 [Torrance Operations Manual] at COT000095.) If the individual’s fingerprints are already on file, his various identification numbers and criminal history will be transmitted back to the arresting agency. (126 Cook Decl., Ex. E [Cross Depo.] at 15:10-20; id., Ex. J [Summers Depo.] at 27:7:17.) If the arrestee’s fingerprints are not on file, the CDOJ will assign a new CII number and notify the arresting agency that it has done so. (Id., Ex. E [Cross Depo.] at 14:5-15:4.) A CII number can be used to generate an individual’s criminal history and can be linked to that person’s full name, aliases, birth date, residential addresses, and unique identifiers such as the person’s social security number, driver’s license number, and FBI number. (Id., Ex. K [Masse Depo.] at 21:19-22:2.) In addition, law enforcement agencies have the ability to look up an individual’s criminal history and identifying information by inputting his name and date of birth into a California Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (“CLETS”) terminal.

B. The Arrests

1. Jose Alexander Ventura

On December 13, 2007, Chino police officer Alex Courtney pulled Ventura over for a minor traffic violation. (See Docket No. 153, Declaration of Donald W. Cook (“153 Cook Decl.”), Ex. G [Vehicle Report]; accord Docket No. 145, Chino Exhibits, Ex. B [Declaration of Alex Courtney (“Courtney Decl.”)) ¶ 5.) During the stop, the officer ran a warrant cheek and discovered an outstanding Los Angeles County felony warrant for a “Jose Ventura,” bearing Ventura’s birth date. (Courtney Decl. ¶¶ 11-12.) The warrant identified the “Jose Ventura” as a 6'1" tall, 200-pound male Hispanic with the date of birth */*/ 1958 who resides in Los Angeles. (Chino Exhibits, Ex. J [Warrant Abstract].) The warrant was issued on December 22, 1994, for controlled substances violations. (Id.) The warrant abstract does not contain a CII number, Social Security number, or any other unique identifiers. (Id.) Ventura’s driver’s license indicated he was 5'6" and 180 pounds (Courtney Decl. ¶ 13), but Ventura maintained he is actually 320 pounds. Officer Courtney, however, observed that Plaintiff Ventura appeared to be taller and heavier than indicated on his driver’s license. (See id.)

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Bluebook (online)
765 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46536, 2011 WL 1585133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gant-v-county-of-los-angeles-cacd-2011.