Greathouse v. City of Fresno

District Court, E.D. California·Decided June 2, 2025·No. 1:24-cv-00715·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 JAMES GREATHOUSE, Case No. 1:24-cv-00715-JLT-BAM 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING DISMISSAL OF ACTION 13 v. (Doc. 15) 14 CITY OF FRESNO, et al., FOURTEEN-DAY DEADLINE 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff James Greathouse is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights 18 action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On January 10, 2025, the Court screened Plaintiff’s second 19 amended complaint and granted him a final opportunity to amend his complaint. (Doc. 14.) 20 Plaintiff’s third amended complaint, filed on February 21, 2025, is currently before the Court for 21 screening. (Doc. 15.) 22 I. Screening Requirement and Standard 23 The Court screens complaints brought by persons proceeding pro se and in forma 24 pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Plaintiff’s complaint, or any portion thereof, is subject to 25 dismissal if it is frivolous or malicious, if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be 26 granted, or if it seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 27 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 28 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 1 pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 2 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 3 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 4 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as 5 true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 6 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 7 To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which requires 8 sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is liable 9 for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss v. U.S. Secret 10 Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully 11 is not sufficient, and mere consistency with liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility 12 standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. 13 II. Plaintiff’s Allegations in Third Amended Complaint 14 Plaintiff brings this action against the City of Fresno and Fresno Police Department. 15 Plaintiff asserts that his complaint arises from a false arrest and excessive force “that occurred 16 [when] Plaintiff went to get his daughter from school and noticed the mother under the control of 17 a control substance while their daughter was in the mother’s case.” (Doc. 15 at 1.) Plaintiff 18 alleges as follows:

19 The plaintiff called 911 and when the [John Doe] officer arrived the officer . . . told Kayla Hicks to walk off and told the Plaintiff to place his hands behind his back. 20 Once the Plaintiff placed his hands behind his back the officer then slammed the Plaintiff against the patrol car and handcuffed him. Once John Doe handcuffed the 21 Plaintiff and the Plaintiff told the officer “now what if that was your daughter and the mother was high.” The officer John Doe then place[d] his hand on his gun as to 22 pull it out while the defendant was cuffed and stated “what did you say about my daughter.” The officer then took his hand off his gun and placed the Plaintiff in the 23 police car and yelled at Kayla Hicks and said “he pushed you on the ground” Kay Hicks then stated no the defendant didn’t and that she tripped over a tree branch. 24 The Plaintiff was then arrested for domestic violence and was falsely lacked up in the Fresno County Jail. 25 26 (Doc. 15 at 1-2.) Plaintiff further alleges that prior to being transported to the Fresno County Jail, 27 he “was left in the police car with the windows rolled up in 109-degree weather for 15 to 20 28 minutes without the air-condition on.” (Id. at 2.) While locked up in the jail, the District 1 Attorney’s office informed the Plaintiff that after what they had seen, they were not going to 2 pursue the case against him and dropped all charges. 3 Plaintiff states that he “is suing the city of Fresno because the City [employs] the Police 4 Department and this is why the city should be held liable.” (Doc. 15 at 2.) 5 III. Discussion 6 A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 10 7 The amended complaint does not have a caption that contains the name of the individual 8 John Doe officer discussed in the body of the complaint, in violation of Rule 10(a). See Fed. R. 9 Civ. P. 10(a) (Rule 10(a) requires that plaintiffs include the names of all parties in the caption of 10 the complaint). The Court cannot have the complaint served on any individual discussed in the 11 body of the Complaint. See Soto v. Bd. of Prison Term, No. CIV S-06-2502 RRB DAD P, 2007 12 WL 2947573, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 9, 2007). Rule 10 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 13 requires, among other things, that a complaint (a) state the names of “all the parties” in the 14 caption; and (b) state a party’s claims in sequentially “numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as 15 practicable to a single set of circumstances.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 10. Plaintiff's complaint is subject to 16 dismissal on this basis alone. See Martinez v. Davey, No. 16-cv-1658-AWI-MJS (PC), 2018 WL 17 898153, at *5 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 15, 2018) (dismissing, among other reasons, because “Plaintiff 18 makes allegations against numerous non-party individuals not named in the caption of the 19 complaint” in violation of Rule 10(a)). The Court does not find that leave to amend should be 20 permitted to allow for the addition of an individual defendant to the caption of the complaint. 21 Plaintiff’s amended complaint makes clear that he is suing the City of Fresno and seeks to hold 22 the City of Fresno liable for the events alleged in the amended complaint. (See Doc. 15 at 2.) 23 B. Civil Rights Act – Linkage 24 The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides:

25 Every person who, under color of [state law] . . . subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or 26 immunities secured by the Constitution . . . shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. 27 28 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The statute plainly requires that there be an actual connection or link between 1 the actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by Plaintiff. See 2 Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S.

Greathouse v. City of Fresno, (E.D. Cal. 2025).

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