Holiday v. Unknown Officer or Officers of the San Diego Police Department

• Court: District Court, S.D. California
• Decided: January 12, 2024
• Docket: 3:23-cv-01069
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 4 Juan Marquis HOLIDAY, Case No.: 3:23-cv-1069-AGS-MMP

5 Plaintiff, ORDER: (1) GRANTING MOTION 6 vs. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS (ECF 5) AND 7 Unknown Officer or Officers of the San

Diego Police Department, 8 (2) DISMISSING COMPLAINT Defendants. FOR FAILURE TO STATE A 9 CLAIM 10 11

12 Plaintiff Juan Marquis Holiday, a federal inmate proceeding without an attorney, 13 filed a civil-rights action based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (See ECF 1.) Holiday alleges his 14 Fourth Amendment rights were violated when unnamed San Diego Police Officer(s) 15 entered his home without a warrant. (Id. at 5.) The Court denied Holiday’s application to 16 proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed the case without prejudice. (ECF 4.) Plaintiff then 17 filed a timely renewed motion to proceed IFP. (ECF 5.) For the reasons below, the Court 18 grants Holiday’s IFP application but dismisses the complaint without prejudice and with 19 leave to amend. 20 I. MOTION TO PROCEED IFP 21 Parties instituting most civil actions in federal court must pay a filing fee of $402.1 22 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). A party may initiate a civil action without prepaying the required 23 24 25 1 In cases filed before December 1, 2023, civil litigants must pay an administrative 26 fee of $52 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 (eff. Dec. 1, 2021)). The 27 additional $52 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave to proceed IFP. 28 Id. 1 filing fee if the Court grants leave to proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a); Andrews v. 2 Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007). 3 To proceed IFP, plaintiffs must establish their inability to pay by filing an affidavit 4 regarding their income and assets. See Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 5 (9th Cir. 2015). Prisoners seeking to establish an inability to pay must also submit a 6 “certified copy of the [prisoner’s] trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) 7 for . . . the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. 8 § 1915(a)(2). From the certified trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial 9 payment of 20% of (a) the average monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, 10 or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the past six months, whichever is 11 greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(b)(1) & (4). Prisoners 12 who proceed IFP must repay the statutory fee in installments regardless of whether their 13 action is ultimately dismissed. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2); Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 14 (2016). 15 In support of his motion, Holiday provided a copy of his prison certificate and trust 16 account statement. (ECF 5, at 8–10.) During the six months before filing suit, Holiday had 17 an average monthly balance of $196.00, average monthly deposits of $196.00, and an 18 available account balance of $6.54 at the time he filed suit. (Id. at 8.) The Court finds 19 Holiday has established an inability to pay the required $350 filing fee and grants his IFP 20 motion. While the Court assesses no initial payment, Holiday will be required to pay the 21 full $350 filing fee in installments to be collected from his trust account as set forth in 22 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 23 II. SCREENING 24 A. Legal Standards 25 Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and § 1915A(b), the Court must screen a prisoner’s 26 IFP complaint and sua sponte dismiss it to the extent that it is frivolous, malicious, fails to 27 state a claim, or seeks damages from defendants who are immune. See Lopez v. Smith, 28 203 F.3d 1122, 1126–27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc); Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 1 1004 (9th Cir. 2010). “The standard for determining whether Plaintiff has failed to state a 2 claim upon which relief can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the same as the Federal 3 Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a claim.” Watison v. Carter, 4 668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012). Rule 12(b)(6) requires that a complaint to “contain 5 sufficient factual matter . . . to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft 6 v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). While detailed 7 factual allegations are not required, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of 8 action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice” to state a claim. Id. The 9 “mere possibility of misconduct” or “unadorned, the defendant-unlawfully-harmed me 10 accusation[s]” fall short of meeting this plausibility standard. Id. 11 To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must plausibly allege “both (1) deprivation 12 of a right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and (2) that the 13 deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law.” Tsao v. Desert 14 Palace, Inc., 698 F.3d 1128, 1138 (9th Cir. 2012). 15 B. Plaintiff’s Allegations 16 Holiday alleges that on February 7, 2017, an unnamed San Diego Police Department 17 officer entered his home on Paseo Aurora Road without a warrant. (See ECF 1.) Holiday 18 claims that an SDPD officer was investigating a citizen’s report that “a man was hitting a 19 child in the backseat of a blue Jaguar” and was looking for the owner of a blue Jaguar, 20 “M.R.,” who the officer believed lived at the Paseo Aurora residence. (Id. at 3.) When the 21 officer arrived at the residence there was no blue Jaguar in the driveway. The officer went 22 to the front door, which was closed, found it unlocked, opened it without knocking, and 23 entered. (Id.) The officer had no warrant. (Id.) 24 Holiday and his wife were home at the time and “confronted” the officer. (Id.) 25 Holiday was “fearful as to the officer’s motivation” and therefore answered the officer’s 26 questions. (Id. at 4.) The officer asked Holiday his name, which he provided. The officer 27 then inquired whether Holiday owned a blue Jaguar, to which Holiday responded, “no.” 28 (Id.) At some point during the encounter, the officer turned on his bodycam. (Id. at 5.) 1 Footage from the officer’s bodycam was later introduced at Holiday’s criminal trial on 2 unrelated robbery charges.2 (Id.) 3 On appeal of his criminal conviction, Holiday argued his constitutional rights had 4 been violated by the warrantless entry and the United State Court of Appeals for the Ninth 5 Circuit agreed––holding, in a published decision, that the February 7, 2017 warrantless 6 entry into the Paseo Aurora residence violated Holiday’s Fourth Amendment rights. (Id. 7 at 5); see also United States v. Holiday, 998 F.3d 888 (9th Cir. 2021), cert. granted, vacated 8 on other grounds and remanded by Holiday v. United States, 142 S. Ct. 2857 (2022)). 9 In his complaint, Holiday contends his Fourth Amendment right to be free from 10 unreasonable searches was violated when law enforcement entered his residence without a 11 warrant. (ECF 1, at 1–5.) He seeks declaratory relief and money damages. (Id. at 7.) 12 C. Discussion 13 1. Fourth Amendment Claim and Unnamed Defendant(s) 14 Holiday alleges his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by “Unknown Officer 15 or Officers of the San Diego Police Department.”3 (ECF 1, at 1.) The Fourth Amendment 16 guarantees citizens the right “to be secure in their persons . . . against unreasonable . . . 17 seizures” of the person. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394 (1989). And “searches and 18 seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable.” Payton v. New 19 York, 445 U.S. 573, 590 (1980) (stating “physical entry of the home is the chief evil against 20 which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed”). Taking Holiday’s allegations 21

22 23 2 It appears the officer’s bodycam footage showed Holiday wearing shoes consistent with a witness’s description of a robbery suspect’s footwear. See United States v. Holiday, 24 998 F.3d 888 (9th Cir. 2021). This evidence was later introduced against Holiday at his 25 criminal trial. See id.

26 3 While Holiday’s reference to “Defendant(s)” makes it unclear how many 27 defendants he is attempting to name, the factual allegations in the Complaint imply only one police officer entered the residence. (See ECF 1, at 4–5.) 28 1 as true, the Court finds he has asserted sufficient facts to “plausibly allege” a constitutional 2 violation. Indeed, the Ninth Circuit has already concluded the warrantless entry into 3 Holiday’s home violated his constitutional rights.4 See Holiday, 998 F.3d at 893–94. 4 Despite this finding, without the name(s) of the unknown defendant(s) the Court 5 cannot order the U.S. Marshals’ Service to serve Holiday’s complaint. See 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(d); Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3); see also Hunter v. Sandoval, No. 2:17-cv-09257-CJC- 7 SHK, 2018 WL 6074562, at *4 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 31, 2018) (“[W]ithout any named 8 defendants, the Court cannot order service of the Complaint.” (citations omitted)). Because 9 “the use of ‘John Doe’ or ‘Jane Doe’ to identify a defendant is not favored,” Gillespie v. 10 Civiletti, 629 F.2d 637, 642 (9th Cir. 1980), other courts have concluded that when a 11 plaintiff proceeding pro se and IFP states a claim against an unnamed defendant sufficient 12 to survive screening, the appropriate course of action is to dismiss the complaint but to 13 grant the plaintiff leave to amend substituting the true name of that defendant. See, e.g., 14 Hunter, 2018 WL 6074562, at *3–5 (“[I]f Plaintiff files a [first amended complaint] that 15 only names Doe defendants . . . it will be subject to dismissal.”); Linsey v. Dzurenda, No. 16 2:18-cv-00902-JAD-VCF, 2019 WL 7194560, at *2 (D. Nev. Dec. 26, 2019); see also 17 Walker v. Sumner, 14 F.3d 1415, 1422 (9th Cir. 1994) (in order to properly effect service 18 under Rule 4 in an IFP case, the plaintiff is required to “furnish the information necessary 19 to identify the defendant.”); Finefeuiaki v. Maui Cmty. Corr. Ctr. Staff & Affiliates, CIV. 20 NO. 18-00249 DKW-KJM, 2018 WL 3580764, at *6 (D. Haw. July 25, 2018) (noting that 21 “[a]s a practical matter, the United States Marshal cannot serve a summons and complaint 22 on an anonymous defendant.”). Thus, the Court dismisses the complaint with leave to 23 amend. 24

25 26 4 The Ninth Circuit went on to conclude that the trial court’s error in admitting evidence gathered as a result was harmless because there was sufficient additional evidence 27 to support the verdict. See Holiday, 998 F.3d at 894 (holding that given “the strength of the 28 other evidence, . . . the error in admitting the body camera evidence was harmless”). 1 2. Statute of Limitations 2 Furthermore, it appears the claim is barred by the statute of limitations. A court may 3 raise a statute of limitations bar sua sponte and dismiss a claim when the running of the 4 statute of limitations is apparent on the face of the complaint. See Levald, Inc. v. City of 5 Palm Desert, 998 F.2d 680, 686–87 (9th Cir. 1993). A complaint, however, may not be 6 dismissed without leave to amend “unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can 7 prove no set of facts that would establish the timeliness of the claim.” Id. (citation and 8 internal quotations omitted); see Jump San Diego, LLC v. Kruger, 671 Fed. App’x 496, 9 497–98 (9th Cir. 2016) (stating plaintiff should be allowed to amend when “it is not certain 10 that [plaintiff could] prove no set of facts that would establish the timeliness of the 11 claim[s]”). 12 Section 1983 does not contain its own limitations period and instead borrows the 13 two-year limitations period for personal-injury claims applicable to the forum state of 14 California. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1; see also Jones v. Blanas, 393 F.3d 918, 927 15 (9th Cir. 2004). In addition, California law allows for the limitation period to be tolled for 16 up to two additional years if the plaintiff is, “at the time the cause of action accrued, 17 imprisoned on a criminal charge, or in execution under the sentence of a criminal court for 18 a term less than for life.” Cal. Civ. Code § 352.1. 19 Generally, that clock begins to run “when the plaintiff knows or has reason to know 20 of the injury which is the basis of the action.” See Bonelli, 28 F. 4th at 952 (quoting 21 Lukovsky v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 535 F.3d 1044, 1048 (9th Cir. 2008)). 22 “[F]ederal law holds that a cause of action for illegal search and seizure accrues when the 23 wrongful act occurs . . . even if the person does not know at the time that the search was 24 warrantless.” Belanus v. Clark, 796 F.3d 1021, 1026 (9th Cir. 2015); see also Klein v. City 25 of Beverly Hills, 865 F.3d 1276, 1279 (9th Cir. 2017) (“In a traditional Fourth Amendment 26 case, the plaintiff is placed on constructive notice of the illegal conduct when the search 27 and seizure takes place.”). 28 Holiday’s Fourth Amendment claim accrued on the date of the February 7, 2017 1 warrantless entry. Holiday filed this action on June 1, 2023, over six years after the claim 2 accrued and over four years after the two-year limitation period expired. While, as 3 discussed above, California law allows for two years of tolling based on a plaintiff’s 4 incarceration, it does not apply here because Holiday was not incarcerated “at the time the 5 cause of action accrued.” See Cal. Civ. Code § 352.1. Holiday was out of custody on 6 February 7, 2017, the day of the search. (ECF 1, at 1.)5 Yet even if he were entitled to 7 two more years of tolling, the limitation period would have expired in 2021, and his claim 8 would still be over two years late. 9 Although Holiday’s complaint appears untimely, it’s possible he could allege other 10 facts to show other tolling applies that would make his claims timely. See, e.g., Hull v. 11 Central Pathology Serv. Med. Clinic, 28 Cal. App. 4th 1328, 1335 (1994) (discussing the 12 equitable tolling requirements). Currently, though, Holiday has failed to plead any facts 13 which, if proved, would support any plausible claim for other types of tolling. See 14 Cervantes, 5 F.3d at 1277; Hinton v. Pac. Enters., 5 F.3d 391, 395 (9th Cir. 1993) (stating 15 the plaintiff carries the burden to plead facts which would give rise to equitable tolling). 16 Regardless, it is apparent on the face of the pleadings that the complaint was filed 17 more than six years after the two-year clock started. See Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 18 1221, 1228–30 (9th Cir. 1984). Thus, the claim is dismissed without prejudice for failure 19 to state a claim. See Levald, 998 F.2d at 687; see also 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), 20 1915A(b)(1). 21 D. Leave to Amend 22 Because of his pro se status, and to permit Holiday the opportunity to identify the 23 unnamed defendant(s) and allege additional facts that might support tolling, the Court 24

25 26 5 Holiday was arrested on May 15, 2017, on federal criminal charges brought in this 27 Court, and has been detained or incarcerated since then. See United States v. Holiday, 17-cr-1370-AJB (S.D. Cal.), ECF 2, 12, 184, 208. 28 1 |] grants Holiday leave to amend. See Rosati v. Igbinoso, 791 F.3d 1037, 1039 (9th Cir. 2015) 2 ||(“A district court should not dismiss a pro se complaint without leave to amend unless it is 3 || absolutely clear that the deficiencies of the complaint could not be cured by amendment.” 4 || (cleaned up)). 5 Hf. CONCLUSION AND ORDER 6 For the reasons set forth above, the Court hereby: 7 1. GRANTS plaintiff's Motion to proceed IFP. 8 2. ORDERS the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, her designee, or any 9 ||agency later having custody, to collect from plaintiffs trust account the $350 filing fee 10 || owed by collecting monthly payments in an amount equal to twenty percent (20%) of the 11 || preceding month’s income and to forward payments to the Clerk of the Court each time 12 ||the amount in plaintiff's account exceeds $10. All payments must be clearly identified by 13 ||the name and number assigned to this action. 14 3. DISMISSES the complaint without prejudice and with leave to amend. 15 4. GRANTS plaintiff until March 15, 2024, to file an amended complaint that 16 cures the deficiencies noted in this Order. Plaintiff's amended complaint must be complete 17 itself without reference to any previous version of his pleading. See S.D. Cal. CivLR 18 || 15.1. If plaintiff fails to timely amend, the Court will enter a final Order dismissing this 19 || civil action. 20 Dated: January 12, 2024 21 A | fi Hon. rew G. Schopler United States District Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28