Jane Doe v. County of Los Angeles

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJanuary 17, 2023
Docket2:20-cv-02748
StatusUnknown

This text of Jane Doe v. County of Los Angeles (Jane Doe 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
Jane Doe v. County of Los Angeles, (C.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

Case 2:20-cv-02748-ODW-PVC Document 64 Filed 01/17/23 Page 1 of 11 Page ID #:735

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8 United States District Court 9 Central District of California

11 JANE DOE et al., Case № 2:20-cv-02748-ODW (PVCx)

12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART 13 v. DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR 14 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES et al., SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND 15 DISMISSING STATE LAW CLAIMS Defendants. [55] 16 17 I. INTRODUCTION 18 Plaintiffs Jane Doe (“S.C.”) and her minor sister, M.S., through her guardian ad 19 litem, bring this action against Defendants County of Los Angeles, Sergeant Mark 20 Marbach (“Sergeant Marbach”), Detective Luis Torres, Detective Jon Livingston, and 21 Detective Erich Marbach (“Detective Marbach”) (collectively, “Defendant Officers”), 22 alleging ten claims arising from the Defendant Officers’ application for and execution 23 of a search warrant at Plaintiffs’ residence in Lancaster, California (“Residence”). 24 (First. Am. Compl. (“FAC”), ECF No. 42.) Defendants now move for summary 25 judgment or, in the alternative, partial summary judgment, on Plaintiffs’ ten claims. 26 (Mot. Summ. J. (“Mot.” or “Motion”), ECF No. 55.) For the reasons discussed below, 27 the Court GRANTS IN PART Defendants’ Motion as to Plaintiffs’ claims under 28 Case 2:20-cv-02748-ODW-PVC Document 64 Filed 01/17/23 Page 2 of 11 Page ID #:736

1 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiffs’ state law 2 claims.1 3 II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 4 On May 24, 2019, non-party Larry Collier Sr. reported to the Los Angeles 5 Sheriff’s Department (“LASD”) that, on April 5, 2019, his son, non-party Larry 6 Collier Jr., had threatened him with a gun. (Defs.’ Statement Undisputed Facts 7 (“DSUF”) 2, ECF No. 55-4.) Detective Marbach of the LASD was assigned to 8 investigate. (DSUF 3.) During his investigation, Detective Marbach learned and 9 verified that Collier Jr. lived at the Residence. (DSUF 7–8.) 10 On July 23, 2019, Detective Marbach applied for, and the court authorized, a 11 search warrant for the Residence and an arrest warrant for Collier Jr. (DSUF 9, 14.) 12 The Court authorized a search of the Residence for, among other things, the gun used 13 in the alleged crime on April 5, 2019, and paraphernalia tending to show Collier Jr.’s 14 affiliation with the 83rd Street Hoover Crip criminal street gang. (DSUF 10, 12, 14.) 15 On July 25, 2019, Collier Jr. was arrested pursuant to the warrant when he 16 appeared in court on a different criminal matter. (DSUF 15.) Afterwards, at 17 approximately noon, officers—including the Defendant Officers—executed the search 18 warrant at the Residence. (DSUF 16, 18.) 19 After Detective Marbach knocked and announced multiple times that the 20 officers were at the Residence to serve a search warrant, he heard a female voice, now 21 known to be S.C., state “don’t open the door.” (DSUF 20–22.) Sergeant Marbach 22 believed the unknown occupants of the Residence were being intentionally 23 uncooperative and ordered the use of breaching tools to access the Residence. 24 (DSUF 23–24.) Upon entering the house, the officers saw S.C., who was naked, at the 25 top of the stairs. (DSUF 25.) S.C. was also menstruating at the time. (Pls.’ Statement 26 Genuine Disputes (“PSGD”) 25, ECF No. 58.) 27

28 1 Having carefully considered the papers filed in connection with the Motion, the Court deemed the matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. Fed. R. Civ. P. 78; C.D. Cal. L.R. 7-15.

2 Case 2:20-cv-02748-ODW-PVC Document 64 Filed 01/17/23 Page 3 of 11 Page ID #:737

1 The parties dispute much of what follows, and the Court recounts the facts and 2 draws reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs.2 See Scott v. 3 Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378 (2007). 4 Plaintiffs contend that S.C. told the officers that she wanted to get a towel, and 5 the officers, who were pointing guns at her, refused this request.3 (PSGD 25, 31.) 6 However, within thirty seconds of entering the Residence, Sergeant Marbach directed 7 deputies to look for something with which to cover S.C. (See DSUF 31; see also 8 Knock and Announce Audio Recording.) 9 S.C. repeatedly screamed and demanded to see the search warrant. (DSUF 25; 10 Knock and Announce Audio Recording.) Sergeant Marbach ordered Detective Torres 11 to place S.C. in handcuffs and detain her in a patrol car because S.C. was preventing 12 the deputies from clearing the entire Residence, thus posing a security risk.4 13 (DSUF 28.) 14 The officers wrapped a comforter around S.C. while handcuffing her. (See Not. 15 Lodging Exs. ISO Mot., Ex. I5 (“Cell Phone Video”).) Plaintiffs contend that, while 16 handcuffing S.C., the officers put S.C. in a chokehold. (PSGD 29.) 17 2 However, the Court notes that, in disputing Defendants’ facts, Plaintiffs rely almost entirely on 18 S.C.’s deposition testimony, uncorroborated by citations to M.S.’s deposition testimony or any of the 19 audio and video footage of this encounter. (See PSGD;) see also Villiarimo v. Aloha Island Air, Inc., 281 F.3d 1054, 1061 (9th Cir. 2002) (holding “uncorroborated and self-serving” testimony 20 insufficient to raise genuine issues of fact and defeat summary judgment). Nonetheless, the Court accepts S.C.’s testimony for purposes of resolving the Motion. 21 3 Although Defendants submit an audio recording of the warrant execution, it is, at times, difficult to 22 hear what the parties say over the sound of the breaching tools and other noises. (See Not. Lodging Exs. ISO Mot., Ex. H (“Knock and Announce Audio Recording”), ECF No. 55-5.) 23 4 Plaintiffs dispute this fact on the basis that S.C. did not prevent deputies from clearing the house because some deputies were able to clear “other rooms.” (PSGD 28.) However, this says nothing 24 about whether S.C. prevented deputies from clearing the remainder of the house, including the 25 upstairs. Moreover, the Knock and Announce Audio Recording reveals that S.C. twice stated, “I’m not going to go nowhere.” (Knock and Announce Audio Recording); see also A.G., 1-4 v. City of 26 Fresno, 804 F. App’x 701, 702 (9th Cir. 2020) (citing Scott, 550 U.S. at 381) (explaining the court may “view[] the facts in the light depicted by the video[]” to the extent that it “blatantly 27 contradict[s]” one party’s version of the incident). 28 5 Exhibit I includes video footage of S.C. while S.C. is naked. The Court ORDERS Ex. I, which Defendants lodged at ECF No. 55-5, to be sealed.

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1 After Detective Torres led S.C. outside, a breeze started to open the comforter 2 around S.C., and S.C. dropped to the ground in an effort to remain clothed. 3 (PSGD 33, 40.) Several officers then jumped on S.C. (Id.) Deputies kneeled on S.C., 4 placed a hobble on S.C.’s ankles, and dragged S.C. across the grass by her feet and 5 hair. (PSGD 37, 39; DSUF 38.) Once in the patrol car, S.C. was provided with 6 clothes and a tampon. (PSGD 43.) S.C. used her hands to smear menstrual blood 7 inside of the car’s windows. (DSUF 44.) 8 Detective Marbach subsequently arrested S.C. for obstructing and delaying the 9 execution of the search warrant. (DSUF 47.) The District Attorney’s Office filed 10 criminal charges and then later dismissed the case against S.C. (DSUF 48–49.) 11 During the execution of the search warrant, M.S. was crying hysterically. 12 (DSUF 27.) Non-party Detective Germansen had M.S.

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Jane Doe v. County of Los Angeles, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jane-doe-v-county-of-los-angeles-cacd-2023.