John Guidice v. James Priest

604 F. App'x 560

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: May 19, 2015
• Docket: 13-56240
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

John A. Guidice appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his defamation action arising from events that occurred on Vandenberg Air Force Base. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal for failure to state a claim, Pride v. Correa, 719 F.3d 1130, 1133 (9th Cir.2013), and we affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Guidice’s defamation claim because Priest’s statement that Guidice shouted is not actionable. See Taus v. Loftus, 40 Cal.4th 683, 54 Cal.Rptr.3d 775, 151 P.3d 1185, 1209 (2007) (setting forth elements of a defamation claim and explaining that an expression of opinion cannot form the basis of a defamation action); Grillo v. Smith, 144 Cal.App.3d 868, 193 Cal.Rptr. 414, 417 (1983) (“The words ‘angry,’ ‘shouted,’ [and] ‘stormed,’ ... fall clearly on the opinion side of the line. They are subjective words ... of the sort which have been found to be opinion as a matter of law frequently in the past.”).

AFFIRMED.

** This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.