Jose Alba v. Arizona, State of, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedMarch 31, 2026
Docket2:23-cv-01419
StatusUnknown

This text of Jose Alba v. Arizona, State of, et al. (Jose Alba v. Arizona, State of, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jose Alba v. Arizona, State of, et al., (D. Ariz. 2026).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 JDN 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 10 11 Jose Alba, No. CV-23-01419-PHX-MTL (ASB) 12 Plaintiff, 13 vs. ORDER 14 Arizona, State of, et al., 15 Defendants.

16 17 On July 31, 2025, the Court granted Motions for Summary Judgment filed by the 18 State of Arizona (“the State”), the City of Scottsdale (“the City”), Scottsdale Officer Sean 19 Ryan, and former and current Maricopa County Sheriffs Paul Penzone and Jerry Sheridan 20 (“the Sheriffs”). (Doc. 94.) In its Summary Judgment Order, the Court issued an order 21 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f)(1) for Plaintiff Jose Alba to show cause 22 why the remaining claims against Maricopa County (“the County”) should not also be 23 dismissed because they rely on the same material facts as the claims against the State and 24 the Sheriffs. (Id. at 20.) Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Response to the Order to Show 25 Cause. (Doc. 95.) The Court will dismiss the claims against the County and terminate the 26 action. 27 I. Background 28 Plaintiff brought this pro se civil rights case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law 1 against the State, the City, Officer Ryan, the County, and the Sheriffs. (Doc. 26.)1 Plaintiff 2 initiated this action in Maricopa County Superior Court, and the State removed the action 3 to federal court. (Doc. 1, No. CV2-23-093027.) 4 Plaintiff’s claims arose in 2022, after Plaintiff was acquitted on two criminal charges 5 but found guilty on a third, and he was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months imprisonment. 6 (Doc. 26 ¶ 16.) At his sentencing on November 3, 2022, Plaintiff was given credit for 7 pretrial detention that totaled 2 years and 8 months, and he was told that upon his return to 8 the Maricopa County Jail after the hearing, he would be immediately released. (Id. ¶¶ 17– 9 18.) Plaintiff continued to be held in jail and was not released until February 6, 2023. (Id. 10 ¶ 25; Doc. 66 ¶ 21: Doc. 82 ¶ 21.) 11 As relevant here, Plaintiff asserted a state law claim of prolongation of 12 imprisonment and false imprisonment against the State, the County, and Sheriff Penzone 13 (Count One). (Doc. 26 ¶¶ 5–31.) Plaintiff also asserted claims under § 1983 and state law 14 against the County and Sheriff Penzone (Count Two). (Id. ¶¶ 32–38.) The Court construed 15 Plaintiff’s § 1983 claim in Count Two as a Fourteenth Amendment Due Process claim. 16 (Doc. 94 at 10.) See Gant v. City of Los Angeles, 772 F.3d 608, 620 (9th Cir. 2014) (“[a] 17 wrongful detention can ripen into a due process violation if ‘it was or should have been 18 known [by the defendant] that the [plaintiff] was entitled to release’”) (quoting Lee v. City 19 of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 683 (9th Cir. 2001)). 20 The Court granted summary judgment on the claims against the State and the 21 Sheriffs after determining that Plaintiff’s detention after his November 3, 2022, sentencing 22 23 1 In his First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff also named numerous Doe Defendants. (Doc. 26.) The Court dismissed the Doe Defendants because Plaintiff failed to timely move 24 to substitute the named individuals in place of the Doe Defendants. (Doc. 94 at 17–18.) In his Response to the Order to Show Cause, Plaintiff requests that the Court amend its 25 Order to reinstate the Doe Defendants. (Doc. 95 at 2.) Plaintiff states that the Doe Defendants refer to certain FBI personnel whose names were unknown at the time. (Id.) 26 To the extent Plaintiff seeks reconsideration of a portion of the Court’s Summary Judgment, his request is untimely. See LRCiv 7.2(g)(2) (any motion for reconsideration 27 must be filed within 14 days of the Order that is the subject of the motion). Plaintiff also fails to present any valid grounds for reconsideration. See LRCiv 7.2(g)(1); Motorola, Inc. 28 v. J.B. Rodgers Mech. Contractors, 215 F.R.D. 581, 582–83, 586 (D. Ariz. 2003). Thus, Plaintiff’s request to amend its Order to reinstate the Doe Defendants is denied. 1 was a lawful detention because outstanding bonds existed for 2018 and 2019 criminal 2 matters that justified detention. (Doc. 94 at 7–13, 20.) 3 The County did not move for summary judgment as to the claims against it 4 ostensibly because Plaintiff failed to properly serve the County. (See Doc. 70 at 2 n.1.) 5 But the Court determined that, because the County consented to removal of this action from 6 state court to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a), the County waived service. (Doc. 7 94 at 20.) 8 II. Summary Judgment Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f)(1) 9 Rule 56(f)(1) provides that a court may “(1) grant summary judgment for a 10 nonmovant; (2) grant the motion on grounds not raised by a party; or (3) consider summary 11 judgment on its own after identifying for the parties material facts that may not be 12 genuinely in dispute,” so long as the Court first “giv[es] notice and a reasonable time to 13 respond.” See Greene v. Solano Cnty. Jail, 513 F.3d 982, 990 (9th Cir. 2008) (reversing 14 summary judgment as to some claims because the pro se plaintiff “did not have notice and 15 an opportunity to oppose summary judgment on those claims”). 16 Here, the Court identified the material facts that may not be genuinely in dispute 17 and provided Plaintiff an opportunity to respond and show cause why, considering these 18 material facts, the claims against the County should not be dismissed. 19 III. Relevant Facts 20 The facts in this case were set out in the Court’s Summary Judgment Order. The 21 Court repeats some of them here because Plaintiff’s claims are fact specific. 22 In 2018, Plaintiff was charged with aggravated assault, domestic violence, and 23 disorderly conduct. (Doc. 66 ¶ 1; Doc. 82 ¶ 1; Doc. 66-3 at 15, Pl. Dep. 13:12–23, Sept. 24 16, 2024.) On February 19, 2020, Plaintiff posted the $50,000 bond in this case. (Doc. 66 25 ¶ 1; Doc. 82 ¶ 1; Doc. 66-3 at 16, Pl. Dep. 14:18–22.) 26 In 2019, Plaintiff was charged with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct. 27 (Doc. 66 ¶ 6; Doc. 82 ¶ 6; Doc. 66-3 at 24, Pl. Dep. 22:24–23:3.) On November 26, 2019, 28 Plaintiff paid the $25,000 bond in this case. (Id.; Doc. 66-3, Pl. Dep. 22:3–23, 23:4–6.) 1 On January 9, 2020, the Scottsdale Police Department arrested Plaintiff for money 2 laundering and conspiracy and took him into custody. (Doc. 68 ¶ 7; Doc. 68-2 at 3, Ryan 3 Decl. ¶ 10; Doc. 68-2 at 50–55.) Because Plaintiff was on release for the 2019 criminal 4 matter at the time of this 2020 offense, the State requested that he be held on “non-bondable 5 status.” (Doc. 68-2 at 158 (March 3, 2021, Minute Entry); Doc. 68-2 at 66.) 6 On January 10, 2020, the bond for the 2019 criminal case was exonerated. (Doc. 7 66 ¶ 7; Doc. 82 ¶ 7.)2 8 On February 21, 2020, the bond for the 2018 criminal case was exonerated. (Doc. 9 66 ¶ 2; Doc. 82 ¶ 2.) 10 Plaintiff was charged in the 2020 criminal case with three counts: possession of 11 narcotic drugs for sale; money laundering; and possession of drug paraphernalia. (Doc. 12 68-2 at 138, Hr’g Tr. 60:6–13, March 3, 2021.) On March 3, 2021, an evidentiary hearing 13 was held on Plaintiff’s “non-bondable status,” and the Court ordered that Plaintiff continue 14 to be held without bond. (Doc. 68 ¶¶ 15, 20; Doc.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dennis Harold Mundt v. United States
611 F.2d 1257 (Ninth Circuit, 1980)
Greene v. Solano County Jail
513 F.3d 982 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)
Kelvin Gant v. County of Los Angeles
772 F.3d 608 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Ignacio Torres
807 F.3d 257 (Seventh Circuit, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Jose Alba v. Arizona, State of, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jose-alba-v-arizona-state-of-et-al-azd-2026.