JULIO CESAR SANCHEZ-MARTINEZ v. D. FREITAS, et al.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided February 3, 2026·No. 4:22-cv-07144·Unknown

Opinion

JULIO CESAR SANCHEZ-MARTINEZ, Case No. 22-cv-07144-HSG

Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE; GRANTING v. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT D. FREITAS, et al., Re: Dkt. Nos. 41, 41-2, 47 Defendants.

Plaintiff Julio Cesar Sanchez-Martinez, a state prisoner currently housed at Kern Valley State Prison, has filed this pro se action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 regarding his conditions of confinement at Santa Cruz County Jail (“SCCJ”), where he was housed as a pretrial detainee. This order addresses the following pending motions: Defendants’ request for judicial notice, Dkt. Nos. 41-2, 47, and Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Dkt. No. 41. Plaintiff has filed an opposition to the request for judicial notice, Dkt. No. 48, and an opposition to the summary judgment motion, Dkt. No. 45. Defendants have filed a reply in support of their summary judgment motion, Dkt. No. 46. For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Defendants’ request for judicial notice, Dkt. Nos. 41-2, 47, and GRANTS Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Dkt. No. 41. I. Procedural Background On or about November 15, 2022, Plaintiff commenced this action by filing the complaint docketed at Dkt. No. 1. At that time, Plaintiff was a pre-trial detainee housed at Santa Cruz County Jail (“SCCJ”). See Dkt. No. 1 at 1-2. The initial complaint alleged that (1) Plaintiff was popped open by inmates; active gang members are housed with gang dropouts; SCCJ fails to ensure that there is a staff member present at the control desk at all times; and in May 2022, SCCJ correctional officials housed Plaintiff in an unit which also housed active gang members and where doors could be popped open; and (3) SCCJ has designated some issues as non-grieveable. See generally Dkt. No. 1. The Court dismissed the first and third claims with prejudice because they failed to state a claim, and dismissed the second claim with leave to amend because Plaintiff had not identified how the conditions had specifically put him at risk. Dkt. No. 7. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint, which is the operative complaint. Dkt. No. 11. The Court found that the amended complaint stated a cognizable Fourteenth Amendment claim against SCCJ correctional officers P. Ramos, D. Frietas, B. Cleveland, D. Robbins, C. Shearer, J. Ainsworth, K. Ureta, V. Mora, D. Ganschow, A. Zaragoza, R. Seavers, and J. Reed (collectively, “Defendants”) for deliberate indifference to inmate safety. The amended complaint alleged that Defendants have not addressed the following known unsafe jail conditions: (1) SCCJ’s door locking mechanism is ineffective and inmates can easily pop open cell doors and exit to assault other inmates; (2) SCCJ’s housing classification puts inmates at risk because it does not separate minimum, medium, and maximum-security inmates; violent inmates from non-violent inmates; mental health inmates from inmates without mental health issues; and active gang members from dropout gang members; (3) SCCJ does not have an officer present at all times as required by state regulations and necessary for inmate safety, and (4) the SCCJ officer-to-inmate ratio is inadequate, resulting in a delay in responding to inmate activation of emergency buttons. The amended complaint raised two other claims regarding a December 30, 2022 strip search and the jail mail policy. The Court dismissed these two claims as barred by Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2)’s joinder requirements and without prejudice to raising them in separate actions. See generally Dkt. No. 16. Defendants sought dismissal of this action on the grounds that Plaintiff lacked Article III standing to bring this claim, arguing that on the face of the complaint, Plaintiff had suffered no injury in fact and was relying on vague speculation regarding a future risk of harm; that the complaint lacked the specificity required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 because it failed to identify what was allegedly informed of a safety deficiency; and that the complaint did not state a Fourteenth Amendment claim because it lacked sufficient factual matter from which the Court could reasonably infer that Plaintiff had suffered harm. The Court denied the motion to dismiss in light of the requirement that pro se complaints be liberally construed. The Court dismissed with prejudice the damages claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e) because Plaintiff had not alleged physical injury. Dkt. No. 29. II. Request for Judicial Notice (Dkt. Nos. 41-2, 47) Defendants have requested that the Court take judicial notice of (1) California Code of Regulations, Title 15, Division 1, Chapter 1, Subchapter 4, “Minimum Standards for Local Detention Facilities;” and (2) Santa Cruz County Superior Court Docket for The People of California v. Julio Sanchez, Case No. 21-CV-03676. Dkt. Nos. 41-2, 47. Defendants argue that judicial notice is appropriate pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 201 and 801(d)(2); Lockwood v. Wolf Corp., 629 F.2d 603, 611 (9th Cir. 1980); and Skilstaf, Inc. v. CVS Caremark Corp, 669 F.3d 1005, 1016 fn. 9 (9th Cir. 2012). Dkt. Nos. 41-2, 47.1 Plaintiff opposes the request for judicial notice (“RJN”) on the following grounds. He argues that the facts to be noticed are not relevant to the disposition of this case; that he has never been convicted of a gang allegation or a gang enhancement; that his state criminal proceeding had no mention of gangs; that this RJN is an “ill filing” for which he seeks sanctions; and that the RJN was not permitted by the Court because it is both excessive and Defendants did not first seek leave of court. Dkt. No. 46. The Court DENIES Defendants’ conclusory and barebones request for judicial notice. Defendants have not explained why they are seeking judicial notice of state regulations or of the docket in Plaintiff’s state court criminal proceeding. State regulations do not need to be judicially noticed before a federal court may consider or apply them. Defendants also have not identified the grounds for seeking judicial notice. Fed. R. Evid. 201 governs judicial notice and provides two grounds for seeking judicial notice, but Defendants have not identified which ground is applicable to the state regulations or to the case docket. Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2), Lockwood, and Skilstaf are

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

JULIO CESAR SANCHEZ-MARTINEZ v. D. FREITAS, et al., (N.D. Cal. 2026).

JULIO CESAR SANCHEZ-MARTINEZ v. D. FREITAS, et al. (JULIO CESAR SANCHEZ-MARTINEZ v. D. FREITAS, et al.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related