Lionell J. Tillman v. Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office et al.

District Court, C.D. California·Decided October 5, 2023·No. 2:22-cv-05755·Unknown

Opinion

LIONELL J. TILLMAN, Case No. 2:22-cv-05755-SSS (MAA) Plaintiff, REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE v. JUDGE LOS ANGELES COUNTY OFFICE et al., Defendants. This Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Honorable Sunshine Suzanne Sykes pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636 and General Order 05- 07 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. On August 15, 2022, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed a Complaint initiating this lawsuit. (ECF No. 1.) On September 14, 2022, the District Court granted Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis. (ECF Nos. 3, 5–7.) The Complaint was filed against the Los Angeles County (“County”) District Attorney’s Office, County Bureau of Family Support (the “Agency”), and County Risk Management. (ECF No. 1, at ¶¶ 5–7.)1 Plaintiff asserted nine claims: (i) 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”); (ii) violation of due process rights, Fourteenth Amendment; (iii) fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341; (iv) mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341; (v) wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343; (vi) trespass; (vii) defamation, 28 U.S.C. § 1401 and Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”); (viii) kidnapping and ransom, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1201, 1202; and (ix) extortion, 18 U.S.C. § 872. (See generally id.) On September 19, 2022, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), which added two defendants—the County and Steven J. Golightly, Ph.D (former Director of the Agency)—but generally contained the same factual allegations and claims as the Complaint. (ECF No. 13.) On September 21, 2022, the Court screened the FAC and dismissed it with leave to amend. (ECF No. 14.) On October 21, 2022, Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the County District Attorney’s Office and County Risk Management (ECF No. 18) and filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) against the County, the Agency, and Director Golightly (ECF No. 17). The SAC abandoned all the claims in the FAC and replaced them with three claims: (i) 22 CCR § 116140 and FCRA; (ii) 42 U.S. Code § 666(5)(I) and Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury; and (iii) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and CCP § 695.060. (ECF No. 17, at 5, 7–8.) On January 18, 2023, the Court screened the SAC and dismissed it with leave to amend. (ECF No. 20.) On February 23, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Third Amended Complaint (“TAC”) against the same three defendants in the SAC (the County, the Agency, and Director Golightly). (ECF No. 24.) Once again, Plaintiff abandoned all the claims in his previous complaint, and replaced them with three claims pursuant to Section 1983: (i) Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process; (ii) Fourteenth Amendment interference with parent/child relationship; and (iii) Fifth Amendment due process 1 Pinpoint citations to docketed documents are to paragraphs, and, if none, to the page numbers in the CM/ECF-generated headers. right to travel. (Id. at 5–7.) On March 21, 2023, the Court screened the TAC and dismissed it with leave to amend. (ECF No. 26.) On July 17, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Fourth Amended Complaint (“4AC”) against the County, the Agency, and Director Golightly, and also added three new defendants: Monica Smith, staff attorney at the Agency; Terrie Hardy, Director of the Agency; and Victor Reichman, Commissioner (each, a “Defendant” and collectively, “Defendants”). (ECF No. 31, at ¶¶ 40–48.) Once again, Plaintiff abandoned all the claims in his previous complaint and replaced them with thirteen new claims: (i) Section 1983 and assumption of duty; (ii) Section 1983 and negligence; (iii) Section 1983 and unjust enrichment; (iv) Section 1983 and “substantive due process: special relationship and state created danger”; (v) defamation; (vi) breach of fiduciary relationship; (vii) breach of contract; (viii) malicious prosecution; (ix) Section 1983 and constructive fraud; (x) Section 1983 and municipal liability for failure to train; (xi) Section 1983 and breach of fiduciary duty; (xii) Section 1983 and defamation; and (xiii) Section 1983 and trespass to chattels. (Id. ¶¶ 92–170.) On July 31, 2023, the Court screened the 4AC and dismissed it with leave to amend. (ECF No. 32.) On August 30, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Amend. (ECF No. 34.) On September 14, 2023, the Court granted Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend (ECF No. 35) and docketed the Fifth Amended Complaint (“5AC,” ECF No. 36). The 5AC asserts the same claims against the same Defendants as the 4AC. (Compare ECF No. 31, at ¶¶ 92–170, with ECF No. 36, at ¶¶ 60–138.) For the reasons below, it is recommended that the District Court DISMISS Plaintiff’s federal Section 1983 claims with prejudice and without leave to amend, DECLINE supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s state law claims, and enter Judgment and DISMISS this action in its entirety. /// /// II. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS AND CLAIMS2 Defendants prosecuted Plaintiff in an administrative proceeding for paternity and child support. (See ECF No. 36, at ¶ 71–72.) Plaintiff is not the father of the infant child. (Id. ¶ 68.) Defendants declared Plaintiff’s paternity without a subpoena or due process safeguards. (Id. ¶ 75.) A judgment for installment payments of child support was entered on May 10, 1997. (Id. at 34.) Plaintiff initiated a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court (“Superior Court”) challenging the child support judgment. (See id. ¶ 44.) On or about January 30, 2018, the Superior Court ordered the County and the Agency to cease all child support enforcement until the outcome of the case. (Id. ¶ 131.) On or about June 1, 2018, Plaintiff “proved the Defendants heard and executed by non- judicial officers without consent, all writs and processes were not under the seal of the court or signed by the clerk thereof pursuant to 28 USC 1691, and the process of service was fraud.” (Id. ¶ 44 (errors in original).) On or about June 15, 2018, the Los Angeles Superior Court set aside the Default and Default Judgment in Plaintiff’s child support action, dismissed the case for extrinsic fraud, and ordered the Defendants to stop all enforcement. (Id. ¶ 45.) On or about September 2020, Plaintiff and the mother of his children purchased a home at 7059 Hoover Way, Buena Park, CA 90620. (Id. ¶ 46.) On or about February 2021, Plaintiff and the mother of his children separated and Plaintiff moved to 10360 Kimberly Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002. (Id. ¶ 47.) On or about March 2021, Director Hardy replaced Director Golightly as Director of the Agency. (Id. ¶ 48.) On or about August 2021, the mother of Plaintiff’s children asked Plaintiff to participate in a refinance of the property, and Plaintiff agreed to help her. (Id. ¶ 49.) While in the refinance process, the refinance company notified Plaintiff that there 2 The Court summarizes Plaintiff’s allegations and claims in the 5AC and Exhibits, without opining on their veracity or making any findings of fact. was an active lien on his name as a debtor to the County and Child Support Services. (Id.) Plaintiff sent the refinance company his “Order After the Hearing,” proving that the child support case was dismissed for extrinsic fraud in 2018. (Id.) The following week, the refinance company confirmed that “Title cleared the erroneous child support lie

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

Lionell J. Tillman v. Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office et al., (C.D. Cal. 2023).

Lionell J. Tillman v. Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office et al. (Lionell J. Tillman v. Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office et al.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

United States v. Holley
23 F.3d 902 (Fifth Circuit, 1994)
Conley v. Gibson
355 U.S. 41 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Foman v. Davis
371 U.S. 178 (Supreme Court, 1962)
Armstrong v. Manzo
380 U.S. 545 (Supreme Court, 1965)
United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs
383 U.S. 715 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Buckley v. Valeo
424 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill
484 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1988)
City of Canton v. Harris
489 U.S. 378 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Neitzke v. Williams
490 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Wyatt v. Cole
504 U.S. 158 (Supreme Court, 1992)
National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan
536 U.S. 101 (Supreme Court, 2002)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Carlsbad Technology, Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc.
556 U.S. 635 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Sanford v. MemberWorks, Inc.
625 F.3d 550 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Chapman v. Pier 1 Imports (U.S.) Inc.
631 F.3d 939 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Alameda Books, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles
631 F.3d 1031 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Morelli v. Webster
552 F.3d 12 (First Circuit, 2009)