London Wallace v. City of Fresno

Opinion

LONDON WALLACE, CASE NO. 1:19-CV-1199 AWI SAB

Plaintiff ORDER DISMISSING WITH v. PREJUDICE DEFENDANTS MARTINEZ, LOZA, and FELLER CITY OF FRESNO, et al.,

Defendants (Doc. No. 142)

On July 27, 2022, the parties entered into a settlement agreement of this matter. See Doc. Nos. xxx, 142. Part of the settlement requires the immediate dismissal of the individual officer defendants, which will be followed by a later dismissal of the City of Fresno. See Doc. No. 142. Pursuant to the above described settlement agreement, on August 18, 2022, the parties filed a stipulation under Rule 41(a) for the dismissal with prejudice of the individual defendants (Christopher Martinez, Ricardo Loza, and Patrick Feller). See id. The stipulation is signed by counsel of all parties in this case. See id. Rule 41(a)(1), in relevant part, reads:

(A) . . . the plaintiff may dismiss an action without a court order by filing: (i) a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either an answer or a motion for summary judgment; or (ii) a stipulation of dismissal signed by all parties who have appeared. . . . (B) Unless the notice or stipulation states otherwise, the dismissal is without prejudice. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 “allows plaintiffs voluntarily to dismiss some or all of their claims against some or all defendants.” Romoland Sch. Dist. v. Inland Empire Energy Ctr., LLC, 548 F.3d 738, 748 (9th Cir. 2008). Dismissals under Rule 41(a)(1)(A), when properly filed, are effective immediately and do not require a court order/court approval. See Fed. R. Civ. P. I 41(a)(1); Yesh Music v. Lakewood Church, 727 F.3d 356, 362 (Sth Cir. 2013); Commercial Space 7, |Mgmt. Co. v. Boeing Co., 193 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir. 1999); Wilson v. City of San Jose, 111 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997); In re Wolf, 842 F.2d 464, 466 (D.C. Cir. 1989). Here, again all parties who have appeared in this case have signed the stipulated dismissal > of the individual defendants. See Doc. No. 49. Because all appearing parties have signed the ° stipulated dismissal with prejudice of the individual defendants, the individual defendants are no longer parties to this case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A); Yesh Music, 727 F.3d at 362;

Romoland, 548 F.3d at 748; Commercial Space, 193 F.3d at 1077. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1. The Clerk shall TERMINATE Defendants Christopher Martinez, Ricardo Lopez, and Patrick Feller as parties to this case in light of the parties’ filed and properly signed Rule 41(a)(1) stipulation of dismissal with prejudice; and 2. This case remains open with respect to the City of Fresno, and the August 22, 2022

deadline to file final dispositional documents remains in effect.

IS SO ORDERED. 2p EE ~_-SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE