McQuarters v. Borgna

District Court, N.D. California·Decided July 18, 2023·No. 3:22-cv-03679·Unknown

Opinion

ORLANDO MCQUARTERS, Case No. 22-cv-03679-TSH

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND v. DENYING IN PART: MOTIONS TO DISMISS GIOVANNA BORGNA, et al., Re: Dkt. Nos. 48, 61 Defendants.

Pending before the Court are two Motions to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(6), one filed by Defendant Alexander Molina (ECF No. 48), and one filed by Defendants City of Oakland and James Yamashita (ECF No. 61). Plaintiff filed an Opposition to each Motion (ECF Nos. 52, 65) and Defendants filed Replies (ECF Nos. 53, 66). The Court finds this matter suitable for disposition without oral argument and VACATES the July 20, 2023 hearing. See Civ. L.R. 7-1(b). For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART the motions.1 A. Factual Background Plaintiff Orlando McQuarters is a resident of Oakland. ECF No. 24 ¶ 1. Defendants Borgna, Lamphiear, Yamashita, and Molina are Oakland Police Officers employed by the City of Oakland (“the City”) at the time of the incident. Id. ¶¶ 3-6. On December 26, 2019, at 3:30 p.m. McQuarters was sitting across the street from the West Oakland Health Center. Id. ¶ 11. Officers Borgna and Lamphiear drove alongside McQuarters, deciding if he fit the description of man who had a warrant for his arrest. Id. ¶ 12. Plaintiff got on his bike, at which point Officer Lamphiear got out of the vehicle and began chasing after McQuarters on foot. Id. ¶ 13. Officer Borgna pursued McQuarters in the police vehicle. Id. Officer Borgna caught up to McQuarters and intentionally steered her vehicle toward him to close off his path, channeling McQuarters in the direction of parked cars. Id. ¶ 14. Borgna’s vehicle collided with McQuarters, causing him to ride his bike into a parked car and for his body to flip over the bicycle handlebars, severely injuring his back. Id. ¶ 15. Officer Borgna searched McQuarters’ pocket and obtained McQuarters’ wallet containing his California identification. Id. ¶ 18. Officer Lamphiear took the wallet and immediately observed McQuarters did not possess the name, date of birth, height, weight, or address of the man who was wanted for arrest. Id. The officers still placed the handcuffed McQuarters in the back of Officer Borgna’s police vehicle. Id. McQuarters remained handcuffed in the back of the police vehicle for approximately 20 minutes. Id. ¶ 19. While McQuarters was inside the vehicle, Defendants Officers Yamashita and Molina observed McQuarters’ identification and that McQuarters did not possess the name, date of birth, height, weight, or address of the man wanted for arrest. Id. ¶¶ 20, 21. After approximately 20 minutes, Defendants realized they made a mistake, removed McQuarters’ handcuffs, and released him. Id. ¶¶ 19, 23. McQuarters was then transported to Highland Hospital for his injuries. Id. ¶ 23. The City of Oakland Community Police Review Agency investigated McQuarters’ allegations of excessive force, and a recommendation was made to the City to create a policy outlining when police officers can use their police vehicle to “channel” or alter the path of subjects on bicycles. Id. ¶¶ 25-26. A recommendation was also made to create a policy that designates “channeling” as a use of force any time the bicyclist is injured or the bicycle makes contact with any other object. Id. ¶ 26. B. Procedural Background On June 22, 2022 Plaintiff filed the instant action against Giovanna Borgna and Does 1-25. ECF No. 1. On December 11, 2022, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Leave to File a First Amended Complaint, which the Court granted on December 29, 2022. ECF Nos. 19, 24. Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) alleges the following: 1) Violation of Plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment Rights (against Defendant Borgna); 2) False Arrest (against Defendants Borgna, Lamphier, Yamashita, and Molina); and 3) Monell2 Claim (against City of Oakland). ECF No. 24. On January 12, 2023, Defendants City of Oakland and James Yamashita filed a Motion to Dismiss the FAC. ECF No. 25. On January 20, 2023, the case was reassigned from the undersigned to Judge Chhabria. ECF No. 30. Defendant Alexander Molina filed a Motion to Dismiss the FAC on April 28, 2023. ECF No. 48. On May 8, 2023, Plaintiff filed an Opposition to Molina’s Motion and an Amendment to the Opposition. ECF Nos. 51, 52. Molina filed a Reply on May 11, 2023. ECF No. 53. On May 26, 2023, the case was reassigned again for all further proceedings to May 26, 2023. ECF No. 56. The undersigned issued an Order to Show Cause on June 13, 2023 for Plaintiff to show cause why his claims should not be dismissed after Plaintiff failed to file an opposition to Defendants City of Oakland and Yamashita’s Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 58. On June 13, 2023, Defendants City of Oakland and Yamashita filed a new Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 61. The Court then directed the Clerk of Court to terminate Defendants’ January 12, 2023 Motion to Dismiss, as Defendants had re-filed their Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 62. On June 15, 2023 Plaintiff filed an Opposition to Defendants Yamashita and City of Oakland’s Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 65. Defendants Yamashita and City of Oakland filed a Reply. ECF No. 66. A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) “tests the legal sufficiency of a claim. A claim may be dismissed only if it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Cook v. Brewer, 637 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2011) (citation and quotation marks omitted). Rule 8 provides that a complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Thus, a complaint must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). Plausibility does not mean probability, but it requires “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 687 (2009). A complaint must therefore provide a defendant with “fair notice” of the claims against it and the grounds for relief. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (quotations and citation omitted). In considering a motion to dismiss, the court accepts factual allegations in the complaint as true and construes the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Manzarek v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 519 F.3d 1025, 1031 (9th Cir. 2008); Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93–94 (2007). However, “the tenet that a court must accept a complaint’s allegations as true is inapplicable to threadbare recitals of a cause of action’s elements, supported by mere conclusory statements.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. If a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is granted, the “court should grant leave to amend even if no request to amend the pleading was made, unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other facts.” Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (citations and quotations omitted). A court “may exercise its discretion to deny leave to amend due to ‘undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party . . ., [and] futility of amendment.’” Carvalho v. Equifax Info. S

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