Parcell v. City Of San Jose
This text of Parcell v. City Of San Jose (Parcell v. City Of San Jose) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SAN JOSE DIVISION 7 8 DEREK ROBERT PARCELL, Case No. 25-cv-02461-BLF
9 Plaintiff, ORDER SCREENING PLAINTIFF’S 10 v. FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915; AND 11 CITY OF SAN JOSE and OFFICER DISMISSING FIRST AMENDED ISMAEL PEREZ, COMPLAINT WITHOUT LEAVE TO 12 AMEND Defendants. 13 [Re: ECF 9]
14 15 Plaintiff Derek Robert Parcell is proceeding in this case pro se and in forma pauperis 16 (“IFP”). He filed this suit on March 11, 2025 against the City of San Jose and one of its officers, 17 Officer Ismael Perez, for alleged federal constitutional violations and related state law claims 18 arising out of Officer Perez’s response to a traffic accident that occurred on December 12, 2024. 19 See Compl., ECF 1. The Court issued an order (“Prior Screening Order”) granting Plaintiff leave 20 to proceed IFP, screening his complaint, and dismissing the complaint with leave to amend 21 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. See Prior Screening Order, ECF 8. Plaintiff timely filed a first 22 amended complaint (“FAC”) which the Court now screens. See FAC, ECF 9. 23 I. LEGAL STANDARD 24 When a district court grants IFP status, the court must screen the complaint and dismiss the 25 action if it “is frivolous or malicious,” “fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or 26 “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 27 1915(e)(2)(B); see also Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-27 & n.7 (9th Cir. 2000) (screening 1 II. DISCUSSION 2 When screening Plaintiff’s original complaint, the Court observed that the only potential 3 basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction was a single federal claim asserted by Plaintiff under 4 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of his federal due process rights. See Prior Screening Order at 3. 5 Plaintiff had alleged that Officer Perez had responded to the traffic accident but had fabricated his 6 police report, stating that Plaintiff was at fault when the other driver clearly was at fault, and had 7 failed to conduct a fair investigation. See id. The Court advised Plaintiff that allegations of an 8 inadequate investigation by law enforcement are insufficient to support a § 1983 claim, and that 9 while allegations of a fabricated police report may be sufficient to support a due process claim, the 10 plaintiff must allege a resulting deprivation of liberty. See id. at 3-4. Plaintiff had not alleged 11 such a deprivation in the complaint. See id. at 4. The Court therefore dismissed the complaint and 12 granted Plaintiff leave to amend his due process claim. See id. The Court limited any amendment 13 to the due process claim and prohibited Plaintiff from adding additional parties or claims without 14 obtaining leave of the Court. See id. 15 The FAC asserts three federal constitutional claims under § 1983, in violation of the 16 Court’s Prior Screening Order. However, all of the claims are grounded in the same allegation 17 that Officer Perez fabricated his police report about the traffic accident. See FAC ¶¶ 11-24. 18 Plaintiff alleges a claim of fabrication of evidence against Officer Perez grounded in the allegedly 19 false police report (First Cause of Action); a claim of due process violation against Officer Perez 20 also grounded in the allegedly false police report (Second Cause of Action); and a Monell claim 21 against the City of San Jose for, among other things, tolerating false police reports (Third Cause of 22 Action). See id. Accordingly, the Court will consider all three asserted federal claims when 23 screening the FAC. 24 Plaintiff has failed to cure the defects in his pleading. With respect to his First Cause of 25 Action for fabrication of evidence, Plaintiff has not alleged that the allegedly false police report 26 resulted in a deprivation of liberty. “To prevail on a § 1983 claim of deliberate fabrication, a 27 plaintiff must prove that (1) the defendant official deliberately fabricated evidence and (2) the 1 789, 798 (9th Cir. 2017). Typically, a deliberate fabrication claim alleges that the plaintiff was 2 charged with, or convicted of, a crime based on fabricated evidence. See Caldwell v. City & Cnty. 3 of San Francisco, 889 F.3d 1105, 1115 (9th Cir. 2018). Plaintiff has not alleged that he was 4 charged with a crime or otherwise suffered a deprivation of a constitutional right that would 5 support a claim for deliberate fabrication. Plaintiff does allege that Officer Perez’s deliberate 6 fabrication of the police report has caused him “financial loss, reputational damage, and emotional 7 distress.” FAC ¶ 14. The Court is unaware of any cases finding such allegations sufficient to 8 support a claim of constitutional deprivation arising from deliberate fabrication of evidence; to the 9 contrary, other district courts have rejected similar allegations as insufficient. See, e.g., Ross v. 10 Snohomish Cnty., No. C13-1467JLR, 2014 WL 1320125, at *9 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 28, 2014) 11 (holding that a plaintiff “must allege that some constitutional harm befell him as a result of the 12 fabrication,” and that “emotional distress and injury to reputation” are not enough). 13 With respect to his Second Cause of Action for violation of due process, which also is 14 grounded in the allegedly fabricated police report, the same reasoning applies. To the extent the 15 claim is based on an alleged failure to investigation, allegations of an inadequate investigation by 16 law enforcement are insufficient to support a § 1983 claim. See Gomez v. Whitney, 757 F.2d 17 1005, 1006 (9th Cir. 1985) (“[W]e can find no instance where the courts have recognized 18 inadequate investigation as sufficient to state a civil rights claim unless there was another 19 recognized constitutional right involved.”). 20 With respect to Plaintiff’s Third Cause of Action for municipal liability under Monell, the 21 claim is based on the City’s alleged toleration of false police reports, failure to train and supervise 22 officers, and failure to investigate complaints of officer misconduct. However, Plaintiff has not 23 linked these alleged policies to any constitutional violation suffered by him. 24 Because Plaintiff again has failed to state a federal claim, his FAC IS DISMISSED for lack 25 of federal subject matter jurisdiction. 26 The Court must determine whether further leave to amend is warranted, considering the 27 following factors: (1) undue delay, (2) bad faith or dilatory motive, (3) repeated failure to cure 1 amendment. See Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962); see also Eminence Capital, LLC v. 2 || Aspeon, Inc., 316 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2003) (discussing Foman factors). There is no 3 evidence of undue delay in this court (first factor), bad faith (second factor), or undue prejudice to 4 Defendants (fourth factor). However, Plaintiff failed to cure the deficiencies identified in the Prior 5 Screening Order (third factor). Moreover, because nothing in Plaintiff's filings to date indicates 6 || that he could state a viable federal claim, it appears that further leave to amend would be futile 7 (fifth factor). “[A] district court does not err in denying leave to amend where the amendment 8 would be futile.” Missouri ex rel.
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