(PC) Quiroz v. United States

District Court, E.D. California·Decided August 25, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-00364·Unknown

Opinion

CRISTOBAL RAMOS QUIROZ, ) Case No.: 1:21-cv-00364-AWI-SAB (PC) ) Plaintiff, ) ) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION v. ) RECOMMENDING DISMISSAL OF ACTION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) F CO LR A IF MA FIL OU RR RE E T LO IE S FT ATE A COGNIZABLE ) ) (ECF Nos. 16, 17) Defendant. ) ) ) ) Plaintiff Cristobal Ramos Quiroz is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s second amended complaint, filed on July 19, 2021. (ECF No. 16.) On August 17, 2021, Plaintiff submitted another complaint which the Court construed and filed as a supplement to the second amended complaint. (ECF No. 17.) I. A complaint filed by any person proceeding in forma pauperis is subject to sua sponte dismissal, if it “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); see Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000) (section 1915(e) applies to all in forma pauperis complaints, not just those filed by prisoners); Calhoun v. Stahl, 254 F.3d 845 (9th Cir. 2001) (dismissal required of in forma pauperis proceedings which seek monetary relief from immune defendants); Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995) (district court has discretion to dismiss in forma pauperis complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)); Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193 (9th Cir. 1998) (affirming sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim). The Court exercises its discretion to screen the plaintiff’s complaint in this action to determine if it “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). In determining whether a complaint fails to state a claim, the Court uses the same pleading standard used under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). 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). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). In reviewing the pro se complaint, the Court is to liberally construe the pleadings and accept as true all factual allegations contained in the complaint. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007). Although a court must accept as true all factual allegations contained in a complaint, a court need not accept a plaintiff’s legal conclusions as true. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. “[A] complaint [that] pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability...‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). Therefore, the complaint must contain sufficient factual content for the court to draw the reasonable conclusion that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. II. The Court accepts Plaintiff’s allegations in the complaint as true only for the purpose of the sua sponte screening requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Plaintiff seeks relief for negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, and violations of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments arising out of the investigation which lead to defective underlying deportation proceedings and unlawful deportation to Mexico for eight years. As stated in the Court’s July 14, 2021 screening order, on July 20, 2020, Plaintiff filed a petition to vacate, set aside, or correct a sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, in case number 1:02-cr- 05179-NONE, wherein Plaintiff claimed that 2002 conviction for illegal reentry into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326 was predicated on an unlawful removal. (Case No. 1:02-cr-05179- NONE, Doc. No. 27.) The Court construed Plaintiff’s petition as a request for a writ of error coram nobis, granted the writ, and vacated the conviction and sentence. In granting the petition, the Court stated, pertinent part: The facts and circumstances of petitioner’s claim satisfy each of the four factors to be considered when granting or denying coram nobis relief. First, no other avenue for relief is available to petition at this point, and second, it is clear that petitioner has a quite valid reasons for not attacking his illegal reentry conviction sooner. … Third, adverse consequences from a conviction are presumed. … Here, the consequences from the criminal conviction in this case have reverberated in petitioner’s life more than once and could theoretically do so again in the future. Those consequences have often been inextricably linked with his initial removal in 1999 and are difficult to parse separately. For example, petitioner was removed from the United States for a second time after serving the sentence imposed in this case. Petitioner likewise has had contacts with the state criminal court system since suffering the conviction in this action, though it is unclear whether those contacts have resulted in any new criminal convictions. Regardless, the risk of an increased penalty, whether that penalty has manifested or not, is exactly the type of adverse consequence contemplated by the Ninth Circuit in Chacon and Hirabayashi. … Fourth, the fundamental nature of the error in this case is clear. … Petitioner, a lawful permanent resident prior to his removal, was not advised of the availability of relief from removal under certain provisions of immigration law during his 1998 removal proceedings. But for that predicate error from which his criminal case flowed, petitioner may not have been charged with illegal entry, convicted, and incarcerated for a significant period of time. Petitioner has now been granted relief from his 1999 removal order based on error, and for that reason, the continuation and reification of that error that occurred in these criminal proceedings cannot stand.

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(PC) Quiroz v. United States, (E.D. Cal. 2021).

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