Pearce v. Romeo

299 F. App'x 653
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided November 3, 2008·No. No. 07-15203·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

[655] MEMORANDUM **

Appellant Mitchell J. Pearce (“Pearce”) appeals the district court’s grant of five motions to dismiss the thirty-one claims in his First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) without leave to amend. Pearce concedes the dismissal of count 19 but appeals the dismissal of the other thirty claims, and, alternatively, requests leave to amend. The parties are familiar with the facts and procedural history of the case, and we discuss them only as necessary to explain our decision. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

We review de novo a district court’s decisions regarding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, accrual of the statute of limitations, and immunity. Intri-Plex Techs., Inc. v. Crest Group, Inc., 499 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir.2007); Olsen v. Idaho State Bd. of Med., 363 F.3d 916, 922 (9th Cir.2004). We review a denial of leave to amend for abuse of discretion. Metzler Inv. GMBH v. Corinthian Colls., Inc., 540 F.3d 1049, 1072 (9th Cir.2008). We may affirm the district court’s dismissal on any ground supported in the record. Hells Canyon Pres. Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 691 (9th Cir.2005).

A. Statute of Limitations (Counts 1-5, 7, 9, 11-13, 15-18, 20-21, 23-24, 29-30)

Pearce’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are governed by a one-year statute of limitations. Maldonado v. Harris, 370 F.3d 945, 954-55 (9th Cir.2004). “[U]nder federal law, a claim accrues when the plaintiff knows or has reason to know of the injury which is the basis of the action.” Bukovsky v. City & County of San Francisco, 535 F.3d 1044, 1048 (9th Cir.2008) (quotation omitted). An injury from an illegal search and seizure accrues when the act occurs. Venegas v. Wagner, 704 F.2d 1144, 1146 (9th Cir.1983) (per curiam). For a § 1983 conspiracy claim, accrual is determined by the “last overt act doctrine,” under which “injury and damage in a civil conspiracy action flow from the overt acts, not from the mere continuance of a conspiracy.” Gibson v. United States, 781 F.2d 1334, 1340 (9th Cir.1986) (alterations and quotations omitted).

Under California law, “[a] cause of action accrues when the claim is complete with all of its elements.” Slovensky v. Friedman, 142 Cal.App.4th 1518, 49 Cal.Rptr.3d 60, 68 (2006). The discovery rule postpones accrual until “the plaintiff discovers, or has reason to discover, the cause of action.” Norgart v. Upjohn Co., 21 Cal.4th 383, 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 453, 981 P.2d 79, 83 (1999). The parties agree the statute of limitations for counts 4 and 5 under California state law is one year.

The statute of limitations for a civil action under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq., is four years. Pin-cay v. Andrews, 238 F.3d 1106, 1108 (9th Cir.2001). Under the “injury discovery” rule, the limitations period begins to run when all elements of a RICO claim exist and the plaintiff knows or should know he has been injured. Grimmett v. Brown, 75 F.3d 506, 512 (9th Cir.1996). The plaintiff need not have discovered these acts were part of a pattern of racketeering activity for his claim to accrue. Id. at 510.

Because Pearce filed his original Complaint on August 19, 2002, the statute of limitations bars all § 1983 claims and California state law claims that accrued prior to August 19, 2001. The statute of limitations also bars any of Pearce’s RICO ac[656] tions that accrued prior to August 19, 1998.

The district court held the statute of limitations barred count 1 because the FAC alleges Pearce discovered Carol Romeo (“Romeo”) fabricated evidence in April 2001. We agree.

As to counts 2, 3, 4, and 5, even if Pearce did not know the full extent of Romeo and James Sharp’s (“Sharp”) deceit until 2002, he knew the search, which forms the basis of his assault, battery, and constitutional violations, occurred in 1995. Indeed, the FAC alleges Pearce’s attorney complained about the search in 1995. Thus, counts 2, 3, 4, and 5 are untimely.

Count 7 also is untimely because the FAC alleges facts showing Pearce knew Brett Sullivan’s (“Sullivan”) report was fabricated by at least 1997. Under a conspiracy analysis, the last overt act was the report’s concealment. Because the report was presented to Pearce by 1997, count 7 is time barred.

The FAC alleges Pearce subpoenaed Sharp twice for Sharp’s report in 1996 and 1998, he learned Sharp destroyed the file by 1998, and he received a report of Lynde Scheffer’s (“Scheffer”), Patricia Brick-man’s, and Lezlie Morrow’s claims in 1995. Pearce therefore had reason to know of his injury from these fabrications by at least 1998. Thus, the statute of limitations bars counts 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 20. Counts 12 and 16 are also time barred because Pearce received Sharp’s report with the fabricated testimony in 1995 and no overt act occurred within the limitations period.

The district court held the statute of limitations barred count 18 because both the § 1983 and California defamation statutes of limitations are one year and the newspaper articles appeared in 1995. We agree.

As to count 21, although Pearce may not have known that Romeo wrote to Administrative Law Judge Jonathon Lew falsely claiming Pearce intimidated a witness, Pearce was aware of his injury in 1998 when the guard was present at the Chiropractic Board hearing. Thus, count 21 is time barred.

Pearce had reason to know of his injury from Peter Berman’s (“Berman”) false report when it was presented at the California State Board of Chiropractic Examiners (“Chiropractic Board”) hearing. Because this occurred before August 19, 2001, counts 23 and 24 are time barred.

With respect to count 29, the allegedly coordinated effort to assert false claims against Pearce and to revoke his license based on these false claims, coupled with perjured testimony at the license revocation hearings, gave Pearce actual or constructive notice of his injury to begin the limitations period by at least March 1998. Thus, count 29 is time barred. Count 30 also is barred because the FAC alleges Pearce obtained Sullivan’s original report in March 1997, and thus he would have learned of his injury from the alleged fabricated evidence in 1997.

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Pearce v. Romeo, 299 F. App'x 653 (9th Cir. 2008).

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