Ramiro Orozco v. John Houston

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: February 24, 2023
• Docket: 22-55369
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FEB 24 2023 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

RAMIRO PLASCENCIA OROZCO, No. 22-55369

Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:21-cv-02112-CAB-RBB

v. MEMORANDUM* JOHN A. HOUSTON, Judge; ALANA WONG ROBINSON, Judge; LAURA E. DUFFY, US Attorney Chief; MARIETTE IRENE GECKOS, US Attorney Assistant,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Cathy Ann Bencivengo, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted February 14, 2023**

Before: FERNANDEZ, FRIEDLAND, and H.A. THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

Federal prisoner Ramiro Plascencia Orozco appeals pro se from the district

court’s judgment dismissing his action under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named

Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), alleging various

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). constitutional claims. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de

novo the district court’s dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Resnick v. Hayes,

213 F.3d 443, 447 (9th Cir. 2000). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Plascencia Orozco’s action because the

defendants are entitled to absolute immunity. See Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S.

409, 430 (1976) (holding that prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity for

activities “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process”);

Mullis v. U.S. Bankr. Ct. for Dist. of Nev., 828 F.2d 1385, 1394 (9th Cir. 1987)

(holding that federal judicial immunity extends to declaratory and injunctive

relief); Ashelman v. Pope, 793 F.2d 1072, 1075 (9th Cir. 1986) (en banc) (“Judges

and those performing judge-like functions are absolutely immune from damage

liability for acts performed in their official capacities.”); Flood v. Harrington, 532

F.2d 1248, 1251 (9th Cir. 1976) (applying absolute immunity to federal

government attorneys).

To the extent that Plascencia Orozco intended to name his federal public

defender as a defendant, dismissal was proper because Plascencia Orozco failed to

allege facts sufficient to show that such defendant was acting under color of federal

law. See Cox v. Hellerstein, 685 F.2d 1098, 1099 (9th Cir. 1982) (explaining that a

federal public defender representing an indigent defendant does not act under color

of federal law for purposes of a Bivens action).

2 22-55369 All pending motions are denied.

AFFIRMED.

3 22-55369