Reiner v. Guerrero

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 21, 2024
Docket4:24-cv-05515
StatusUnknown

This text of Reiner v. Guerrero (Reiner v. Guerrero) 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.

Bluebook
Reiner v. Guerrero, (N.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ENMANUEL ISAIAS ERAZO Case No. 4:24-cv-03525-KAW MACHADO, 8 ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' Plaintiff, MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S 9 FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT v. 10 Re: Dkt. No. 17 DANIEL BOYD, et al., 11 Defendants. 12 13 On October 16, 2024, Defendants Petaluma Police Department, Daniel Boyd, Prince Nagi, 14 Rony Flores, and Uriel Vazquez filed a motion to dismiss the first amended complaint. (Defs.’ 15 Mot., Dkt. No. 17.) 16 Upon review of the moving papers, the Court finds this matter suitable for resolution 17 without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), and, for the reasons set forth below, 18 GRANTS the motion to dismiss with leave to amend. 19 I. BACKGROUND 20 On June 11, 2024, Plaintiff Enmanuel Isaías Erazo Machado filed a lawsuit alleging civil 21 rights violations against Defendant Petaluma Police Department and Petaluma Police Officers 22 Daniel Boyd, Prince Nagi, Rony Flores, and Uriel Vazquez. (Dkt. No. 1.) 23 On April 20, 2023, Plaintiff alleges that he traveled to Sonoma County from Texas to serve 24 his ex-wife with “custody papers to appear in Texas because she fled Texas to hide in California 25 due to the custody process [that] was open….” (First Am. Compl., “FAC,” Dkt. No. 15 at 3.) 26 Plaintiff alleges that their two children were staying with his ex-wife in Sonoma County, but 27 Plaintiff attempted to take them back to Texas without the consent of his ex-wife. See id. Plaintiff 1 children and return with them to Texas because of an alleged civil order granting Plaintiff custody 2 of the children and because “California does not have jurisdiction or legal authority under any 3 statu[t]e to retain” Plaintiff or his daughters. Id. 4 After receiving a corresponding 911 call regarding a child abduction, Defendants procured 5 an Arrest Warrant for Plaintiff, executed by a judge of the Sonoma County Superior Court. 6 (Defs.’ Request for Judicial Notice, “Defs.’ RJN,” Dkt. No. 17-1, Ex. A.) The warrant found that 7 probable cause existed to believe that Plaintiff had committed violations of California Penal Code 8 §§ 422(a) (Threaten Crime with Intent to Terrorize), 207 (Kidnapping), 459 (Burglary), and 242 9 (Battery). Id. 10 In light of the potential danger to the abducted children, Defendants “pinged” Plaintiff’s 11 cell phone to determine his location but did so without a warrant. (See FAC at 3.) The California 12 Highway Patrol (“CHP”) then located Plaintiff in Los Banos, California, and arrested him at 13 gunpoint. Id. 14 On April 25, 2023, Defendants procured a search warrant to search the contents of 15 Plaintiff’s cell phone as part of their investigation, which was also executed by a judge of the 16 Sonoma County Superior Court. (Defs.’ RJN, Ex. B.) The Office of the Sonoma County District 17 Attorney subsequently charged Plaintiff with multiple crimes, but the charges were dismissed at 18 the preliminary hearing. (FAC at 3.) 19 On August 6, 2024, Plaintiff filed the first amended complaint. (First Am. Compl., “FAC,” 20 Dkt. No. 15.) On August 16, 2024, Defendants filed the instant motion to dismiss. (Defs.’ Mot., 21 Dkt. No. 17.) On August 18, 2024, Plaintiff filed an opposition. (Pl.’s Opp’n, Dkt. No. 18.) On 22 August 26, 2024, Defendants filed a reply. (Defs.’ Reply, Dkt. No. 21.) On September 10, 2024, 23 Plaintiff filed exhibits (Dkt. No. 23) without leave of court, so they are stricken and will not be 24 considered in connection with this motion. 25 II. LEGAL STANDARD 26 A. Motion to Dismiss 27 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a party may file a motion to dismiss based 1 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of the claims asserted in the complaint. Navarro v. Block, 250 2 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir. 2001). 3 In considering such a motion, a court must “accept as true all of the factual allegations 4 contained in the complaint,” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam) (citation 5 omitted), and may dismiss the case or a claim “only where there is no cognizable legal theory” or 6 there is an absence of “sufficient factual matter to state a facially plausible claim to relief.” 7 Shroyer v. New Cingular Wireless Servs., Inc., 622 F.3d 1035, 1041 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing 8 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677-78 (2009); Navarro, 250 F.3d at 732) (internal quotation 9 marks omitted). 10 A claim is plausible on its face when a plaintiff “pleads factual content that allows the 11 court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” 12 Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citation omitted). In other words, the facts alleged must demonstrate “more 13 than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not 14 do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of 15 a cause of action” and “conclusory statements” are inadequate. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678; see also 16 Epstein v. Wash. Energy Co., 83 F.3d 1136, 1140 (9th Cir. 1996) (“[C]onclusory allegations of 17 law and unwarranted inferences are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss for failure to state a 18 claim.”). “The plausibility standard is not akin to a probability requirement, but it asks for more 19 than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully . . . When a complaint pleads facts 20 that are merely consistent with a defendant's liability, it stops short of the line between possibility 21 and plausibility of entitlement to relief.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 22 557) (internal citations omitted). 23 Generally, if the court grants a motion to dismiss, it should grant leave to amend even if no 24 request to amend is made “unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by 25 the allegation of other facts.” Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (citations 26 omitted). 27 B. Request for Judicial Notice 1 ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 2 688 (9th Cir. 2001). A district court may take notice of facts not subject to reasonable dispute that 3 are “capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot 4 reasonably be questioned.” Fed. R. Evid. 201(b); United States v. Bernal–Obeso, 989 F.2d 331, 5 333 (9th Cir. 1993). “[A] court may take judicial notice of ‘matters of public record,’” Lee, 250 6 F.3d at 689 (citing Mack v. S. Bay Beer Distrib., 798 F.2d 1279, 1282 (9th Cir. 1986)), and may 7 also consider “documents whose contents are alleged in a complaint and whose authenticity no 8 party questions, but which are not physically attached to the pleading” without converting a 9 motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) into a motion for summary judgment. Branch v. Tunnell, 10 14 F.3d 449, 454 (9th Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
Reiner v. Guerrero, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reiner-v-guerrero-cand-2024.