Robert Draper v. Davis S. Coombs

792 F.2d 915, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 26362
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 24, 1986
Docket83-4026
StatusPublished
Cited by454 cases

This text of 792 F.2d 915 (Robert Draper v. Davis S. Coombs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert Draper v. Davis S. Coombs, 792 F.2d 915, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 26362 (9th Cir. 1986).

Opinion

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

The plaintiff brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action pro se against the State of Washington, two Washington State Troopers, Clark County, Washington and several county officials, the City of Portland, and three Portland police officers. Although he asserted a number of claims, his primary contention is that he was extradited from Oregon to Washington in violation of federal and state extradition statutes. He also challenges the legality of the towing of his automobile after his arrest. The district court dismissed some of his claims and granted summary judgment for the defendants on the remaining ones. We hold that the plaintiff properly pleaded section 1983 claims based on his extradition in violation of the federal and state extradition statutes and for the towing of his automobile pursuant to an unconstitutional municipal ordinance, and that the award of summary judgment on those claims was improper except with respect to the claims against the State of Washington.

I. FACTS

In July 1980, Robert A. Draper, accompanied by three passengers, was driving his automobile south on Interstate Highway 5 in the State of Washington toward the Oregon border. While still in Washington, Washington State Patrol Trooper Coombs attempted to stop the automobile because Draper was driving erratically and in excess of the speed limit. He continued to drive in that manner, with Trooper Coombs in pursuit, across the state line into Oregon.

Trooper Coombs pursued Draper to Portland, Oregon where he subsequently forced Draper to stop. Coombs detained Draper and the passengers and awaited the arrival of police officers from the City of Portland whom he had called for assistance. When Portland Police Officers John Goff and John Garvey arrived at the scene, the officers from the two jurisdictions discussed the question whether Draper would be taken into custody by Coombs for return to Washington or would be arrested by the Portland police officers and initially detained in Oregon. In hopes of clarifying the apparent uncertainty as to the proper procedure to be followed, Coombs conferred with his superior, Sergeant Cook, while the Portland officers conferred with their superior, Sergeant Dick. Following these consultations, Coombs arrested Draper for “attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle” and transported him to Clark County Jail in Washington.

After Draper’s arrest, the Portland officers ordered Draper’s automobile towed away by Sam’s Towing, a private towing company. Later that same day, Draper’s daughter, one of the three passengers in his car at the time of the arrest, attempted to recover the automobile from the towing company. Sam’s required her to pay $53.95, in towing and other charges, before it would release the automobile. After the charges were paid, Sam’s released the automobile.

Draper was convicted in Washington state court under a Washington statute for *918 attempting to elude a Washington trooper. 1 He was sentenced to serve a five year term in the Washington State Penitentiary.

Draper filed this pro se action seeking damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982) from the State of Washington, Trooper Coombs and Sergeant Cook, Clark County, Washington and several county officials (“Clark County defendants”), the City of Portland, Portland Police Officers Goff and Garvey, and Sergeant Dick. The district court first dismissed the claims against the Clark County defendants and then those against the State of Washington. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment on the claims against the remainder of the defendants.

II. THE IMMUNITY OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON AND THE WASHINGTON STATE TROOPERS UNDER THE ELEVENTH AMENDMENT

A. Section 1983 Claims Against the State of Washington

The district court dismissed Draper’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against the State of Washington. Because the eleventh amendment 2 bars the federal courts from considering such claims, we affirm their dismissal. 3 We have emphasized that “[ujnder the Eleventh Amendment, states that have not consented to suit are immune from [42 U.S.C.] § 1983 suits in federal court.” McConnell v. Critchlow, 661 F.2d 116, 117 (9th Cir.1981) (citing Ouern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 338, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1143, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979)). Draper alleges that, by enacting Wash.Rev.Code § 4.92.010-4.92.200, the State of Washington waived any immunity that it might enjoy. However, we have previously held that those provisions do not expressly and unequivocally waive Washington’s eleventh amendment immunity. McConnell v. Critchlow, 661 F.2d 116, 117 & n. 1 (9th Cir.1981). Accordingly, we must reject Draper’s argument.

B. Section 1983 Claims against the Washington State Troopers

Draper’s section 1983 claims allege that, by extraditing him to Washington from Or *919 egon without a hearing, Washington State Trooper Coombs and Sergeant Cook, among others, violated his federal constitutional and statutory rights, as well as his rights under state law. “The Eleventh Amendment bars a suit against state officials when ‘the state is the real, substantial party in interest.’ ” Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 101, 104 S.Ct. 900, 908, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984) (quoting Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury, 323 U.S. 459, 464, 65 S.Ct. 347, 359, 89 L.Ed. 389 (1945)); see Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 663, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974); Demery v. Kupperman, 735 F.2d 1139, 1146 (9th Cir.1984), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 105 S.Ct. 810, 83 L.Ed.2d 803 (1985). Although Cook and Coombs do not specifically urge that the eleventh amendment bars the claims against them, the eleventh amendment “is a limitation on federal subject-matter jurisdiction” that we are obligated to consider fully. Demery v. Kupperman, id. at 1149 n. 8.

If found to have violated an individual’s federal constitutional or statutory rights, a state official may be held personally liable for damages. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 237-38, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686-87, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Demery v. Kupperman,

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792 F.2d 915, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 26362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-draper-v-davis-s-coombs-ca9-1986.