Willis v. Mullins

517 F. Supp. 2d 1206, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74276, 2007 WL 2814862
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedSeptember 25, 2007
DocketCIV-F-04-6542 AWI WMW
StatusPublished

This text of 517 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (Willis v. Mullins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Willis v. Mullins, 517 F. Supp. 2d 1206, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74276, 2007 WL 2814862 (E.D. Cal. 2007).

Opinion

ORDER RE: SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ANTHONY W. ISHII, District Judge.

The Defendants in this case have made motions for summary judgment, or in the alternative, summary adjudication. Plaintiff opposes the motions.

I. History

Gary Willis (“Plaintiff’) was a registered occupant of the E-Z 8 Motel in Bakersfield, CA on March 27, 1996. Police received reports of heavy traffic from that *1208 room and were informed it was registered under Plaintiffs name. A Kern County Narcotics Enforcement Team consisting of four members (Bakersfield Police Officer Joseph Mullins; Bakersfield Police Officer Silvius; Kern County Deputy Sheriff Hood; and California State Parole Officer Diane Mora) were sent to investigate. 1 Defendant Mullins consulted a list of parolees generated by the California Department of Corrections and distributed to local police departments on a roughly monthly basis (“Parole Roster”). He presented the Parole Roster to Defendant Mora; she confirmed the Parole Roster indicated that Plaintiff was on parole and subject to search. After announcing their presence and entering the motel room, the officers found two individuals, Plaintiff and Kathleen Moye, inside. Also visible were a knife, a syringe, and a briefcase. The officers announced the commencement of a parole search. Plaintiff informed Defendant Mullins he was no longer on parole and provided his parole discharge papers. Defendant Mora left to seek telephone confirmation of Plaintiffs parole status. In fact, Plaintiff had been discharged from parole nine months prior. While the call was taking place, Defendant Mullins detained Plaintiff outside the room while Defendants Silvius and Hood talked with Ms. Moye inside the room. Ms. Moye admitted to recently using methamphetamine, stated that she put a speed pipe in the briefcase, and consented to search of the briefcase. Defendant Mullins brought Plaintiff back into the room. Defendants Mullins, Silvius, and Hood opened the briefcase. Based on evidence found within, Plaintiff was convicted of possession of methamphetamine for sale (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11378) and possession of narcotics paraphernalia (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11364). He ultimately served six years in state prison.

Plaintiff had made a motion to suppress evidence, which the California trial court denied. On appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeal found the entry constitutionally invalid and the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule inapplicable, but nonetheless affirmed the denial of suppression based on the finding that the officers had sufficient probable cause to search the briefcase based on Ms. Moye’s statements to Defendant Silvius. The Fifth District’s rationale was that the “freeze” in search was a reasonable response to the uncertainty concerning Plaintiffs parole status. People v. Willis, 71 Cal.App.4th 530, 541, 83 Cal.Rptr.2d 895 (Cal.Ct.App.1999). On appeal, the attorney general conceded the Fifth District’s rationale for denying the motion to suppress was erroneous. People v. Willis, 28 Cal.4th 22, 25, 120 Cal.Rptr.2d 105, 46 P.3d 898 (Cal.2002). The California Supreme Court overturned Plaintiffs conviction on June 3, 2002, finding that evidence from the search must be suppressed as the good faith exception did not apply. People v. Willis, 28 Cal.4th 22, 38, 120 Cal.Rptr.2d 105, 46 P.3d 898 (Cal.2002). Plaintiff was released on August 31, 2002. Plaintiff first filed this suit in the Central District of California on May 3, 2004. He filed his amended complaint (the operative complaint) on September 16, 2004. Transferred File, Doc. 14. The case was then transferred to the Eastern District of California due to improper venue.

The amended complaint contained nine causes of action: (1) monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights; (2) *1209 monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for conspiracy to commit count one; (3) monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a policy, practice, procedure, and custom of committing Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations; (4) monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the City’s policy of indemnifying police officers in civil rights cases; (5) declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2201 finding that there is a custom, pattern and practice of Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations by police in California; (6) injunctive relief under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 preventing all Defendants from engaging in violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment; (7) monetary relief under RICO for loss of actual employment and employment opportunities; (8) monetary relief for conspiracy to commit count seven; and (9) monetary relief under Cal. Civ.Code § 52.1 for violation of Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. See Transferred File, Doc. 14. As the result of previous motions, claims three and nine were dismissed and the claims against the officers are limited to their individual capacities. Docs. 33 and 136. Defendant Hood has taken no part in these various motions as he was not initially served with the complaint in this case.

At present, Defendant Mora and the Bakersfield Defendants have made separate motions for summary judgment, or in the alternative, summary adjudication. Docs. 141 and 142. Plaintiff filed a single opposition to both. Doc. 148. Simultaneously, Plaintiff asks for additional discovery under Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 56(f) and Chuman certification. Docs. 146 and 147.

II. Legal Standards

Summary judgment is appropriate when it is demonstrated that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962); Jung v. FMC Corp., 755 F.2d 708, 710 (9th Cir.1985); Loehr v. Ventura County Community College Dist., 743 F.2d 1310, 1313 (9th Cir.1984).

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Bluebook (online)
517 F. Supp. 2d 1206, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74276, 2007 WL 2814862, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willis-v-mullins-caed-2007.