Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_05-cv-02415/USCOURTS-cand-3_05-cv-02415-4/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act

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1 All parties have consented to my jurisdiction

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

RICHARD A. CANATELLA,

Plaintiff(s),

v.

JOHN VAN DE KAMP, ESQ., et

al.,

Defendant(s).

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No. C05-2415 BZ

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT

DAETWYLER’S MOTION TO

DISMISS

Plaintiff Richard Canatella filed this action on June 15,

2005 against the State Bar of California (erroneously sued as

the California Bar Journal), several officers of the State Bar

and Martha L. Daetwyler, Esq. (“Daetwyler”), alleging

defendants violated plaintiff’s First, Fourth and Fourteenth

Amendment rights. Daetwyler moved to dismiss the 42 U.S.C. §

1983 claims in plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint

(“Complaint”) on, among other grounds, that she is not a state

actor.1 The rambling and highly contentious 42-page Complaint

alleges that Daetwyler is an attorney in private practice, who

accessed a summary of plaintiff’s disciplinary record on the

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State Bar's web site and provided it to a state court in an

unsuccessful effort to recover fees for her client in a case

in which plaintiff was opposing counsel. 

Plaintiff cites no convincing authority, and the Court

has found none, to support his argument that Daetwyler is a

state actor. Plaintiff’s reliance on Lugar v. Edmondson Oil

Company, Inc., 457 U.S. 922 (1982) is misplaced. Lugar held

that private defendants who acted jointly with state officials

to attach a debtor’s property under an unconstitutional

statute could be sued as state actors under § 1983. Here,

plaintiff does not allege that Daetwyler attached or seized

his property, that she acted under an unconstitutional statute

or that she engaged in any “conduct that can be attributed to

the State”. Id. at 941. At most, plaintiff alleges Daetwyler

used information she got from a state source for her private

advantage. A private person does not become a state actor

merely by publishing public information. Plaintiff’s

conclusory conspiracy allegations do not alter these essential

facts.

Because Daetwyler is not a state actor, plaintiff’s §

1983 claims are dismissed as to her. The remaining claims in

plaintiff’s complaint allege state torts, such as defamation,

abuse of process and violation of privacy. Many of these

torts are barred by the litigation privilege set forth in Cal.

Civ. Code § 47(b) because a logical relationship exists

between Daetwyler’s conduct and the objective she was trying

to achieve in court. Kimes v. Stone, 84 F.3d 1121, 1127 (9th

Cir. 1996)(privilege applies to any communications “that have

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2 In view of the Court’s findings that Daetwyler is not

a state actor and that the litigation privilege bars many of

plaintiff’s state causes of action, I need not reach

Daetwyler’s further arguments in support of her motion to

dismiss.

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some connection or logical relation to the action”)(internal

quotes omitted). Daetwyler presented information about

plaintiff having been sanctioned because she was seeking

monetary sanctions from him. To the extent there are any

state torts still outstanding in plaintiff’s complaint against

Daetwyler, having dismissed all federal claims, I decline to

exercise supplemental jurisdiction.2 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3). 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Daetwyler’s motion to dismiss

is GRANTED. 

Dated: December 13, 2005

 Bernard Zimmerman 

 United States Magistrate Judge

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