Source: http://ca.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20071101_0000929.SCA.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2017-01-24 13:21:56
Document Index: 507636631

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1983', '§1983', '§1983', '§1983', '§1983', '§1983', '§1983', '§1983', '§1983']

SHARON MARIE REED, PLAINTIFF,v.CITY OF SAN DIEGO; COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO; SAN DIEGO UNIFIED PROT DISTRICT; OFFICER CARLOS OLGUIN; SAN DIEGO HARBOR POLICE DEPARTMENT; AND STATE OF CALIFORNIA, DEFENDANTS.
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE
Defendants San Diego Unified Port District and Officer Carlos Olguin (collectively "Defendants"), the only remaining defendants in this action, move to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint ("SAC"). Plaintiff opposes the dismissal of her civil rights complaint brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983. Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(d)(1), this matter is appropriate for decision without oral argument. For the reasons set forth below, the motion to dismiss the 42 U.S.C. §1983 claim is granted with prejudice and the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims for assault and battery, false arrest and imprisonment, and negligence. The Clerk of Court is instructed to close this file.
On December 15, 2006 Plaintiff commenced this civil rights action alleging that she was wrongfully arrested on a warrant issued in the name of Colleen Ann Conerty, not Sharon Marie Reed. (SAC ¶11). Plaintiff was placed under arrest on December 18, 2005 when a records check of a California D.O.J. database revealed that Plaintiff's name was identified as an alias used by Colleen Ann Conerty. When arrested she repeatedly told the San Diego Harbor Police Department and the arresting officer that she was Sharon Marie Reed but the "Harbor Police did not listen to her." (SAC ¶10). She showed the Harbor Police her passport and other identification verifying her identity as Reed, but no effort was made to "verify her identify and she was arrested and jailed at the Los Colinas Jail for nearly eight hours." Id.
Plaintiff alleges that Harbor Police Officer Carlos Olguin "was negligent, that she was arrested without cause, that the officer was improperly trained or supervised, her civil rights were violated, she was falsely imprisoned and battered." (SAC ¶14). Plaintiff also alleges that Officer Olguin was following the customs and practices of the San Diego Sheriff's Department "to arrest individuals by using improper means, including the use of excessive force, even when no reasonable basis exists for believing that use of force would be required. Said policy, pattern, practice, and custom amounted to deliberate indifference to Plaintiff's constitutional and statutory rights and the policy was the moving force behind the deprivation of Plaintiff's rights. (SAC ¶16). Plaintiff also alleges that each Defendant "maintain[s] an official policy, custom or practice of issuing facially invalid arrest warrants without taking proper steps, if any, to ensure that the particular person in custody was actually the person sought." (SAC ¶18). Based upon these generally described events, Plaintiff alleges four causes of action for (1) violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments when she was arrested on the warrant, (2) assault and battery, (3) false arrest and imprisonment and (4) negligence.
On March 23, 2007 this court granted the State of California's motion to dismiss the Complaint on Eleventh Amendment grounds. On April 24, 2007 this court granted County's motion to dismiss the original complaint, with leave to amend. On June 28, 2007, the court once again granted defendants motion to dismiss the first amended complaint, with leave to amend. On August 13, 2007 the court granted the parties stipulated dismissal of the County of San Diego. San Diego Unified Port District and Officer Olguin, the only remaining Defendants, now move to dismiss the complaint on the ground that Plaintiff fails to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983. Plaintiff concedes that dismissal of the excessive force claim is appropriate.
Under 42 U.S.C. §1983 civil liability may be imposed on any person who, under color of state law, subjects another to the deprivation of rights "secured by the constitution and laws." 42 U.S.C. §1983. Plaintiff contends that her arrest and detention for approximately eight hours violated her fourth and fourteenth amendment rights. The court concludes that Plaintiff's brief detention based upon Officer Olguin's misidentification of Plaintiff as Colleen Ann Conerty fails to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983.
As set forth in previous court orders, incorporated herein, Plaintiff must comply with the requirements of Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137 (1979) in stating a false arrest/detention claim based upon misidentification. As noted by the Defendants, Plaintiff fails to state a claim against them because she fails to adequately allege that Officer Olguin violated her constitutional rights -- under either the Fourth Amendment or the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Baker, 443 U.S. 137 (1979), as here, an individual was arrested pursuant to a warrant in the mistaken belief that plaintiff was the person identified in the warrant. The individual was imprisoned for 72 hours over a holiday weekend. When county officials learned of the mistaken identify, the individual was released from custody. The individual then commenced a §1983 action against the county. The Supreme Court noted that §1983 "imposes liability for violations of rights protected by the Constitution, not for violations of duties of care arising out of tort law." Id. at 146. The court held that the deprivation of liberty suffered by McCollan did not violate a constitutional right, explaining that [a] reasonable division of functions between law enforcement officers, committing magistrates, and judicial officers -- all of whom may be potential defendants in a §1983 action -- is entirely consistent with 'due process of law.' Given the requirements that arrest be made only on probable cause and that one detained be accorded a speedy trial, we do not think ...