Opinion
23-cv-01493-JD
12-11-2023
JORGE RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF OAKLAND, et al., Defendants.
SECOND ORDER RE DISMISSAL
JAMES DONATO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
In a first amended complaint (FAC), plaintiff Jorge Rodriguez alleges that defendants the City of Oakland, the Oakland Police Department (OPD), and named and unnamed OPD officers, violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they arrested him and conducted a warrantless search of his home with firearms drawn. Dkt. No. 21. Defendants ask to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8 and 12(b)(6). Dkt. No. 22. Rodriguez filed an opposition and a request for judicial notice primarily concerning the formation of a civilian oversight board for OPD. Dkt. Nos. 27, 28. The motion is suitable for decision without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), and the case is dismissed with prejudice.
The Court dismissed the original complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) because it was “devoid of factual allegations and [was] purely conclusory.” Order, Rodriguez v. City of Oakland, No. 23-cv-01493-JD (Oct. 3, 2023) (Dkt. No. 20) (citing Contawe v. Cnty. of San Mateo, No. 15-cv-00222-JD, 2015 WL 1926221, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 27, 2015)). The FAC is much the same. The core allegations of two “false[] arrest[s]” and an “illegal raid” on plaintiff's residence are presented as bare legal conclusions with boilerplate recitations of the elements. Dkt. No. 21 ¶¶ 13, 16, 26; see id. ¶¶ 39, 29 (ECF p. 8). On a motion to dismiss, the Court will “not assume the truth of legal conclusions merely because they are cast in the form of factual allegations.” Fayer v. Vaughn, 649 F.3d 1061, 1064 (9th Cir. 2011) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted) (affirming dismissal of complaint against police officers for failure to plausibly allege any unlawful conduct).
The scant facts alleged in the FAC do not save Rodriguez's claims. In pertinent part, Rodriguez says he was in his car when he was arrested by OPD officers on March 31, 2022. Dkt. No. 21 ¶ 13. “They continued the search, without a warrant, of Plaintiff's residence.” Id. ¶ 14. They “[drew] guns on plaintiff and his family.” Id. ¶ 24. On June 3, 2022, Rodriguez says officers again surrounded his car and arrested him “although, to their surprise, plaintiff was not on probation.” Id. ¶¶ 26-27. “[T]he arrest was based on misinformation and racial profiling.” Id. ¶ 28. The officers are said to have used force when they handcuffed Rodriguez and exacerbated an elbow injury. See id. ¶¶ 30-31.
These facts do not plausibly allege a Fourth Amendment claim. They shed no light whatsoever on the circumstances of Rodriguez's arrests or officers' use of force, nor do they provide any plausible basis to infer that the officers lacked probable cause to detain him or search his residence. Consequently, the FAC fails to state a plausible claim against any OPD officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Fayer, 649 F.3d at 1065. Without a predicate constitutional injury, the remaining federal claims against the City fail as a matter of law. See Dougherty v. City of Covina, 654 F.3d 892, 900 (9th Cir. 2011). And without a plausible federal claim, the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims. See Unity Care Grp. v. Cnty. of Santa Clara, California, No. 22-cv-02221-JD, 2022 WL 17986958, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 29, 2022) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1376(c)(3)).
Dismissal is without leave to amend because plaintiff's failure “to correct the deficiencies the Court previously pointed out ‘is a strong indication that [he has] no additional facts to plead.'” In re InvenSense, Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 15-cv-00084-JD, 2017 WL 11673462, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 12, 2017) (quoting Zucco Partners, LLC v. Digimarc Corp., 552 F.3d 981, 1007 (9th Cir. 2009)). The case is dismissed and ordered closed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.