Stephan Brooks v. Paco-Michelle Atwood et al

Filing 65

ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE by Judge John F. Walter. The Court accepts and adopts the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation. It is Ordered that: (1) the Moving Defendants&# 039; Motion to Dismiss is granted; (2) the Second Amended Complaint and the action as against the Moving Defendants is dismissed without leave to amend and with prejudice as to the federal claims against those Defendants; and (3) the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims against the Moving Defendants and those state law claims against the Moving Defendants are dismissed without prejudice. (Attachments: # 1 Report and Recommendation) (sp)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 STEPHAN BROOKS, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) PACO-MICHELLE ATWOOD, et al., ) ) ) Defendants. ) ______________________________) NO. CV 15-7724-JFW(E) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 17 18 This Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Honorable 19 John F. Walter, United States District Judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 20 section 636 and General Order 05-07 of the United States District 21 Court for the Central District of California. 22 23 BACKGROUND 24 25 Plaintiff Stephan Brooks filed this action individually and as: 26 (1) alleged successor trustee to the Sireaner Townsend Revocable 27 Living Trust dated June 22, 2004 (“Trust”); (2) alleged sole 28 beneficiary of the Trust; (3) alleged sole heir of the Sireaner 1 Townsend Pour Over Will dated June 22, 2004; and (4) alleged heir to 2 the estate of Sherrell Atwood. 3 family dispute concerning residential real property which resulted in 4 state court litigation, including a probate case concerning the 5 Sherrell Atwood estate (“Estate Case”), a “Trust Case,” a “Will 6 Contest Case” and a “Partition Case.” Plaintiff’s claims arise out of a 7 8 The original Complaint purported to state civil rights claims and 9 state law claims against: (1) Plaintiff’s sister Paco-Michelle Atwood, 10 individually and as alleged administrator of the estate of Sherrell 11 Atwood; (2) Chrisangela Walston, allegedly an attorney for Atwood in 12 the “Estate Case” and the “Partition Case”; (3) L’Tanya M. Butler, 13 allegedly an attorney for Atwood in the state court cases; (4) Maurice 14 Smith, Clifford Townsend, Jr. and Steven Townsend, the three 15 petitioners in the “Trust Case” and “Will Contest” cases; (5) Guy 16 Leemhuis, allegedly the attorney for Smith and the two Townsends; 17 (6) Jonnie Johnson Parker, allegedly the attorney for Plaintiff 18 individually and as alleged successor trustee in the “Trust Case”; and 19 (7) ten fictitious “Doe” Defendants. 20 Plaintiff alleged that the Defendants named in that pleading conspired 21 with lawyers and judges to deprive Plaintiff of the right to the 22 property, which allegedly previously was owned jointly by Plaintiff’s 23 mother, Sherrell Atwood, and grandmother, Sireaner Townsend, both now 24 deceased. In the original Complaint, 25 26 On December 8, 2015, Defendants Atwood, Butler and Walston filed 27 a motion to dismiss the Complaint. On January 8, 2016, Plaintiff 28 filed an opposition to that motion. 2 On January 19, 2016, the Court 1 issued an “Order Dismissing Complaint With Leave to Amend,” dismissing 2 the Complaint with leave to amend and permitting Plaintiff to file a 3 First Amended Complaint. 4 5 Plaintiff did not file a First Amended Complaint by the deadline 6 set in the January 19, 2016 Order. Accordingly, on March 3, 2016, the 7 Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation recommending 8 dismissal of the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute. 9 10 On March 21, 2016, Plaintiff filed objections to the Report and 11 Recommendation. On March 22, 2016, the Magistrate Judge issued a 12 Minute Order withdrawing the Report and Recommendation and extending 13 the time within which Plaintiff could file a First Amended Complaint. 14 Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint on April 5, 2016, naming the 15 original Defendants and adding two new Defendants: (1) Los Angeles 16 County Superior Court Executive Officer/Clerk Sherri Carter; and 17 (2) Joseph A. Lane, Clerk of the California Court of Appeal, Second 18 District. 19 20 On April 7, 2016, Defendants Atwood, Butler and Walston filed a 21 motion to dismiss the First Amended Complaint. 22 Plaintiff filed an opposition to this motion. 23 Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that 24 the Court: (1) dismiss the First Amended Complaint and the action as 25 against private party Defendants Atwood, Walston, Butler, Maurice 26 Smith, Clifford Townsend, Jr., Steven Townsend, Guy A. Leemhuis, and 27 /// 28 /// 3 On May 4, 2016, On May 13, 2016, the 1 Jonnie Johnson Parker,1 with prejudice with respect to the federal 2 claims; and (2) decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the 3 state law claims against the private party Defendants and dismiss 4 those state law claims against the private party Defendants without 5 prejudice. 6 7 On May 17, 2016, Defendants Carter and Lane filed a Motion to 8 Dismiss the First Amended Complaint. 9 On June 16, 2016, Plaintiff filed an Opposition. 10 11 On June 20, 2016, the District Judge issued an “Order Accepting 12 Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations of United States Magistrate 13 Judge.” 14 and Recommendation, dismissing from the action all Defendants other 15 than Defendants Carter and Lane. This Order adopted the Magistrate Judge’s May 13, 2016 Report 16 17 On June 28, 2016, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report and 18 Recommendation addressing the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants 19 Carter and Lane and inter alia recommending dismissal of the First 20 Amended Complaint as against the Defendants with leave to amend. 21 Among other things, the Report and Recommendation advised Plaintiff 22 that the doctrine of quasi-judicial immunity shielded Defendants 23 Carter and Lane from liability for actions taken in their capacities 24 1 25 26 27 28 Although Defendants Maurice Smith, Clifford Townsend, Jr., Steven Townsend, Guy A. Leemhuis and Jonnie Johnson Parker had not appeared in the action, the same reasons supporting dismissal of the First Amended Complaint as against the appearing private party Defendants supported dismissal of the First Amended Complaint and the action as against Defendants Smith, Clifford Townsend, Jr., Steven Townsend, Leemhuis and Parker. 4 1 as court clerks when they perform tasks that are an integral part of 2 the judicial process. 3 “Order Accepting Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations of United 4 State Magistrate Judge,” dismissing the First Amended Complaint as 5 against Defendants Carter and Lane with leave to amend. On August 5, 2016, the District Judge issued an 6 7 On September 6, 2016, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint 8 against Defendants Carter and Lane, and adding as Defendants: (1) Los 9 Angeles County Superior Court Judges Beckloff, Cowan, Levanas and 10 Stratton; (2) California Court of Appeal Justices Epstein, Willhite 11 and Collins; and (3) the County of Los Angeles (“County”). 12 13 On September 21, 2016, Defendants Carter and Lane filed a Motion 14 to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint. On October 21, 2016, 15 Plaintiff filed an Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss. 16 17 SUMMARY OF PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 18 19 I. Original Complaint 20 21 In the original Complaint, Plaintiff alleged that various private 22 party Defendants, supposedly in conspiracy with “Co-Conspirator” 23 judicial officers not then named as Defendants, filed and pursued sham 24 litigation by allegedly, among other things: 25 26 1. filing the “Estate Case” assertedly with knowledge that 27 Sherrell Atwood purportedly had no interest in the property and that 28 Plaintiff allegedly was “the 2/3 heir of Sherrell Atwood”; 5 1 2. doing nothing to advance the Estate Case; 3. perpetrating a fraud upon the court and obtaining a 2 3 4 settlement by threat and coercion; 5 6 4. causing the property taxes to become delinquent; 5. filing the allegedly sham “Partition” case over a year after 7 8 9 the “Estate Case” should have been dismissed, assertedly knowing that 10 Maurice Smith allegedly was not an heir of Sireaner Townsend and that 11 the court allegedly lacked jurisdiction; 12 13 6. seeking and obtaining eighty continuances over four years in 14 the four cases and refusing to dismiss three of the cases after five 15 years; 16 17 7. threatening Plaintiff in order to settle one or more of the 18 state cases; 19 20 8. executing an incorrect and invalid settlement agreement; and 9. filing the “still open” “Will Contest Case” allegedly knowing 21 22 23 the case purportedly was baseless and “would fail from the outset,” 24 and without intent to pursue the case 25 26 (see Complaint, pp. 22-31). 27 /// 28 /// 6 1 The original Complaint identified various state court judges not 2 named as Defendants as purported “co-conspirators”: (1) Los Angeles 3 Superior Court Judges Mitchell L. Beckloff, David J. Cowan, Michael I. 4 Levanas and Maria E. Stratton; and (2) California Court of Appeal 5 Justices Norman L. Epstein, Audrey B. Collins and Thomas L. Willhite, 6 Jr. 7 wrongfully granted continuances in the four cases over a four-year 8 period “at the behest of Defendants,” refused to decide jurisdictional 9 motions to dismiss, refused to dismiss cases “when mandatorily bound According to Plaintiff’s allegations, the Superior Court judges 10 by five year statutes,” and refused to close and distribute the estate 11 of Sherrell Atwood “when bound to do so by statute” (id., p. 21). 12 Plaintiff also alleged the Superior Court judges: (1) received 13 “retroactive immunity pursuant to SBX 2 11 from California criminal 14 prosecution, civil liability and disciplinary action for taking 15 payments from LA County while sitting as [judges] prior to July 1, 16 2008”; (2) received allegedly illegal payments which they assertedly 17 failed to disclose; and (3) were biased because Los Angeles County 18 assertedly would benefit from increased tax revenue purportedly to be 19 gained from a court-ordered sale of the property (see Complaint, pp. 20 10-14). 21 22 In the original Complaint, Plaintiff alleged that Justices 23 Epstein and Willhite: (1) received “retroactive immunity pursuant to 24 SBX 2 11 from California criminal prosecution, civil liability and 25 disciplinary action for taking payments from LA County while sitting 26 as [Superior Court judges] prior to July 1, 2008”; (2) received 27 allegedly illegal payments which they assertedly failed to disclose; 28 and (3) failed to disclose that Superior Court judges had engaged in 7 1 fraud by taking payments from Los Angeles County during the “Partition 2 Case” (id., pp. 15-17). 3 appellate opinions assertedly knowing that Paco-Michelle Atwood 4 supposedly did not contest that the Superior Court judges allegedly 5 had engaged in fraud by taking purportedly illegal payments from the 6 County; and (2) failed to address Plaintiff’s challenges to the 7 Superior Court’s jurisdiction (id., pp. 14-17). 8 allegedly violated the Code of Judicial Ethics by failing to disclose 9 that she had been a Los Angeles County district attorney and that The appellate justices allegedly: (1) signed Justice Collins 10 during her tenure as Presiding Judge of this Court she allowed United 11 States District Judges who were former Superior Court Judges to 12 receive the aforesaid “retroactive immunity” (id., pp. 15-16). 13 14 The original Complaint alleged five claims for relief, styled 15 “causes of action.” 16 deprivation of due process pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983. 17 Defendants allegedly perverted and obstructed justice through delays, 18 fraud on the court and bias, took the property without due process and 19 denied Plaintiff equal protection “by threats and intimidation” (id., 20 p. 32). 21 Plaintiff of equal protection in violation of 42 U.S.C. section 22 1985(2). 23 declaratory and injunctive relief. 24 Action asserted supplemental claims for intentional and negligent 25 infliction of emotional distress, respectively. The First Cause of Action asserted a claim for The Second Cause of Action alleged a conspiracy to deprive The Third Cause of Action purportedly asserted a claim for The Fourth and Fifth Causes of 26 27 28 Plaintiff attached to the original Complaint, among other things: (1) a partial copy of an order of the Los Angeles County Superior 8 1 Court, dated September 16, 2014, granting summary adjudication for 2 Paco-Michelle Atwood as administrator of the Estate of Sherrell 3 Atwood, finding that Plaintiff owned a one-sixth interest in the real 4 property and ruling that the Estate was entitled to a partition by 5 sale; and (2) a copy of the decision of the California Court of Appeal 6 affirming the Superior Court’s order2 (Complaint, Ex. 3). 7 8 In the original Complaint, Plaintiff sought damages, an order 9 setting aside the state court’s order which determined ownership of 10 and ordered the sale of the property, and an injunction restraining 11 Defendants from engaging in any action to sell the property or to 12 acquire or share any proceeds from the sale of the property. 13 14 II. The First Amended Complaint 15 16 The First Amended Complaint was very similar to its predecessor. 17 Most of the substantive allegations were identical or virtually 18 identical to those in the original Complaint. 19 add allegations supposedly showing that Defendants engaged in “Joint 20 Action, Common Scheme, Concert of Action, Conspiracy and Fraud Upon 21 the Court” (First Amended Complaint, pp. 3-5). 22 allegations that newly named Defendant Carter purportedly destroyed 23 and/or omitted documents from the “Case Summaries” of some of the Plaintiff purported to Plaintiff also added 24 2 25 26 27 28 See Atwood v. Brooks, 2015 WL 5029639 (No. B258407) (Cal. App. Aug. 25, 2015). Among other things, the Court of Appeal rejected Plaintiff’s argument that Atwood delayed unreasonably in filing a probate action and Plaintiff’s argument that the Superior Court judges should have been disqualified because they purportedly received unauthorized employment benefits. 9 1 state court cases and allegedly listed documents in the Partition case 2 which assertedly did not exist (id., p. 27). 3 allegedly refused to provide Plaintiff with a “timely date for a 4 motion to stop April 13, 2015 trial even though motion was timely 5 filed. . . .” (id.). 6 Atwood’s motion to dismiss the appeal in case number B267893 [sic] 7 before the record was filed, assertedly in violation of a court rule 8 (id., p. 28). 9 of continuances in the state court cases, a purported May 9, 2016 Defendant Carter also Newly named Defendant Lane allegedly filed Plaintiff also added allegations concerning the number 10 trial date in the Estate Case, and the California Court of Appeal’s 11 dismissal of Plaintiff’s appeal in Atwood v. Brooks, Court of Appeal 12 case number B267393 (see, e.g., id., pp. 7, 14-16, 18, 20-21). 13 14 The First Amended Complaint contained five “causes of action.” 15 The First Cause of Action alleged: (1) violations of due process “by 16 perverting and obstructing justice through destruction of documents, 17 refusal to file documents, delays, fraud upon the court and bias” and 18 by taking property without due process; and (2) violations of equal 19 protection by allegedly subjecting Plaintiff to “threats and 20 intimidation” (id., p. 39). 21 conspiracy in asserted violation of 42 U.S.C. section 1985(2). 22 Third Cause of Action sought declaratory relief in the Partition Case, 23 an order setting aside all orders in the Partition Case and temporary 24 and permanent injunctive relief preventing Defendants from “engaging 25 in any action in the Partition Case based upon any order obtained 26 through fraud upon the court” (id., p. 44). 27 Causes of Action alleged claims of intentional and negligent 28 infliction of emotional distress. The Second Cause of Action alleged The The Fourth and Fifth Plaintiff sought damages and the 10 1 previously mentioned declaratory and injunctive relief. 2 3 III. The Second Amended Complaint 4 5 The Second Amended Complaint closely resembles its predecessors. 6 Plaintiff again alleges that Judges Beckloff, Cowan, Levanas and 7 Stratton received illegal payments from the County, improperly granted 8 continuances in the four cases, improperly assumed jurisdiction in 9 three of the cases, exhibited bias, and refused to dismiss three cases 10 as allegedly untimely (Second Amended Complaint, pp. 4-12, 26-27). 11 Defendants Epstein, Willhite and Collins allegedly received illegal 12 payments from the County and made incorrect and unlawful rulings (id., 13 pp. 4, 13-18, 27-28). 14 failed to place documents assertedly filed by Plaintiff in the court 15 file, destroyed documents, listed allegedly non-existent documents in 16 a “case summary,” refused to provide Plaintiff with a hearing date for 17 a motion Plaintiff filed and refused to show Plaintiff’s motion to 18 stay the Partition Case in the “case summary” (id., pp. 4-5, 18-19, 19 28-29). 20 appeal” and obstructed justice by filing Atwood’s motion to dismiss an 21 appeal before the record was filed (id., pp. 5, 19-20, 29). 22 County allegedly made illegal payments to the judicial Defendants 23 (id., pp. 5, 20-21). Defendant Carter allegedly destroyed and/or Defendant Lane allegedly “made an illegal filing in the The 24 25 Like the First Amended Complaint, the Second Amended Complaint 26 contains purported claims for: (1) deprivation of due process and 27 equal protection pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983; (2) conspiracy to 28 deprive Plaintiff of equal protection in violation of 42 U.S.C. 11 1 section 1985(2); (3) declaratory and injunctive relief; (4) 2 intentional infliction of emotional distress; and (5) negligent 3 infliction of emotional distress. 4 Plaintiff seeks damages and declaratory and injunctive relief 5 restraining the Defendants from “engaging in any action in the 6 Partition Case” (id., pp. 38, 40).3 As in the First Amended Complaint, 7 8 STANDARDS GOVERNING MOTION TO DISMISS 9 10 To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint 11 must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a 12 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” 13 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citation and internal quotations omitted). 14 “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual 15 content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that 16 the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, Id. 17 18 The Court must accept as true all non-conclusory factual 19 allegations in the complaint and must construe the complaint in the 20 light most favorable to the plaintiff. 21 Digimarc Corp., 552 F.3d 981, 989 (9th Cir. 2009). 22 court may not consider material beyond the complaint in ruling on a 23 Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion.” 24 Crest Group, Inc., 499 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007) (citation and 25 footnote omitted). 26 /// Zucco Partners, LLC v. “Generally, a Intri-Plex Technologies, Inc. v. 27 3 28 The Third Cause of Action does not contain any charging allegations against the Moving Defendants. 12 1 The Court may not dismiss a pro se complaint without leave to 2 amend unless “it is absolutely clear that the deficiencies of the 3 complaint could not be cured by amendment.” 4 Angeles Police Dep’t, 839 F.2d 621, 623 (9th Cir. 1988) (citations and 5 quotations omitted); see also Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th 6 Cir. 2000) (en banc) (district court should grant leave to amend 7 “unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by 8 the allegation of other facts”) (citation and internal quotations 9 omitted). Karim-Panahi v. Los 10 11 DISCUSSION 12 13 The Moving Defendants contend, inter alia, that the Eleventh 14 Amendment bars Plaintiff’s claims and that the doctrine of quasi- 15 judicial immunity shields the Moving Defendants from suit. 16 following reasons, the Court agrees that quasi-judicial immunity 17 shields the Moving Defendants from suit.4 For the 18 19 Like the First Amended Complaint, the Second Amended Complaint 20 does not clearly allege the capacities in which Plaintiff purports to 21 sue the Moving Defendants. 22 that, to the extent Plaintiff sues either Moving Defendant in his or 23 her official capacity, the Eleventh Amendment bars suits in federal 24 court for monetary damages against state officials sued in their 25 official capacities. The Court previously advised Plaintiff See Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, 26 27 28 4 Hence, the Court need not and does not reach the remaining issues raised by Defendants. 13 1 491 U.S. 58, 71 (1989); Krainski v. Nevada ex rel. Bd. of Regents of 2 Nevada System of Higher Educ., 616 F.3d 963, 968 (9th Cir. 2010), 3 cert. denied, 562 U.S. 1286 (2011). 4 Plaintiff states that he intends to sue the Moving Defendants for 5 damages in their individual capacities (see Opposition, pp. 4-5). 6 Eleventh Amendment does not bar such claims. 7 U.S. 21, 30-31 (1991); Suever v. Connell, 579 F.3d 1047, 1060-61 (9th 8 Cir. 2009). In his Opposition, however, The See Hafer v. Melo, 502 9 10 However, assuming arguendo that the Second Amended Complaint 11 pleads claims against the Moving Defendants in their individual 12 capacities only, the doctrine of quasi-judicial immunity shields those 13 Defendants from suit in this case. 14 15 As the Court previously advised Plaintiff, the doctrine of 16 judicial immunity bars state and federal claims for damages against a 17 judicial officer for actions taken in his or her judicial capacity. 18 See Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 9-10 (1991) (per curiam); Moore v. 19 Brewster, 96 F.3d 1240, 1243-44 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 519 20 U.S. 1118 (1997). 21 of bad faith or malice.” 22 doctrine “applies however erroneous the act may have been, and however 23 injurious in its consequences it may have proved to the plaintiff.” 24 Cleavinger v. Saxner, 474 U.S. 193, 199-200 (1985) (citations and 25 quotations omitted). “[J]udicial immunity is not overcome by allegations Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. at 11. The 26 27 28 Absolute immunity “is not reserved solely for judges, but extends to nonjudicial officers for all claims relating to the exercise of 14 1 judicial functions.” Burton v. Infinity Capital Management, 753 F.3d 2 954, 959 (9th Cir. 2014) (citations and internal quotations omitted). 3 “[C]ourt clerks are entitled to absolute immunity even in the absence 4 of a judicial directive so long as the acts were not done ‘in the 5 clear absence of all jurisdiction.’” 6 United States Bankruptcy Court for Dist. of Nev., 828 F.2d 1385, 1390 7 (9th Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1040 (1988)). 8 have absolute quasi-judicial immunity from damages for civil rights 9 violations when they perform tasks that are an integral part of the Id. at 961 (quoting Mullis v. 10 judicial process.” 11 “Court clerks of Nev., 828 F.2d at 1390 (citations omitted). Mullis v. United States Bankruptcy Court for Dist. 12 13 Here, Plaintiff’s federal claims against the Moving Defendants 14 arise out of alleged actions taken in Moving Defendants’ capacities as 15 court clerks, involving tasks which were an “integral part of the 16 judicial process.” 17 Moving Defendants are entitled to quasi-judicial immunity. 18 Coulter v. Roddy, 463 Fed. App’x 610, 611 (9th Cir. 2011), cert. 19 denied, 132 S. Ct. 2752 (2012) (court clerk immune for allegedly 20 directing deputy clerks to refuse to file forms presented by a pro se 21 litigant seeking dismissal of a civil action); Essell v. Carter, 450 22 Fed. App’x 691 (9th Cir. 2011) (court clerks immune for failing to 23 respond to pro se plaintiff’s letters and failing to file various 24 motions and appeals); Sedgwick v. United States, 265 Fed. App’x 567, 25 568 (9th Cir. 2008) (United States Supreme Court clerk immune for 26 refusing to file plaintiff’s petition for writ of certiorari); In re 27 Castillo, 297 F.3d 940, 951-52 (9th Cir. 2002) (bankruptcy trustee 28 absolutely immune for failing to give notice of hearing and improperly On the face of the Second Amended Complaint, the 15 See 1 scheduling hearing); Moore v. Brewster, 96 F.3d at 1244 (court clerk 2 immune for allegedly deceiving plaintiff regarding status of 3 supersedeas bond and improperly conducting hearings to assess costs); 4 Mullis v. United States Bankruptcy Court for Dist. of Nev., 828 F.2d 5 at 1390 (bankruptcy court clerks immune for failing to provide 6 requested information and refusing to accept and file an amended 7 bankruptcy petition); Morrison v. Jones, 607 F.2d 1269, 1273 (9th Cir. 8 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 962 (1980) (court clerk immune for 9 allegedly failing to give notice of a dependency court order); 10 Marchetti v. Superior Court, 2016 WL 4658959, at *8 (N.D. Cal. 11 Sept. 7, 2016) (court clerks immune for denying plaintiff’s request 12 for a hearing); Shatford v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dep’t, 2016 13 WL 1579379, at *10 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 2016), adopted, 2016 WL 1573422 14 (Apr. 19, 2016) (“Procedures for calendaring appearances before a 15 judicial officer and deciding whether or not to file documents on the 16 court's docket are an integral part of the judicial process, even if 17 those tasks are considered administrative or ministerial.”); Maldonado 18 v. Superior Court, 2013 WL 635951, at *3 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2013) 19 (clerk immune for failing to take action on plaintiff’s complaints and 20 habeas corpus petition); Armstrong v. Scribner, 2008 WL 268974, at *19 21 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 30, 2008) (clerk immune for failing to file documents 22 plaintiff submitted to the court). 23 24 CONCLUSION 25 26 As previously indicated, the Court may dismiss a complaint 27 without leave to amend if “it is absolutely clear that the 28 deficiencies of the complaint could not be cured by amendment.” 16 1 Karim-Panahi v. Los Angeles Police Dep’t, 839 F.2d at 623; see also 2 Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d at 1130. 3 afforded the opportunity to amend his pleading to attempt to state 4 cognizable federal claims against the Moving Defendants, he has proven 5 unable to state such claims. 6 amendment would be futile. 7 F.3d 777, 785 (9th Cir. 1997), overruled on other grounds, Green v. 8 City of Tucson, 255 F.3d 1086 (9th Cir. 2001) (amendment futile 9 because defendant was entitled to judicial immunity); see also Simon Although Plaintiff previously was In these circumstances, further See Martinez v. Newport Beach City, 125 10 v. Value Behavioral Health, Inc., 208 F.3d 1073, 1084 (9th Cir.), 11 amended, 234 F.3d 428 (9th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1104 12 (2001), overruled on other grounds, Odom v. Microsoft Corp., 486 F.3d 13 541 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 552 U.S. 985 (2007) (affirming dismissal 14 without leave to amend where plaintiff failed to correct deficiencies 15 in complaint, where court had afforded plaintiff opportunities to do 16 so, and where court had given plaintiff notice of the substantive 17 problems with his claims); Plumeau v. School District #40, County of 18 Yamhill, 130 F.3d 432, 439 (9th Cir. 1997) (denial of leave to amend 19 appropriate where further amendment would be futile). 20 21 RECOMMENDATION 22 23 For all of the foregoing reasons, IT IS RECOMMENDED that the 24 Court issue an Order: 25 Recommendation; (2) granting the Moving Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss; 26 (3) dismissing the Second Amended Complaint and the action as against 27 the Moving Defendants without leave to amend and with prejudice as to 28 the federal claims against those Defendants; and (4) declining to (1) accepting and adopting this Report and 17 1 exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims against 2 the Moving Defendants (see 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3)) and dismissing 3 those state law claims against the Moving Defendants without 4 prejudice. 5 6 Dated: November 29, 2016. 7 8 9 /s/ CHARLES F. EICK UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 18 1 2 NOTICE Reports and Recommendations are not appealable to the Court of 3 Appeals, but may be subject to the right of any party to file 4 objections as provided in the Local Rules Governing the Duties of 5 Magistrate Judges and review by the District Judge whose initials 6 appear in the docket number. 7 Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure should be filed until entry of 8 the judgment of the District Court. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 No notice of appeal pursuant to the

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