Hoffman v. Gibson

Filing 12

ORDER Granting Defendant's 6 Motion to Dismiss. Signed by Judge Marilyn L. Huff on 8/10/2017. (ag)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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TODD HOFFMAN,

Case No.: 3:17-cv-00618-H-BLM
Plaintiff,

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v.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION TO DISMISS

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KEVIN GIBSON,

[Doc. No. 6]

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Defendant.

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On March 28, 2017, Plaintiff Todd Hoffman (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint against

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Defendant Kevin Gibson (“Defendant”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging

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Defendant violated his constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment on account of

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an unreasonable seizure. (Doc. No. 1.) On June 26, 2017, Defendant filed a motion to

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dismiss Defendant’s complaint, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). (Doc. No. 6.) On

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July 31, 2017, Plaintiff filed a response in opposition to the motion to dismiss. (Doc. No.

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9.) Defendant filed a reply on August 7, 2017. (Doc. No. 10.)

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BACKGROUND
At the motion to dismiss stage, the Court accepts as true all facts alleged and draws

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all reasonable inferences in favor of the claimant. See Retail Prop. Trust v. United Bhd.

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of Carpenters & Joiners of Am., 768 F.3d 938, 945 (9th Cir. 2014). The Court may also

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“take judicial notice of matters of public record,” including documents filed in other court
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proceedings, as long as they are not “subject to reasonable dispute.” Intri-Plex Tech..

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Inc. v. Crest Grp., Inc., 499 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007). The following facts are

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taken from Plaintiff’s Complaint, (Doc. No. 1), as well undisputed matters of public

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record.

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On February 19, 2015, Plaintiff was riding his motorcycle to work. (Doc. No. 1 ¶

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9.) During the ride, Plaintiff was cut off by a motorist driving a Toyota 4 Runner (the

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“Motorist”). (Id.) After Plaintiff attempted to warn the Motorist to be more careful, the

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Motorist drove her car into Plaintiff’s motorcycle and drove off. (Id. ¶¶ 9-10.) Plaintiff

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pursued the Motorist with the intent of effectuating a citizen’s arrest. (Id. ¶ 10.) Plaintiff

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followed the Motorist until she stopped at a 7-Eleven where he proceeded to restrain the

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Motorist and ask someone to call the police. (Id. ¶ 11-12.)

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When the police arrived at the 7-Eleven, they inspected the vehicles, reviewed

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video from Plaintiff’s helmet camera, and ultimately arrested the Motorist. (Id. ¶ 13.)

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Following the arrest, Defendant, a detective, assumed responsibility for the investigation.

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(Id. ¶14.) Defendant released the Motorist from custody and arrested Plaintiff on charges

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of felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery. (Id.) Plaintiff pled not guilty to

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the two charges and, when the case went to trial, the jury hung. (Id. ¶ 15.) After a

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mistrial was declared, Plaintiff pled guilty to the charges pursuant to an agreement that

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“upon completion of 24 hours of [community service] and 8 hours of anger managed,

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[Plaintiff] can withdraw his plea and the case will be dismissed. (Doc. No. 6-4 at 2,

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People v. Todd Hoffman, SCS283170, Plea of Guilty/No Contest – Misdemeanor.)

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Plaintiff complied with the agreement and his case was dismissed. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 15;

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Doc. No. 6-5 at 2.)

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DISCUSSION
I.

MOTION TO DISMISS STANDARD

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A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) tests the legal

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sufficiency of the pleadings and allows a court to dismiss a complaint if the claimant has

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failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Conservation Force v.

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Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1241 (9th Cir. 2011). A complaint will survive a motion to

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dismiss if it contains “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.”

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Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads

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factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is

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liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). “A

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pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of

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a cause of action will not do.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). “Nor does a

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complaint suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual

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enhancement.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). Accordingly, dismissal for

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failure to state a claim is proper where the claim “lacks a cognizable legal theory or

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sufficient facts to support a cognizable legal theory.” Mendiondo v. Centinela Hosp.

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Med. Ctr., 521 F.3d 1097, 1104 (9th Cir. 2008).

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In reviewing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a district court must accept as true

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all facts alleged in the complaint, and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the

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claimant. See Retail Prop. Trust, 768 F.3d at 945. A court may consider documents

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incorporated into the complaint by reference, as well as items that are proper subjects of

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judicial notice. See Coto Settlement v. Eisenberg, 593 F.3d 1031, 1038 (9th Cir. 2010).

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II.

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ANALYSIS
Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s claims must be dismissed on account of the

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underlying criminal case and Plaintiff’s plea agreement. (See Doc. No. 6.) First,

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Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s claim must fail because collateral estoppel prevents him

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from now arguing that there was no probable cause to arrest him. (Id. at 5-8.) Second,

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Defendant argues that any § 1983 relief is barred under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477

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(1994).

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Following Plaintiff’s arrest, a California Superior Court held a preliminary hearing

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and found there was probable cause for the charges against Plaintiff. (Doc. No. 6-3,

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Preliminary Hearing Transc.) “[W]hen an issue of ultimate fact has once been

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determined by a valid and final judgment, that issue cannot again be litigated between the

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same parties in any future lawsuit.” Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 443 (1970). “State

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law governs the application of collateral estoppel or issue preclusion to a state court

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judgment in a federal civil rights action.” Ayers v. City of Richmond, 895 F.2d 1267,

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1270 (9th Cir. 1990). In California, collateral estoppel will apply where (1) the issue is

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identical to that decided in a prior proceeding, (2) the issue was actually litigated in the

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proceeding, (3) the issue was necessarily decided in the prior proceeding, (4) the decision

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in the prior proceeding was final and on the merits, and (5) the estopped party was in

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privity with the party in the prior proceeding.” People v. Garcia, 39 Cal.4th 1070, 1077

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(2006).

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“As a general rule, each of [the collateral estoppel] requirements will be met when

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courts are asked to give preclusive effect to preliminary hearing probable cause findings

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in subsequent civil actions for false arrest and malicious prosecution.” Wige v. City of

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Los Angeles, 713 F.3d 1183, 1185 (9th Cir. 2013); see also McCutchen v. City of

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Montclair, 73 Cal.App.4th 1138, 1147 (1999) (“a prior judicial determination at a

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preliminary hearing that there was sufficient evidence to hold the plaintiff over for trial

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may, in some situations, preclude the plaintiff from relitigating the issue of probable

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cause to arrest in a subsequent civil suit”); Haupt v. Dillard, 17 F.3d 285, 288 (9th Cir.

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1994); Forest v. City of Ft. Bragg, 520 Fed.Appx. 616 (9th Cir. 2013). There are two

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exceptions to the general rule. First, collateral estoppel will not apply “[i]f the evidence

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known to the arresting officer is materially different from the evidence presented at the

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preliminary hearing.” Wige, 713 F.3d at 1185. Second, it will not apply “where the

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plaintiff alleges that the arresting officer lied or fabricated evidence presented at the
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preliminary hearing. Id. at 1186 (quoting McCutchen, 73 Cal.App.4th at 1147). Nothing

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before the Court suggests there is reason to deviate from the general rule.

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Plaintiff’s preliminary hearing was held on February 2, 2015, before Judge

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Stephanie Sontag. (Doc. No. 6-3 at 2.) Plaintiff appeared at the hearing and was

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represented by counsel. (Id.) Judge Sontag heard testimony from Defendant Gibson,

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testifying as the investigating officer, and Plaintiff. (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff had the

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opportunity to cross-examine Defendant Gibson at that time. (Id. at 15-28.) The judge

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also reviewed video evidence from the incident between Plaintiff and the Motorist,

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including video recorded by Plaintiff on his helmet camera and surveillance video from

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the 7-Eleven. (Id. at 4.) At the conclusion of evidence, counsel for both sides had the

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opportunity to argue their case to the judge. (Id. at 59-63.) These proceedings offered

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Plaintiff a “full and fair opportunity” to litigate the issue of probable cause and he took

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full advantage of it. See Awabdy v. City of Adelanto, 368 F.3d 1062, 1068 (9th Cir.

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2004).

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Plaintiff argues that he did not have a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue

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of probable cause because the state did not call the Motorist to testify at the preliminary

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hearing. (Doc. No. 9 at 6-7.) But Plaintiff cites to no legal support for this proposition

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and the Court can find none. Plaintiff had the opportunity to call witnesses at the

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preliminary hearing but offers no explanation for why he did not call the Motorist. See

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Cal. Pen. Code § 866(a). And a failure to take advantage of the opportunity to litigate an

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issue will not preclude collateral estoppel. See Forest, 2011 WL 13143893, *6

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(“Plaintiff, however, chose not to present Mr. Soria’s testimony . . . . Plaintiff having

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made that choice cannot now claim that he did not have the opportunity”).

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Furthermore, Plaintiff’s reliance on Schmidlin v. City of Palo Alto, 157

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Cal.App.4th 728 (2007), is unavailing. In Schmidlin, a California Court of Appeal

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disagreed with the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Haupt, as well as the previous California

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Court of Appeal ruling in McCutchen, and held that “a preliminary hearing [n]either

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raises the issue of, or provides an adequate opportunity to litigate, the legality of an
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arrest.” Id. at 767. Certainly, Schmidlin supports Plaintiff’s argument. However,

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because the California Courts of Appeal are divided on the issue and the California

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Supreme Court has yet to weigh in, the Court will follow Ninth Circuit precedent on

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point. And the Ninth Circuit has clearly rejected Schmidlin, in favor of McCutchen.

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Wige, 713 F.3d at 1185 (“As a general rule, each of [the collateral estoppel] requirements

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will be met when courts are asked to give preclusive effect to preliminary hearing

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probable cause findings in subsequent civil actions for false arrest and malicious

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prosecution.”); Beckway, 717 F.Supp.2d at 919 (“This Court will therefore follow Haupt

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and McCutchen, and not Schmidlin, on this issue.”).

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CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court concludes that Plaintiff is collaterally

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estopped from arguing there was no probable cause to arrest him. As such, his only claim

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for false arrest necessarily fails. Norse v. City of Santa Cruz, 629 F.3d 966, 978 (9th Cir.

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2010) (“The existence of probable cause is dispositive as to false arrest and excessive

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force claims.”); Cabrera v. City of Huntington Park, 159 F.3d 374, 380 (9th Cir. 1998)

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(“To prevail on his § 1983 claim for false arrest and imprisonment, Cabrera would have

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to demonstrate that there was no probable cause to arrest him.”). Accordingly, the Court

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grants Defendant’s motion to dismiss.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: August 10, 2017
Hon. Marilyn L. Huff
United States District Judge

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