Lockett v. County of Los Angeles, No. 19-55898 (9th Cir. 2020)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the County's motion to dismiss a claim brought by plaintiff under Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 690 (1978). Plaintiff alleges that the County's failure to hire, train, and supervise its Sheriff's deputies resulted in two deputies severely beating plaintiff during his arrest. Plaintiff contends that the County tolerated and ignored the proliferation of racially motivated "cliques" or "gangs" within the Sherriff's Department which led to the excessive force used.
The panel held that California Government Code 945.3 tolled plaintiff's claim while his criminal charges were pending even if he filed his complaint outside the two year statute of limitations. Section 945.3 provides that a person charged with a criminal offense may not bring a civil action against a peace officer or the public entity employing a peace officer "based upon" conduct of the peace officer relating to the offense for which the accused is charged while the charges against the accused are pending before a superior court. The panel explained that, because there can be no Monell claim based on excessive force without an underlying constitutional violation by the officers, the peace officer's conduct in violation of the Constitution here becomes the "necessary logical condition" to formulate a Monell claim. Therefore, section 945.3's "based upon" language applies to plaintiff's Monell claim, and his claim was properly tolled until the dismissal of his criminal charges.
Court Description: Civil Rights. In an interlocutory appeal, the panel affirmed the district court’s denial of the County of Los Angeles’s motion to dismiss a claim brought pursuant to Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 690 (1978), alleging that the County’s failure to hire, train, and supervise its Sheriff’s deputies resulted in two deputies severely beating plaintiff during his arrest. The panel first acknowledged that federal courts borrow from state law to determine any applicable statute of limitations for § 1983 claims, including tolling provisions. The panel held that although plaintiff’s complaint was filed outside the relevant two-year statute of limitations, California Government Code § 945.3 tolled plaintiff’s claim while his criminal charges were pending. Section 945.3 provides, in relevant part, that a person charged with a criminal offense may not bring a civil action against a peace officer or the public entity employing a peace officer “based upon” conduct of the peace officer relating to the offense for which the accused is charged while the charges against the accused are pending before a superior court. The panel held that because there can be no Monell claim based on excessive force without an underlying constitutional violation by the officers, the peace officer’s conduct in violation of the Constitution here became the LOCKETT V. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 3 necessary logical condition to formulate a Monell claim. Thus, California Government Code § 945.3’s “based upon” language applied to plaintiff’s Monell claim, and his claim was properly tolled until the dismissal of his criminal charges.
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