Goods v. City of Bakersfield Police Department et al, No. 1:2019cv00662 - Document 16 (E.D. Cal. 2019)

Court Description: ORDER WITHDRAWING 8 the Findings and Recommendations Dated August 13, 2019; ORDER DIRECTING the Clerk of Court to Update the Docket in Light of the Plaintiff's Dismissal of Officer Waltree, Sgt. Woods, the Bakersfield Police Department and the City of Bakersfield as Defendants, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 8/26/2019. (Hall, S)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHARLES FRANCIS GOODS, 12 13 14 Plaintiff, v. CITY OF BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 1:19-cv-0662- AWI JLT ORDER WITHDRAWING THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS DATED AUGUST 13, 2019 (Doc. 8) ORDER DIRECTING THE CLERK TO UPDATE THE DOCKET IN LIGHT OF THE PLAINTIFF’S DISMISSAL OF OFFICER WALTREE, SGT. WOODS, THE BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND THE CITY OF BAKERSFIELD AS DEFENDANTS (Doc. 12) Conrad Wood asserts that officers of the Bakersfield Police Department and the City of 19 Bakersfield are liable for violations of his civil rights related to the use of excessive force against 20 Plaintiff during his arrest. (Doc. 5 at 1) 21 Previously, the Court found the facts alleged were sufficient to support a claim for excessive 22 force against Officer Teri Harless, but Plaintiff failed to allege cognizable claims against the City of 23 Bakersfield, its police department, or Officer Waltree. (Doc. 3; Doc. 6) Plaintiff informed the Court 24 he wishes to proceed only on the claim found cognizable. (Doc. 7) On August 13, 2019, the Court 25 recommended the action proceed only on the claims for excessive force against Teri Harless. (Doc. 8) 26 On August 21, 2019, Plaintiff filed a “motion to dismiss,” indicating that he was moving “the 27 court to dismiss the complaint against Officer Waltree, Sgt. Woods, the Bakersfield Police Dept., and 28 the City of Bakersfield.” (Doc. 12 at 1) The Court construes this request for dismissal to be a notice 1 1 under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, under which “the plaintiff may dismiss an action 2 without a court order by filing . . . a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either an 3 answer or a motion for summary judgment.” Because the identified defendants had not appeared or 4 filed an answer, the claims were automatically terminated. Id.; see also Wilson v. City of San Jose, 111 5 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997). Accordingly, the Court ORDERS: 6 1. The Findings and Recommendations dated August 13, 2019 (Doc. 8) are withdrawn; 7 2. The action is CLOSED as to Officer Waltree, Sgt. Woods, the Bakersfield Police 8 Department, and the City of Bakersfield only pursuant to Plaintiff’s request under Rule 9 41 (Doc. 12); 10 3. 11 12 The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to update the docket and terminate the identified defendants; and 4. 13 The action SHALL proceed only upon Plaintiff’s claims under Section 1983 for excessive force against Teri Harless. 14 15 16 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: August 26, 2019 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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