Adolphus v. County of Los Angeles
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Plaintiff Keith Adolphus appeals an award of summary judgment granted in favor of Los Angeles County deputies in an action alleging, inter alia, that the deputies violated Adophus’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by arresting him for auto theft without probable cause. The district court concluded that the officers were protected by qualified immunity, and therefore dismissed Adolphus’ claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985. The court refused to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Adolphus’ state law claims, and dismissed his action. We affirm.
The defendants are entitled to summary judgment on the wrongful arrest claim on the basis of qualified immunity
Nor did the district court err in denying Adolphus the opportunity to pursue an unlawful search claim that he never raised in his complaint, added by way of an amendment to the complaint, or elucidated during discovery. See Coleman v. Quaker Oats Co., 232 F.3d 1271, 1294 (9th Cir. 2000). Nowhere in his complaint did Adolphus allege a search of his garage or house. The focus of the facts in the complaint and throughout discovery was on the wrongful arrest, and nothing that Adolphus did prior to the summary judgment hearing put the defendants on notice of a wrongful search claim.
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as provided by Ninth Cir. R. 36-3.
. This court reviews de novo both the district court's award of summary judgment, and its decision on qualified immunity. Weiner v. San Diego County, 210 F.3d 1025, 1028 (9th Cir. 2000); Elder v. Holloway, 510 U.S. 510, 516, 114 S.Ct. 1019, 127 L.Ed.2d 344 (1994). When, as here, the underlying material facts are undisputed, we must resolve qualified immunity questions at summary judgment. See Act Up!/Portland v. Bagley, 988 F.2d 868, 873 (9th Cir. 1993).
. There is no merit to Adolphus’ contention that a dispute of fact remains as to whether Robert and Pedro were investigated independently. Adolphus failed to produce any affirmative evidence to rebut the officers’ assertions that Pedro and Robert were interviewed independently. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (noting that a party who opposes summary judgment must base his opposition on more than an objection to the credibility of the moving party’s evidence). The fact that Pedro was questioned near the police car in which Robert was being held does not affect this conclusion; Adolphus offered no evidence that Robert would have been able to communicate a “story” to Pedro simply because Pedro was "near” the police car in which Robert was held.
. The fact that Adolphus was arrested without an arrest warrant is of no relevance here. Because the undisputed facts indicate that Adolphus was outside, in his front yard, at the time of the arrest, the officers were not required to obtain a warrant prior to the arrest. See United States v. Hoyos, 892 F.2d 1387, 1393-94 (9th Cir. 1989) (holding that a suspect's backyard constitutes a "public place,” and that the police therefore did not need to secure a warrant for the suspect’s arrest).
. There is no merit to the contention that the complaint raised a wrongful search claim by sporadically referring to an individual's right to be free from “search and seizure.” The
. It is not the responsibility of the district court to inform a plaintiff of all the claims that his complaint does not raise.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Keith ADOLPHUS v. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES Brian Godwin, Deputy Ernest Magana, Deputy Mike Woods, Lieutenant Leon Macinnis, aka Doe Macinnis
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published