Warren Bell v. David Olson
Warren Bell v. David Olson
Opinion
FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION DEC 14 2023 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
WARREN E. BELL, No. 22-35577 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:21-cv-00781-JCC v. MEMORANDUM* DAVID OLSON, Washington State Patrol Officer; AUTUM KOSTELECKY; SNOHOMISH COUNTY RISK MANAGEMENT, Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington John C. Coughenour, District Judge, Presiding Submitted December 14, 2023** San Francisco, California Before: O’SCANNLAIN, FERNANDEZ, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Warren Bell appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against David Olson, a Washington State Patrol Officer who arrested him after a traffic stop. We review de novo,1 and we affirm.
The district court did not err in entering summary judgment in favor of Olson on Bell’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment claims against him. See U.S. Const. amends. IV & XIV. The record before the district court2 revealed no genuine dispute of material fact that Olson had probable cause both to conduct the traffic stop3 and to arrest Bell.4 See United States v. Lopez, 482 F.3d 1067, 1072 (9th Cir. 2007); Cabrera v. City of Huntington Park, 159 F.3d 374, 380 (9th Cir. 1998); Sanders v. City of San Diego, 93 F.3d 1423, 1429 (9th Cir. 1996). Olson’s “ordinary inquiries” into Bell’s license, registration, and insurance were an integral component of the stop. United States v. Nault, 41 F.4th 1073, 1078–79 (9th Cir. 2022), cert. denied, __ U.S. __, 143 S. Ct. 617, 214 L. Ed. 2d 364 (2023).
Moreover, Olson was entitled to rely on the information he received about Bell from the Washington State Department of Licensing in making the arrest, and the
See C.V. ex rel. Villegas v. City of Anaheim, 823 F.3d 1252, 1255 (9th Cir. 2016).
Fed. R. App. P. 10(a)(1).
See Wash. Rev. Code §§ 46.37.010(1)(b), 46.37.050(1)–(3).
See Wash. Rev. Code. §§ 46.20.342(1)(b)(x), 46.20.740(2). record supports Olson’s determination that the documents Bell showed him did not call that information into question. See Lopez, 482 F.3d at 1072; see also Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348, 355, 135 S. Ct. 1609, 1615, 191 L. Ed. 2d 492 (2015). That the Washington criminal charges against Bell were subsequently dismissed without prejudice does not tend to show that Olson lacked probable cause at the time of arrest. See Nieves v. Bartlett, 587 U.S. __, __, 139 S. Ct. 1715
We do not consider arguments or claims raised for the first time on appeal or matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued in the opening brief. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009) (per curiam).
AFFIRMED.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.