Gonzales v. Mayes

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Gonzales v. Mayes

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS NOV 17 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

DAVID LOPEZ GONZALES, No. 24-2281 D.C. No. 2:24-cv-00002-ROS-- Plaintiff - Appellant, DMF v.

KRIS MAYES, named Kristin K. Mayes, MEMORANDUM* Arizona Attorney General; RACHEL MITCHELL, Maricopa County Attorney; AMANDA M. PARKER, Deputy County Attorney; ERIC KNOBLOCH, Assistant Attorney General,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Roslyn O. Silver, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted November 12, 2025**

Before: SCHROEDER, RAWLINSON, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.

Arizona state prisoner David Lopez Gonzales appeals pro se from the district

* 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). court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging constitutional

claims in connection with his state court criminal case. We have jurisdiction under

28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.

Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1118 (9th Cir. 2012). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Gonzales’s action as barred by Heck v.

Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994) because success on Gonzales’s claims would

necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction, and Gonzales has not

demonstrated that his conviction has been invalidated. See Heck, 512 U.S. at 486-

87 (holding that if “a judgment in favor of the plaintiff would necessarily imply the

invalidity of his conviction or sentence . . . the complaint must be dismissed unless

the plaintiff can demonstrate that the conviction or sentence has already been

invalidated”); see also Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U.S. 521, 536 (2011) (claims relying

on an alleged Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), violation are “outside the

province of § 1983” under Heck); Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 81-82 (2005)

(holding that Heck applies regardless of the type of relief sought).

We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued

in the opening brief. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).

Gonzales’s motion (Docket Entry No. 14) for amicus briefing is denied.

AFFIRMED.

2 24-2281

Reference

Status
Unpublished