Tracy Alves v. County of Riverside

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

TRACY ALVES, Individually and as No. 23-55532 Successor in Interest for Kevin R. Niedzialek, deceased, D.C. No. 5:19-cv- 02083-JGB-SHK Plaintiff-Appellee,

v. OPINION

COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE; CHAD

BIANCO,

Defendants-Appellants, and

SONIA GOMEZ; BRIAN KEENEY,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Jesus G. Bernal, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted July 17, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed April 29, 2025 Before: Kim M. Wardlaw and Gabriel P. Sanchez, Circuit Judges, and Barbara M. G. Lynn, * District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Sanchez

SUMMARY **

Excessive Force

The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment for plaintiff and its denial of defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law following a jury’s mixed verdict in an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law alleging that County of Riverside Sheriff’s Department deputies used excessive force under the Fourth Amendment and were negligent under California law in restraining Kevin Niedzialek in…