Puliafico

Plaintiff Lori Pufiafico (plaintiff) seeks damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (section 1983) against the County of San Bernardino (County) and several members of its Sheriffs Department. Currently before the Court are (1) cross-motions for summary adjudication of certain issues re lating to the legal validity of plaintiffs detention and arrest by the individual defendants, (2) the individual defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the grounds of qualified immunity, and (3) all defendants’ motion to bifurcate the trial.

I.

BACKGROUND

On July 14, 1995, officers of the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department and other law enforcement personnel discovered a methamphetamine laboratory during a consent search of private property in the High Desert area. Soon after the officers discovered the drug lab, plaintiff arrived at the property driving her domestic partner’s recently purchased pickup truck. Plaintiff was detained by the officers, and a search of the passenger compartment of the pickup yielded a PR24 police baton, illegal under California law for a private citizen to possess. Plaintiff was held for roughly two hours at the site, and then taken to county jail on suspicion…