Roderick Bone v. City of Los Angeles

MEMORANDUM

Roderick V. Bone, an African-American, filed a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , asserting claims for denial of equal protection under the law, violation of procedural due process and conspiracy, in addition to several state law claims. The district court determined that Bone’s section 1983 claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations, and granted the motion to dismiss. We reverse and remand.

Bone’s initial complaint was apparently prepared with the assistance of counsel. His first amended complaint, which asserted five causes of action against the City of Los Angeles (“the City”) and John Kelly, an inspector for the City’s Department of Building and Safety, was prepared pro se. Nine days after the first amended complaint was filed, new counsel filed a request for appointment to represent Bone. That request was granted the same day that the City and Kelly filed a motion to dismiss the first amended complaint. A hearing on the motion to dismiss was set for March 1, 2010. Now aided by counsel, Bone on February 8, 2010, filed a response to the motion to dismiss and an application to file a second amended complaint. On February 24, 2010,…