Nelson v. City of Irvine

David Nelson and Mauricio Fernandez, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated (hereafter collectively “Nelson”), appeal from the district court’s judgment on the pleadings in their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against the City of Irvine, its chief of police, and several individual officers (hereafter collectively “City of Irvine”), alleging that following their arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol they were coerced into submitting to blood tests in order to determine their blood alcohol level, and deprived of the statutorily mandated option to take a breath or urine test instead.

I. Facts and Procedural History

The plaintiffs’ motion for class certification was pending when the district court dismissed this suit on the pleadings. The claims of the proposed class representatives are described in the first amended complaint, and for purposes of this appeal we accept those allegations as true. McGann v. Ernst & Young, 102 F.3d 390, 392 (9th Cir.1996), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 117 S.Ct. 1460 , 137 L.Ed.2d 564 (1997).

Irvine Police Department officer Troy Gielish arrested David Nelson on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol (“DUI”). En route to the…