Jose Aguado Cervantes v. United States

Although rare, on occasion, we see arguments that simply fail the straight-face test. The United States’ assertion that the “detention of goods” exception to the sovereign immunity waiver under the Federal Tort Claims Act applies to its negligent failure to remove 119 pounds of marijuana hidden in a car it sold to Jose Aguado Cervantes, whom it later incarcerated for “transporting” those very drugs, is one. Although we agree with the district court that Cervantes cannot recover damages for false imprisonment or false arrest because the customs agents had reasonable cause to believe his arrest was lawful, the United States’ defense to his negligence claim is patently without merit. We therefore affirm the district court’s order dismissing Cervantes’s false imprisonment and false arrest claims, and reinstate Cervantes’s negligence claim.

I. Standard of review

We review de novo a district court’s dismissal of an action pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. City of Lodi, 302 F.3d 928, 939 (9th Cir.2002). In determining whether dismissal was properly granted, we assume all factual allegations are true and construe…