John Young v. Aron Wolfe

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff John Young filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and multiple sheriff’s officers — of which all but Defendants Wolfe, Ochoa, Martinez, and Smith were dismissed. Relevant to this appeal are Young’s § 1983 claims for malicious prosecution and excessive force.

First, we review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Delia v. City of Rialto, 621 F.3d 1069, 1074 (9th Cir.2010).

The district court erred when it ruled, sua sponte, that Young’s malicious prosecution claim failed because he remained in custody on his two-year conviction for receiving stolen property during the entire prosecution relating to the fight. The district court was required to give Young notice and an opportunity to respond before granting Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on a ground not raised by Defendants. Greene v. Solano Cnty. Jail, 513 F.3d 982, 990 (9th Cir.2008).

Young had no notice that the length of his incarceration would be at issue and he was therefore never able to develop facts tending to show that he would have been released before his acquittal on the charges relating to the fight. If it is true that after…