Dela Torre v. County of Fresno

MEMORANDUM *

Carol Dela Torre appeals the district court’s order denying her motion for leave to amend her complaint.

Dela Torre filed a § 1983 action against the County of Fresno and a number of officials. The action arose out of a search of her house on January 29, 2002. On January 1, 2003—after Dela Torre had filed her claim but before the one-year statute of limitations on the claim had run—the California legislature changed the statute of limitations to two years. After the expiration of the one-year period but before the expiration of the two-year period, Dela Torre sought to amend the complaint to add new claims against new officials. The magistrate judge denied the motion, holding that the two-year statute of limitations did not apply so the claims were time-barred. We agreed to hear this interlocutory appeal, and reverse.

Finding no state authority, the magistrate judge relied on Abreu v. Ramirez, 1 a decision of the Central District of Califor *900 nía. That decision holds that the controlling limitations period is the one “in effect at the time a claim accrues.” 2 After the magistrate decided this case, however, the California Court of Appeals expressly rejected…