Barroca v. Hayward Area Recreation And Parks District

Background

Robert Barroca sought sanctions under Rule 11 against dismissed defendant Officer Razan Ghishan. Ghishan had been Barroca’s probation officer. Barroca previously brought a Fourth Amendment claim against her under a federal cause of action recognized in Bivens. The court granted Ghishan’s motion to dismiss on qualified-immunity grounds, concluding that it was not objectively unreasonable for her to believe there was probable cause that Barroca lived at the Hayward residence she searched.

Barroca argued that Ghishan’s motion to dismiss contained several misrepresentations. He challenged statements about his responsibility for a narcotics laboratory, the circumstances of his release-condition violation, whether he was charged with manufacturing meth or DMT, information taken from hearing transcripts, whether a key fit the front door or front screen door, the seizure of more than a dozen firearms, and the circumstances of his arrest.

Ghishan argued that the challenged statements were supported by the record and that none of the disputed matters was material to the motion to dismiss. She appeared to concede that the motion incorrectly referred to manufacturing meth rather than DMT, but argued that the distinction was irrelevant. Regarding the arrest, the opinion states that it was unclear what specific misrepresentation Barroca alleged and that the parties’ descriptions did not appear contradictory.

Rule 11 Sanctions

The court described Rule 11 sanctions as an extraordinary remedy generally reserved for filings that are frivolous or unsupported. It concluded that most of the alleged misrepresentations were arguably supported by record evidence. The court treated the meth-versus-DMT description as an error but found that it was not material to the claim at issue and was not relied on in deciding the motion to dismiss.

The court found that the key description was the only potentially material issue. Barroca argued that the key fit a front screen door rather than a front door. The court had considered that distinction in its earlier order granting the motion to dismiss and had concluded that it did not change the result. The court therefore denied the motion for sanctions.

Motions to Compel

Barroca also had two pending motions seeking to serve and compel compliance with a subpoena directed to Ron Smith, identified as the property manager of Ms. RaeLynn Gomes, Barroca’s girlfriend. The subpoena related to Barroca’s allegation that Hayward Area Recreation and Parks District unlawfully retaliated against him.

The court denied the motions to compel without prejudice as premature because discovery was not yet open under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d).

Disposition

The motion for sanctions was denied. The motions to compel were denied without prejudice.