FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS OCT 24 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
LEE V. QUILLAR, No. 13-55141
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:12-cv-03004-JAH-
MDD
V. Southern District of California,
San Diego
HERBERT J. EXARHOS, Superior Court
Judge and COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO,
ORDER
Defendants - Appellees.
Before: HAWKINS, TALLMAN, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.
We sua sponte withdraw the memorandum disposition filed on July 7, 2014,
and file a replacement memorandum disposition concurrent with this order.
Quillar’s petition for rehearing en banc and concurrent motion for judicial
notice are denied as moot.
FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 24 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LEE V. QUILLAR, No. 13-55141
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:12-cv-03004-JAH-
MDD
V.
HERBERT J. EXARHOS, Superior Court MEMORANDUM*
Judge; COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
John A. Houston, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted June 25, 2014**
Before: HAWKINS, TALLMAN, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.
California state prisoner Lee V. Quillar appeals pro se from the district
court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to pay the
required filing fee after denying his application to proceed in forma pauperis under
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de
novo the district court’s interpretation and application of § 1915(g), Andrews v.
Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007), and for an abuse of discretion its
denial of leave to proceed in forma pauperis, O’Loughin v. Doe, 920 F.2d 614, 616
(9th Cir. 1990). We vacate and remand.
The district court properly concluded that two of Quillar’s prior federal
actions or appeals constitute strikes under § 1915(g), and that the dismissals in
both are final. See Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1116 n.1 (9th Cir. 2005) (if a
prisoner’s prior federal actions or appeals were dismissed for failure to state a
claim, they count as “strikes” under § 1915(g)); see also Silva v. Di Vittorio, 658
F.3d 1090, 1100 (9th Cir. 2011) (“[A] district court’s dismissal of a case does not
count as a ‘strike’ under § 1915(g) until the litigant has exhausted or waived his
opportunity to appeal.”).
However, it is not clear whether the third dismissal on which the district
court relied constitutes a strike. Quillar filed this action in state court, alleging
federal and state law claims, and though defendants successfully removed it, this
may not constitute a “federal” action for purposes of § 1915(g). Moreover, the
dismissal of only Quillar’s federal claims in this action, and the remand of his state
law claims, does not satisfy the requirement under § 1915(g) that the entire action
2 13-55141
be dismissed for failure to state a claim or as frivolous. Therefore, we vacate the
denial of Quillar’s application to proceed in forma pauperis and the dismissal of his
action for failure to pay the filing fee, and remand.
Because we remand for further proceedings, we do not consider Quillar’s
arguments regarding the merits of his claims, including in his letter to the court,
filed on June 18, 2014. Accordingly, Quiller’s motion for judicial notice of
documents related to the merits of his claims, filed on April 26, 2013, is denied.
VACATED and REMANDED.
3 13-55141