When will the statute of limitations run out in a civil rights action?

"For actions under 42 U.S.C. 1983, [federal] courts apply the forum state's statute of limitations for personal injury actions, along with the forum state's law regarding tolling, including equitable tolling, except to the extent any of these laws is inconsistent with federal law." Jones v. Blanas, 393 F.3d 918, 927 (9th Cir. 2004). In California, the statute of limitations for personal injury actions is two years. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 335.1. This limitations period is statutorily tolled for another two years for prisoners serving less than a life sentence,

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resulting in a total limitations period of four years; however, prisoners serving life sentences are not entitled to this statutory tolling. See Cal. Civ. Proc. Code 352.1(a). Finally, "[a]lthough state law determines the length of the limitations period, federal law determines when a civil rights claim accrues," Azer v. Connell, 306 F.3d 930, 936 (9th Cir. 2002) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted), and hence when the statute of limitations begins to run. "Under federal law, a claim accrues when the plaintiff knows or has reason to know of the injury which is the basis of the action." TwoRivers v. Lewis, 174 F.3d 987, 991 (9th Cir. 1999).