Carrillo v. Buendia

ARMANDO CARRILLO, et al, Plaintiffs, v. OLIVER BUENDIA, et al, Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:20-CV-28

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION

August 10, 2020

ORDER ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS

This is a civil rights action arising out of the tragic death of Daniel Carrillo (Carrillo). He was a large man with serious psychological illnesses who died in the course of a cell extraction in the Nueces County jail. Plaintiffs¹ bring claims against Nueces County and five of its jailers in their respective individual capacities under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging deliberate indifference to serious medical needs and excessive force. D.E. 35. They also bring a claim against Nueces County under the Texas Tort Claims Act.

Each Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and for failure to negate claims of immunity or qualified immunity. D.E. 44, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52. Two Defendants also seek to strike certain allegations in Plaintiffs' complaint. D.E. 51, 52. Plaintiffs have responded. D.E. 54. And Defendants have replied. D.E. 59, 61, 62, 63, 67, 69.

For the reasons set out below, the motions to strike are DENIED. Each motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The test of pleadings under Rule 12(b)(6) is devised to balance a party's right to redress against the interests of all parties and the court in minimizing expenditure of time, money, and resources devoted to meritless claims. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 558 (2007). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Furthermore, "Pleadings must be construed so as to do justice." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(e). The requirement that the pleader show that he is entitled to relief requires "more than labels and conclusions[;] a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citing Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286 (1986)).

Factual allegations are required, sufficient to raise the entitlement to relief above the level of mere speculation. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. Those factual allegations must then be taken as true, even if doubtful. Id. In other words, the pleader must make allegations that take the claim from conclusory to factual and beyond possible to plausible. Id. at 557. The Twombly court stated, "[W]e do not require heightened fact pleading of specifics, but only enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Id. at 570.

FACTS

A. Factual Allegations in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint

Pursuant to the standard of review, the Court takes the facts pled as true and also makes any inferences arising from those facts in favor of Plaintiffs. Consequently, Defendants' suggestions that there are or may be other explanations justifying their conduct are inappropriate at the Rule 12 stage of these proceedings. Those suggested facts are disregarded here. This factual recitation is taken from Plaintiffs' amended complaint. Any alleged discrepancies between the original and first amended complaint are addressed in the discussion following the facts.

1. Carrillo is Housed Without Attention to His Medical Needs

Carrillo was a morbidly obese man measuring five feet-six inches tall and weighing 295 pounds. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, major depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disease, and polysubstance abuse and was prescribed significant medication for his illnesses. The events leading to his death began on March 24, 2014, when he was arrested for burglary of a habitation at his uncle's abandoned home, foraging for metal to recycle for cash.

The charge was deferred for three years. However, after only two years, the deferred adjudication was revoked, his charge was adjudicated, and he was sentenced to probation, which included in-patient treatment for his mental illness and substance abuse problems. After being discharged to a transitional halfway house in early 2018, he walked out before his scheduled departure. Believing that an arrest warrant had beenissued, Carrillo and his father went to the Nueces County probation office on February 12, 2018, to manage the situation. As instructed, they immediately registered Carrillo with Alcoholics Anonymous. However, while they continued to wait at the probation office, a police officer arrived, arrested Carrillo, and took him to the Nueces County jail where he remained until his death.

At the time Carrillo was placed in jail custody, jail personnel were informed of the name of his psychiatrist, his history of mental disease and treatment, along with his history of substance abuse, which included pharmaceuticals. At that time, he was already visibly tearful, disheveled, and anxious. Over the next two weeks, Carrillo's mental condition declined, including withdrawal symptoms associated with his use of Xanax to treat his anxiety disorder. He reported this to jail staff. The only relief available was Xanax that he got from a "friend inside the jail."

On February 28, 2018, Carrillo expressed to his father that he was going to go crazy if he was not released soon. One of the jailers, Defendant Jose Rodriguez (Rodriguez), described Carrillo as "off" and in an "altered state of mind." Carrillo told his lawyer's employee that he got into something with "Tango Blast," was having problems, and was suffering from anxiety. By March 2 and 3, 2018, Carrillo was observed as very emotional and crying. His call to his father became more urgent, with Carrillo expressing concern, in hushed tones, that the guards were setting him up to fight with "Tango members" and that no one from the outside world could control it. His father expressed his concern about Carrillo's mental health and self-medication.

Soon, Carrillo was observed in his cell nude and throwing his belongings out of his cell. He cried all day and all night for two days, saying "I'm sorry." He was inconsolable, blabbering, and clearly in a psychotic episode. Jailers and inmates observed that Carrillo was hallucinating—hearing and seeing things that were not real. Nonetheless, he was locked in his cell, unarmed, and did not pose a threat to the officers, other County employees, himself, or any other inmates or detainees. Despite Carrillo's demeanor and actions, other persons in custody were able to sleep through the night.

2. Galvan Beats Carrillo

The jailers did not seek medical attention for Carrillo's mental and physical spiral. Instead, in the evening of March 4, 2018, guards began yelling taunts and profanity at Carrillo, telling him to be quiet. When Carrillo continued to cry, Defendant Jesus Galvan (Galvan), irritated, opened the door to Carrillo's cell and "beat his ass." While an intervening violent cell incursion took place before Carrillo died (set out below), Plaintiffs note that Carrillo's beaten face exhibited both dried and fresh blood, suggesting that the dried blood came from this Galvan beating.

3. The Jailers Enter Carrillo's Cell to Extract Him

Carrillo remained "belligerent, irate and off." But rather than seek medical attention for Carrillo, four officers—Defendants Rodriguez, Galvan, Oliver Buendia (Buendia) and non-party Veronica Garcia (Garcia)—assembled to perform what they represented to be a cell extraction. They did this despite the fact that Carrillo did not pose a threat to himself or others. Rather, they were acting out of anger to inflict punishment. When justifying their actions to the Texas Rangers, Defendants asserted thatthe rationale for the extraction was to move Carrillo closer to medical personnel.

The officers did not issue any orders for Carrillo to obey. They simply rushed into the cell for a take-down. They immediately took Carrillo to the ground on his stomach. Garcia radioed for assistance and eventually got a handcuff onto Carrillo's right arm. At this point, Lieutenant Thomas Lowke (Lowke) and Officer Marcus Lopez (Lopez), both Defendants, arrived. Lopez, described as a very large man, dug his knee into Carrillo's back and put pressure onto him while he was prone on the floor. Lopez was able to complete the handcuffing, but Lowke told Garcia to go get leg irons.

4. Lowke Tases Carrillo and Carrillo Dies

After Carrillo was handcuffed, and while he remained on his stomach on the floor, Lowke drive-stun tased Carrillo in the back near his heart. Defendant officers "pounded" Carrillo and Lopez stomped on Carrillo's head. By the time Garcia returned with the leg irons, they were not needed. Carrillo lay non-responsive on the floor and had defecated on himself. When a nurse eventually arrived, she found no pulse. His nose was broken and bleeding, his face was bruised, blood covered his face, his right eye was swollen and shut, and there was fluid buildup behind his eye. When emergency personnel arrived to try to revive Carrillo, Defendant jailers falsely reported that Carrillo had been fighting with four guards and was tased and wrestled to the ground.

Carrillo's size made him vulnerable to the worst effects of the electrical shock of a taser. Electrical shock can cause cardiac arrest, as opposed to a heart attack (which is a circulation issue). Carrillo died of cardiac arrest. An inmate who saw Carrillo's body rolled out on a stretcher commented that "Carrillo's face looked like it got hit by a truckand it was covered in blood." The Nueces County Medical Examiner determined that Carrillo's cause of death was homicide, indicating that it did not result from Carrillo's own mental and physical illnesses.

5. Cell Extraction Policies

TCOLE. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) is a regulatory agency of the State of Texas, establishing and enforcing standards for constitutional methods of law enforcement. Those standards prohibit the use of force as a punishment in a jail...