Estate of Green v. City of Annapolis

696 F.Supp.3d 130

ESTATE OF Renardo GREEN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 1:22-cv-03198-JRR

United States District Court, D. Maryland

Signed September 30, 2023

Dwayne Anthony Brown, Law Office of Dwayne A. Brown, Baltimore, MD, Malcolm Peter Ruff, William Hughes Murphy, Jr., Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, Baltimore, MD, Patrick Andrew Thronson, Janet Janet and Suggs LLC, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff Estate of Renardo Green.

Malcolm Peter Ruff, William Hughes Murphy, Jr., Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, Baltimore, MD, Patrick Andrew Thronson, Janet Janet and Suggs LLC, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiffs Brittany R. Green, Tiffany R. Green, Jayda A. Green.

Patrick Andrew Thronson, Janet Janet and Suggs LLC, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff Tracy L. Naylor.

Dwayne Anthony Brown, Law Office of Dwayne a Brown, Baltimore, MD, Patrick Andrew Thronson, Janet Janet and Suggs LLC, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff Phyllis McGowan.

Kerry Berger, Mark Lloyd Fulton, III, City of Annapolis Office of Law, Annapolis, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Julie Rebecca Rubin, United States District Judge.

Plaintiffs Estate of Renardo Green (c/o co-personal representatives Brittany R. Green, Tiffany R. Green, Jayda A. Green, Phyllis McGowan, and Tracy L. Naylor) (the "Estate"), and Brittany R. Green, Tiffany R. Green, Jayda A. Green, Phyllis McGowan, and Tracy L. Naylor, individually (collectively, the "Individual Plaintiffs;" together with the Estate, "Plaintiffs"), bring this action against the City of Annapolis (the "City"), Sergeant Mark Cochran, Officer Matthew Bodmer, Officer Anna Woytko, Officer Ivan Siminyuk (the "Officer Defendants," individually and in their official capacities), and John Does 1-5 (the "Doe Defendants") (collectively, the "Defendants").

This matter comes before the court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint and/or for More Definite Statement (ECF No. 6; the "Motion") and Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to Conduct Early Discovery. (ECF No. 23; the "Discovery Motion"). The court has reviewed all papers. No hearing is necessary. Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2023).

I. BACKGROUND¹

This action arises out of the death of Renardo Green ("Green"), a 51-year-old African American man, while in protective custody. Plaintiffs Brittany R. Green, Tiffany R. Green, Jayda A. Green, and Phyllis McGowan are Green's children. (ECF No. 1 ¶ 21; the "Complaint.") Plaintiff Tracy L. Naylor was Green's spouse until his death. Id. ¶ 22. Plaintiff Estate of Green is established in Anne Arundel County under the laws of the State of Maryland with the Individual Plaintiffs serving as co-personal representatives of the Estate. Id. ¶ 24.

Defendant City is a municipality and maintains control over the City of Annapolis Police Department ("APD"). (ECF No. 1 ¶ 26.) The APD is responsible for establishing customs, policies, and standing orders controlling the actions of its police officers, as well as their training and supervision regarding the appropriate use of force against, and restraint of, individuals taken into custody. Id. ¶ 27. At all times relevant to the Complaint, the City employed the Officer Defendants as law enforcement officers in the APD; and the Officer Defendants acted within the course and scope of their employment, and under color of state law. Id. ¶ 28.

The City also maintains and controls the Annapolis Fire Department ("AFD"), which includes Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") for the purposes of providing health care and rescue services. Id. ¶ 29. The City employs paramedics, emergency responders, and other health care workers within AFD's EMS Division, including the Doe Defendants, to provide health care services to Annapolis residents.

Id. ¶ 31. AFD is responsible for establishing customs and policies controlling the actions of its personnel, including the Doe Defendants. Id. ¶ 32. At all relevant times, the Doe Defendants were employed by the City, and acted within the course and scope of their employment. Id. ¶ 33.

Plaintiffs allege that "the AFD did not train its personnel to avoid face-down restraint or promulgate a policy prohibiting face-down restraint until November 1, 2022," despite the MIEMSS² protocol that EMS responders not place patients "in a face-down, hobbled, or hog-tied position." Id. ¶¶ 4, 11.

On June 1, 2021, at approximately 2:15 a.m., the Officer Defendants responded to Plaintiff Naylor's 911 call requesting assistance for Green, who was suffering from a disturbed mental state and injuries from self-inflicted lacerations. (ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 38-39.) Upon arrival, the Officer Defendants observed Green's erratic behavior and placed him into protective custody for an emergency evaluation.³ Id. ¶ 45. During the encounter with Green, the Officer Defendants were outfitted with body-worn cameras, which were operable and recording the events as they unfolded. Id. ¶ 42. The Officer Defendants subdued Green by holding his ankles and using two sets of handcuffs to place his hands behind his back. Id. ¶ 46. Thereafter, the Officer Defendants positioned Green onto his side on the kitchen floor until the Doe Defendants arrived to provide medical services. Officer Defendants maintained Green on his side to ensure that his airway was kept open. Id. ¶¶ 47-48.

"At an unknown time thereafter," following arrival on the scene by the Doe Defendants, the Officer Defendants and/or the Doe Defendants positioned Green face down (prone) with his hands cuffed behind his back in order to transport him to the ambulance waiting outside; once in the ambulance, Green was turned onto his backside before being transported to the hospital in Annapolis. Id. ¶¶ 48, 49, 56-59, 61, 64-67. Specifically, the Complaint alleges: The Officer Defendants maneuvered Green onto a white sheet, and, using the sheet to lift him, moved Green to a portable stretcher in the living room; Green was placed on a portable stretcher face down with his hands still cuffed behind his back. (ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 56-57.) At 2:37 a.m., the Doe Defendants transported Green out of the residence and loaded him onto a rolling stretcher that was just outside the building. Id. ¶¶ 59, 61. At 2:38 a.m., Officer Woytko advised she was putting Green "'under an emergency petition.'"⁴ Id. ¶ 59. At approximately 2:40 a.m., Green "'was still yelling and was lifting his chest off the stretcher while'" the Doe Defendants wheeled Green to the back of the ambulance. Id. ¶ 62.

At 2:41 a.m., Green was loaded into the ambulance. At this time, Green was no longer yelling. "'One of the paramedics'" asked Green to turn his head to the side (ECF No. 1 ¶ 63.) Green did not respond, so the paramedic turned Green's head. Id. At 2:42 a.m., "'one of the paramedics advised [Officer Bodmer that Green]'s nose was clear and his airway was open.'" Id. ¶ 64. At 2:44 a.m., the Doe Defendants asked Officer Bodmer for another set of handcuffs, which Sergeant Cochran provided.

Id. ¶ 66. At 2:45 a.m., the Doe Defendants repositioned Green onto his back and handcuffed him to the stretcher. Id. ¶ 67. Three minutes later, at 2:48 a.m., the Doe Defendants began administering CPR to Green and transported him to Anne Arundel Medical Center ("AAMC"), where AAMC medical staff continued rendering aid. Id. ¶ 68. Officer Woytko met Officer Bodmer at AAMC and "completed an emergency evaluation" for Green. Id. ¶ 70. AAMC took custody of Green and "Mobile Crisis" was notified of the emergency evaluation. (ECF No. 1 ¶ 70.)

Plaintiff Naylor learned at approximately 8:00 a.m. on June 1, 2021, that Green had "likely suffered brain death due" due to cardiopulmonary failure; on June 4, 2021, his family chose to discontinue his life support and Green died. Id. ¶ 74. On September 20, 2021, the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner "reportedly ruled" Green's death a homicide "caused by 'prone restraint cardiac arrest.'" Id. ¶ 79.

On December 13, 2022, Plaintiffs filed the Complaint. The Complaint sets forth twenty counts: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Pursuant to the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments for Excessive Force & Violation of Right to Due Process & Bodily Integrity as a Survival Action against Doe and Officer Defendants (Count I); 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Pursuant to the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments for Excessive Force & Violation of Right to Due Process & Bodily Integrity as a Wrongful Death Action against Doe and Officer Defendants (Count II); 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Pursuant to an Unconstitutional Policy or Custom/Failure to Train & Supervise as a Survival Action against Defendant City (Count III); 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Pursuant to an Unconstitutional Policy or Custom/Failure to Train & Supervise as a Wrongful Death Action against Defendant City (Count IV); Conspiracy to Deprive Constitutional Rights and/or Failure to Intervene Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985 as a Survival Action against Doe and Officer Defendants (Count V); Conspiracy to Deprive Constitutional Rights and/or Failure to Intervene Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985 as a Wrongful Death Action against Doe and Officer Defendants (Count VI); Violation of Right to Due Process & Deliberate Indifference to Serious Medical Needs Pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as a Survival Action against All Defendants (Count VII); Violation of Right to Due Process & Deliberate Indifference to Serious Medical Needs Pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as a Wrongful Death Action against All Defendants (Count VIII); Deprivation of Liberty, Excessive Force & Homicide in Violation of Maryland Declaration of Rights Article 24 as a Survival Action against All Defendants (Count IX); Deprivation of Liberty, Excessive Force & Homicide in Violation of Maryland Declaration of Rights Article 24 as a Wrongful Death Action against All Defendants (Count X); Assault and Battery as a Survival Action against Doe and Officer Defendants (Count XI); Assault and Battery as a Wrongful Death Action against All Defend...