McLeod-Lopez v. Algarin, Civil No. 08-1315 (SEC).

603 F.Supp.2d 330

Matthew Cris McLEOD-LÓPEZ, Plaintiff v. Juan Rosa ALGARIN, et al., Defendants.

Civil No. 08-1315 (SEC).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

March 23, 2009.

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Juan C. Cancio-Reichard, Aguadilla, PR, for Plaintiff.

Daniel Angel Vazquez-Diaz, Oficina De Litigios Generales, Charles E. Vilaro-Valderrabano, Cancio Covas & Santiago, LLP, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION and ORDER

SALVADOR E. CASELLAS, District Judge.

Pending before this Court is Co-Defendants Pedro Toledo Dávila ("Toledo") and Juan A. Rosa Algarín's ("Rosa") (collectively "Defendants") motion to dismiss (Docket # 6), and Plaintiff Matthew Cris McLeod-López's ("Plaintiff") opposition thereto (Docket # 11). After reviewing the filings, and the applicable law, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

Factual Background

On March 14, 2008, Plaintiff filed the instant complaint under Sections 1983, 1986 and 1988 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1986 & 1988, the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, Article II of the Commonwealth's Constitution, and Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31 § 5141, against Toledo, Rosa, various police officers, and other unnamed defendants, individually and in their personal capacity. Docket # 1.¹ Plaintiff seeks relief for the damages he suffered as a result of the alleged assault undertaken by members of the Puerto Rico Police Department during his arrest. Id.

Pursuant to the complaint, the facts are as follows. On March 19, 2007, while Plaintiff was with his common law wife, his son, nephew, and niece in his residence, located at Palmas de Cerro Gordo Housing Development, approximately fifteen police officers, including Rosa, arrived to serve a warrant for arrest for contempt charges. When Plaintiff opened the door, one of the police officers inquired as to McLeod-López's whereabouts, whereupon another police officer identified Plaintiff as McLeod-López. Plaintiff did not resist arrest. However, Rosa, and other officers, attacked and hit Plaintiff, while arresting him. The police officers hit and punched Plaintiff in the genital area, moved him out of his residence, and continued to beat him while he was handcuffed and lying on the floor. Subsequently, the officers entered, with Plaintiff, into his residence, and forced him to open a safe deposit box from which the officers allegedly took an estimated $3,000. During the arrest, Plaintiff was never informed about nor read his constitutional rights.

Plaintiff was then transported to the Criminal Investigation Center ("CIC") in Vega Baja. The police officers kept hitting and punching Plaintiff, until they arrived at said location. Plaintiff complained about severe pain in his genital area, abdomen, and back to the officers. Plaintiff remained in the CIC for approximately an hour, after which he was transported to the Hato Rey Police Headquarters, where he was put in a solitary cell, and left handcuffed. Plaintiff continued to complain about pain in his genital area. At around 4:00 am on March 20, 2007, a paramedic examined Plaintiff, and stated that "he was well." Docket # 14 at ¶ 23. At around 10:30 am, Plaintiff was transferred to the Diagnostic Treatment Center in Rio Piedras, where they ordered he be taken to the emergency room at the Rio Piedras Medical Center. At the Medical Center, Plaintiff underwent surgery to remove one of his testicles.

On March 21, 2007, Plaintiff was taken to the Bayamon Judicial Center, and charged with drug and weapons possession. The court found probable cause for said violations, and he was incarcerated at the Bayamon Correctional Facility. The charges were later dismissed due to lack of evidence.

On June 5, 2008, Defendants filed a motion requesting the dismissal of the case under FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6). According to Defendants, all claims against them should be dismissed because: (1) they are entitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity in their official capacity, (2) Toledo, in his personal capacity, is entitled to qualified immunity, (3) the respondeat superior doctrine does not apply to Toledo as a supervisor, (4) Plaintiff does not state a claim of supervisory liability under Section 1983, (5) the complaint does not state a claim of malicious prosecution, false arrest, and illegal seizure under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and (6) Plaintiff failed to state Fifth and Ninth Amendment claims. As a result of the foregoing, Defendants also move for the dismissal of all pendent state law claims.

Standard of Review

Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6)

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, Plaintiffs' "well-pleaded facts must possess enough heft to show that [they are] entitled to relief." Clark v. Boscher, 514 F.3d 107, 112 (1st Cir.2008). In evaluating whether Plaintiffs are entitled to relief, the court must accept as true all of their "well-pleaded facts [and indulge] all reasonable inferences therefrom" in the plaintiff's favor. Id. Moreover, a court must determine "whether the complaint, so read, limns facts sufficient to justify recovery on any cognizable theory." LaChapelle v. Berkshire Life Ins. Co., 142 F.3d 507, 508 (1st Cir.1998) (citations omitted). The Supreme Court has held that "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Ed., 526 U.S. 629, 654, 119 S.Ct. 1661, 143 L.Ed.2d 839 (1999) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)).

However, "[a]lthough this standard is diaphanous, it is not a virtual mirage." Berner v. Delahanty, 129 F.3d 20, 25 (1st Cir.1997) (citing Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 515 (1st Cir.1988)). Plaintiffs must rely in more than unsupported conclusions or interpretations of law, as these will be rejected. Id. That is, "factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, on the assumption that all allegations in the complaint are true." Parker v. Hurley, 514 F.3d 87, 95 (1st Cir.2008). Therefore, "dismissal for failure to state a claim is appropriate if the complaint fails to set forth factual allegations, either direct or inferential, respecting each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable legal theory." Gagliardi v. Sullivan, 513 F.3d 301, 305 (1st Cir.2008). The Court "may augment the facts in the complaint by reference to documents annexed to the complaint or fairly incorporated into it, and matters susceptible to judicial notice." Id. at 305-306. As such, in judging the sufficiency of a complaint, courts must "differentiate between well-pleaded facts, on the one hand, and `bald assertions, unsupportable conclusions, periphrastic circumlocution, and the like,' on the other hand; the former must be credited, but the latter can safely be ignored." LaChapelle, 142 F.3d at 508 (quoting Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1996)); see also Rogan v. Menino, 175 F.3d 75, 77 (1st Cir.1999).

To survive a motion to dismiss at this stage, "it is enough for a plaintiff to sketch an actionable claim by means of a generalized statement of facts from which the defendant will be able to frame a responsive pleading." Langadinos v. American Airlines, Inc., 199 F.3d 68, 73 (1st Cir.2000) (citing Garita Hotel Ltd. Partnership v. Ponce Fed. Bank, 958 F.2d 15, 17 (1st Cir.1992) (internal citations omitted)). In so doing, "a plaintiff can make allegations either on the basis of personal knowledge or on `information and belief.'" Id.

Applicable Law and Analysis

Plaintiff's Section 1983 Claims

Defendants' argue that Plaintiff failed to state a Section 1983 claim, and that the Section 1983 claims against those Defendants who are supervisors should be dismissed because there is no respondeat superior liability under said statute. Plaintiffs oppose dismissal on both fronts, arguing that they have included averments within their complaint sufficient to survive dismissal at this stage. This Court begins its discussion by addressing the familiar Section 1983 standard.

A claim under Section 1983 is established by demonstrating that a government official, acting under the color of state law, has caused the depravation of a federal right. Burke v. Town of Walpole, 405 F.3d 66, 76 (1st Cir.2005) (citing Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985)). Furthermore, a Plaintiff in a civil rights action must allege an injury to a cognizable interest, and that this injury is ". . . causally related to the challenged conduct," and can be redressed through the litigation in question. See Pagan v. Calderon, 448 F.3d 16, 27 (1st Cir.2006). The conduct alleged to have caused the violation must also be intentional or recklessly indifferent to the plaintiff's federal statutory or constitutional right. Del Villar-Rosario v. P.R. DOJ, No. 06-2089, 2008 WL 655990, *2, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36059, *5 (D.P.R. Mar. 5, 2008); see also Gutierrez-Rodriguez v. Cartagena, 882 F.2d 553, 559 (1st Cir.1989); Simmons v. Dickhaut, 804 F.2d 182, 185 (1st Cir.1986).

The First Circuit has held that "[i]n an action brought under § 1983, supervisors are not automatically liable for the misconduct of those under their command." Carmona v. Toledo, 215 F.3d 124, 132 (1st Cir.2000). However, a supervisor's liability "can be grounded on either the supervisor's direct participation in the unconstitutional conduct, or through conduct that amounts to condonation or tacit authorization." Whitfield v. Meléndez-Rivera, 431 F.3d 1, 14 (1st Cir.2005) (citing Camilo-Robles v. Zapata, 175 F.3d 41, 44 (1st Cir.1999)). Unless the supervisor directly participated in the deprivation of the plaintiff's constitutional...